• by Colin Kirkland , April 5, 2024

As TikTok faces a potential ban in the U.S., the ByteDance-owned company has released strategic content, like its recent economic impact report, intended to depict how beneficial the short-form video app is to American small businesses.

A new study shows that a TikTok ban might also influence the performance of Gen Z college students.

To better understand how this group of TikTok users feels about a potential ban, the education-based magazine Intelligent.com surveyed 929 current four-year college students between the ages of 18 and 24 in March 2024.

While the findings suggest divided feelings on a ban, they depict TikTok as a relied-upon educational resource.

Four-year college students in this age bracket frequently use TikTok.

Out of the 47% of respondents using the app daily, 18% spend six or more hours on the app each day. Three-quarters of respondents said they use the app at least a few times a month, with more than half believing a ban would impact their grades.

Furthermore, 30% feel their grades will worsen if TikTok is banned, while 24% believe their grades would improve.

According to the report, the majority of these students receive at least some help with their schoolwork from TikTok, with 22% say they get a “great deal of help” from TikTok, 24% saying they get “a lot of help” and 29% saying they receive “some help.”

“College students gravitate towards TikTok because they can easily search and find creators that they can relate to in a concise and engaging format that breaks down complex information into manageable, bite-sized videos,” says Huy Nguyen, Intelligent.com's chief education and career development advisor.

Nguyen adds that this short-form video approach to learning caters specifically to Gen Z, as it is brief yet leverages “the power of visual storytelling.”

Over time, TikTok's powerful algorithm also personalizes users' educational resources in the app.

It should be noted, however, that the content Gen Z college students are interacting with on TikTok is not vetted in any reliable way and may not be as beneficial as it might seem in the completion and understanding of college-level work.

“The platform's emphasis on quick, short-form, content production can sometimes oversimplify complex topics, misleading students rather than enlightening them,” Nguyen says.

Overall, Gen Z college students are equally divided in their views on a TikTok ban, with 41% opposing a ban –– 16% opposed and 25% very opposed –– and 40% supporting a ban –– 23% supportive and 17% very supportive. Whereas 19% of students included in the survey aren’t sure whether they want the app banned or not.