Bye TikTok, See You In A Few Years: Australian Youth Digital Parting

Illustration of teenagers using social media. (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - Australia turned off lights for teens on social media, and their reactions felt like digital farewell parties full of drama, humor, and a little bitter typical of Gen Z.

Australia on Wednesday 10 December officially imposed a rule banning users under 16 from accessing ten major platforms, from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, to YouTube.

Tech companies are required to block about one million teenage accounts or face major fines. The government says TikTok alone has disabled 200,000 accounts, with hundreds of thousands more following.

Towards 00.00, TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit's timelines changed like a countdown to the new year, but a gloomy version. Melbourne creator Josh Partington, known through comedy sketches with 75,000 followers, posted a simple farewell: "I'll miss you guys."

Many teens respond with a mixture of sadness, irony, and concern about their digital future. One user wrote, 'See you in a few years, but I don't know if my account will still be standing.' There are also those who upload their favorite meme edits before the social media 'visit' arrives.

On Reddit, the wave of anxiety feels even more painful. A 13-year-old wrote that his YouTube playlist containing more than 1,400 songs will disappear. I have zero friends ... I will be completely alone for the next three years, "he wrote, making many other users flock to send messages of support.

On the other hand, some teenagers actually see this policy as a collective detox. "Ngl, maybe this is the best for us," said one TikTok user. We just sit in front of the screen for hours.

Still, most of the anger is directed at Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. His comments on TikTok were filled with disappointed teenagers who threatened to remember this decision once they were old enough to vote. Albanese himself lost 6,000 followers since Tuesday.

The ban does not apply to platforms that have not been listed such as Yope, Lemon8, and Coverstar, which suddenly become new rescue ships for Australian teens.

The farewell drama peaked just before midnight, when many teens uploaded a count-back video using the song 'Skyfall' with the lyrics this is the end, creates a kind of cyber epos that feels odd but very contemporary today.

This phenomenon shows how digital platforms have become the main social space of the younger generation. When the door was suddenly closed, an echo was heard from him all over the world.