'SNL' Weekend Update ponders what it means to live without TikTok

"What do I do at work? What do I even watch during a movie?!"
 By 
Chase DiBenedetto
 on 
SNL cast member Michael Longfellow sits at the Weekend Update desk.

As Americans sat down to tune into the latest Saturday Night Live episode, TikTok quietly went offline, pulling the plug on U.S. users despite reassurances from the Biden administration that it wouldn't be enforced until the new administration took office.

Though it felt like it for many, the world did not end, and SNL, for what it's worth, kept on peddling jokes as the country mourned the app's loss.

Cast member Michael Longfellow and Weekend Update host Michael Che dug into why it was so upsetting, debating the heightened emotional response, because, lest we forget, we didn't even have it for that long.


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What about the data and national security concerns regarding China, the Michaels wondered. Who cares, Longfellow argues. It teaches us things. It diagnosed my ADHD. It ruined my mental health and attention span, he opines, but at least there was something to do.

"I know I lived a life before TikTok. But that boy is dead."

Topics SNL

Chase sits in front of a green framed window, wearing a cheetah print shirt and looking to her right. On the window's glass pane reads "Ricas's Tostadas" in red lettering.
Chase DiBenedetto
Social Good Reporter

Chase joined Mashable's Social Good team in 2020, covering online stories about digital activism, climate justice, accessibility, and media representation. Her work also captures how these conversations manifest in politics, popular culture, and fandom. Sometimes she's very funny.

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