Jakub Porzycki | Nurfoto | getty images
Before Jack Nader started posting beauty videos on TikTok in 2023, he was working as a starbucks The barista is in Chicago and living at home with his parents.
But when Nader, now 21, started taking his videos seriously in April of that year, his TikTok account took off. With over half a million followers, he was able to generate so much income through brand sponsorships and his share of advertising revenue that he left his coffee shop and got his own apartment.
“It’s my 9 to 5 job,” Nader said, adding that he earns between $1,000 and $12,000 a month as a producer, he told CNBC. “It’s what I do for a living. It’s how I pay for my groceries. It’s how millions of small businesses make their money.”
However, Nader’s new reality is far from stable. TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, is nearing a January 19 deadline by which it is supposed to be liquidated. sold, otherwise it will face ban Like many other creators in the US who have come to rely on TikTok, Nader is urging his fans to find him on other social media apps before he potentially loses them entirely and is Lose the income source they represent.
“Not from everyone my TikTok The following is about to end, and it’s really sad,” Nader said.
TikTok’s risk has existed for years, but it escalated in April President Joe Biden signed a Law This requires ByteDance to sell the short-form video app this month. If ByteDance fails to sell TikTok on time, Apple And Google Will be forced by law to ensure that their platforms will no longer support the app in the US
presidential election Donald Trump Those who supported banning TikTok during his first administration have since reversed course on the matter. At the end of last month, he to plead strongly The Supreme Court would have to intervene and forcibly delay the implementation of Biden’s ban to give him time to find a “political solution.” His inauguration is on January 20.
Trump’s rhetoric on TikTok began to reverse after him met in February Along with billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican megadonor and a major investor in ByteDance, who also owns a stake in true socialTrump’s social media company.
supreme court hear oral argument On January 10 from both sides. During the more than two-hour session, the judges asked TikTok’s lead lawyer questions about the app’s ties to China and generally seemed to disagree with TikTok’s main argument, that the law infringes on the free speech rights of its millions of people. Violates. of individual users in the US
On Thursday, businessman Frank McCourt’s Internet advocacy group Project Liberty announced that it has submitted an offer to purchase TikTok from ByteDance. Calling it “the people’s bid for TikTok,” the group said it would restructure the app to exist on a U.S.-owned platform and prioritize users’ digital security, though it did not disclose the terms of its bid.
Jack Nader, 21, of Chicago is a full-time TikTok creator who has begun shifting his content from the Chinese-owned app to Meta’s Instagram Reels and Alphabet’s YouTube Shorts.
Courtesy of Jack Nader
A decision may come at some point. Nader isn’t waiting for a resolution to figure out what happens next.
He is currently downloading four or five of his TikTok videos every day to save them while transferring his content. of meta instagram reels and alphabetical YouTube Shorts. After downloading the videos, Nader re-edits them, customizing the clips for each app.
“It took me over a year and a half to build the following I have on TikTok now, so that I could make it my full-time job,” Nader said. “Now it’s about repositioning that entire brand on another platform, which is not ideal.”
Nader said he is not making any money from Reels or Shorts yet.
‘It’s not just a silly app’
27 year old Danisha Carter is also in a similar situation. A resident of Los Angeles, Carter has been a full-time creator since 2021, posting social commentary and lifestyle videos. Although she had known about the TikTok ban for months, she said she received a wake-up call at midnight in November.
Carter recalled his nervous feeling, “I had to start taking this seriously before I lost access to the platform I’d built and the followers I’d built.” “I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Carter, who previously worked in luxury retail, has ended her tiktok videos Letting her followers know that they can find her on YouTube, Instagram, and Patreon.
“This isn’t just a silly app that people are using to post dance videos,” said Carter, who earns an average of about $4,000 per month from her TikTok activity. “It’s been remarkable in terms of changing people’s lives, changing people’s businesses.”
Danisha Carter, 27, of Los Angeles, is a full-time TikTok creator who ended her videos by asking her fans to follow her on YouTube, Instagram and Patreon before the Jan. 19 law banning the Chinese-owned app took effect. Has started.
Courtesy of Danisha Carter
TikTok may still find a way to stay operational in the US, but if the app gets suspended, experts predict YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are poised to be its biggest winners.
According to the market intelligence firm, TikTok has about 115 million monthly active users in the US, far behind YouTube’s 258 million and Facebook’s 253 million. sensor tower There are 131 million on Instagram. Sensor Tower data shows that short videos mimicking clips on TikTok are gaining viewership on those apps, accounting for about 41% of user time on Instagram.
While TikTok’s user base in the US is smaller and its share of total advertising dollars is lower than its top competitors, it remains the dominant platform for creators, especially those focused on short-form content.
Influencer marketing platform HyperAuditor defines a creator as a user with more than 1,000 subscribers. According to HyperAuditor, TikTok has about 8.5 million people in the US who fall into that category, while Instagram has about 5.2 million and YouTube has 1.1 million.
Meanwhile, according to Sensor Tower, TikTok accounts for 9% of digital ad spend on social media platforms in the US, compared to 31% for Facebook, 25% for Instagram and 21% for YouTube.
Should TikTok go away, “it potentially equates to billions of dollars in costs to competitors,” Sensor Tower told CNBC in an email. marketer It is estimated that Meta and YouTube could grab nearly half of the reallocated dollars if the ban goes into effect.
That kind of market change has happened elsewhere. India banned TikTok In June 2020, the app had around 150 million monthly users in the country. One year later, Instagram’s monthly active users in India grew by 20%, while YouTube’s monthly active users grew by 11% year-on-year, according to Sensor Tower estimates.
“Then we saw the biggest surge in Reels usage ever,” said Meghna Dhar, a former Instagram executive who was at the company at the time of the ban in India. “Should TikTok be banned and creators have to struggle between YouTube Shorts and Instagram, plenty of creators are already hedging their bets.”
In Meta, Instagram leaders scheduled several impromptu meetings on Friday after hearing oral arguments before the Supreme Court, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. Although many within the company had long expected TikTok to remain active in the US, Instagram leaders began instructing their teams to prepare for a potential influx of users if the ban went into effect, declining to be named for privacy reasons. The person said on condition of anonymity. ,
(L-R) Sarah Baus of Charleston, SC, holds a sign that reads “Keep TikTok” as she and other content creators Sally Miley of Jackson, Mississippi, and Kelly Goodwin of Columbia, SC, protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court building. Standing in the form. On January 10, 2025, oral arguments were heard in Washington, DC on whether to overturn or delay legislation that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the US.
Andrew Harnik | getty images
need to diversify
Christina Nolan, vice president of media services at marketing agency DMI Partners, said the TikTok situation is the latest example of why social media creators should always diversify their followings.
“We’re constantly reminding them to build audience depth on other platforms,” said Nolan, whose agency works with more than 50,000 creators.
Nolan said that in recent weeks, DMI has noticed that most of its creators have begun to transfer followers elsewhere in various ways. But they have to be careful. Nolan said some creators are concerned that TikTok will “shadow ban” them, or reduce their contact with users, if the technology identifies that they are promoting profiles elsewhere.
For example, some creators will suggest followers find them on “Fbooks” instead of writing to them on Facebook. Nolan said others will simply say enough words to get the message across to their followers, hoping to escape TikTok’s grasp. Some manufacturers are teaming up with brands to incentivize users by giving them rewards Gift That said, for users who follow them on other apps.
“They’re not explicitly saying, ‘Come to Instagram,'” Nolan said. “They say, ‘Go follow me’ and they’re saying it.”
After working on a horse farm, 27-year-old Neil Boschma was able to move to Los Angeles and make a living as a creator full-time after he began posting videos on TikTok in 2022.
Courtesy of Neeli Boschma
Even with so many other options to find a larger audience, creators are worried about trying to rebuild their business and whether enough followers will migrate with them.
“Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, and we’re going to make the most of it,” said Neil Boschma, 27, of Los Angeles, who is staying on as a full-time producer through 2022. “It’s just how I have to look at it, so I don’t panic.”
Despite the potential turmoil, Boschma said she sees the potential ban as an opportunity to expand her career and become more creative.
Boschma started making tiktok video After quitting his job working on a horse farm, he chose to live off his savings while experimenting as a builder. Boschma’s bet on himself worked and he earned enough to move to Los Angeles, paying for his own place and a car.
Now she’s making sure her TikTok fans see links to her other profiles so they can find her on other apps, including YouTube. If the ban goes into effect, Boschma said she plans to make a video specifically asking her fans to follow her elsewhere.
This is going to be quite exciting, as she currently has 2 million TikTok followers, while only 278,000 followers on YouTube. But Boschma said she’s going to try her hand at making long-form videos, something she’s always wanted to explore.
“Whether TikTok goes away or not, I think something will come out,” Boschma said. “I’ll find my footing in other places too, like I found on TikTok.”
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