“I almost don’t know how to define myself without TikTok,” sighs content creator Ayman Chaudhry, reflecting the trepidation of millions of people as US authorities set to ban the hugely popular app on Sunday.
After months of legal battles, the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that would ban a video-sharing platform used by 170 million Americans in the name of national security unless its Chinese owners make an 11th-hour… Do not reach a deal. Sell it to American buyers.
“I’m more sad than shocked,” Choudhary, 24, told AFP. “But still, it is sad and disappointing that the US government has come together to ban an app instead of coming together to adopt legislation related to health or education.”
It remains uncertain whether TikTok will turn off the lights on Sunday – for a day or forever. Potential buyers do exist, although TikTok’s owner, Chinese tech company ByteDance, has systematically refused to give up its crown.
President-elect Donald Trump, just days away from his second inauguration, said Friday that he “must have time” to decide whether to enforce the high court’s ruling. He promised a decision “in the not too distant future”.
By then, Ayman and countless other content creators were contemplating a future without TikTok.
– Mandarin ‘out of spite’? ,
“I started five years ago in 2020 during the (COVID-19) quarantine, and I got employment through TikTok, and now it feels like I’m suddenly unemployed,” said Ayman, an avid reader. Joe offers book recommendations on the platform, earning enough from ads and sponsorships to pay his bills.
Like thousands of other concerned TikTok users, she has protectively created a profile on Xiaohongshu (“Little Red Book”), a Chinese social media network similar to Instagram.
Nicknamed “Red Note” by American users, it was the most downloaded app on the US Apple Store this week.
People are turning to Red Note, Ayman said, “as a kind of protest, because it’s a Chinese-owned app, and TikTok is being banned because it’s, like, Chinese-owned.”
Language-learning app Duolingo made a clear pitch to people looking for life after TikTok.
“Learning Mandarin without rancor? You’re not alone,” Duolingo posted on Twitter. We’ve seen a 216% increase in new Chinese (Mandarin) learners in the US compared to last year.
On TikTok, several US creators have published videos combining their favorite moments on the app with farewell messages, urging fans to follow them on other platforms, including Xiaohongshu – while openly mocking US lawmakers’ concerns. Has gone.
– ‘Micro-influencers’ –
“Most students don’t buy into the narrative that there are Chinese spies who are controlling the algorithms,” said history teacher Chris Dear, who shares educational videos on TikTok and also uses them in his classes.
He said students “think that the United States government is not a fan of TikTok because … the government can’t control it easily.”
Xiahongshu, which is entirely in Mandarin, does not appear to offer a realistic long-term alternative for frustrated US users.
Popular even before the pandemic, TikTok exploded among youth living in quarantine, and became a must-have resource for many small companies and start-ups.
Nathan Espinoza, who has more than 550,000 subscribers on the app, said, “It’s a scary time for a lot of small creators, because I think TikTok is one of the very few platforms on the Internet where micro-influencers really Can flourish.”
In fact, the social network has built its success not through personalized recommendations but through its ultra-powerful algorithms, which let it rapidly identify users’ interests and funnel them to content of particular interest.
“I’m a more YouTube-focused creator now,” Espinoza said.
“But I wouldn’t be where I am today without TikTok, because that first viral video showed me that it’s possible, and that there is an audience for the type of videos I make.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
