TikTok creators ask subscribers to switch to Meta, YouTube before the ban

Before Jack Nader started posting beauty videos on TikTok in 2023, he worked as a Starbucks a barista in Chicago and lives at home with his parents.

But after Nader, now 21, started taking his videos seriously in April of that year, his TikTok account took off. With more than half a million subscribers, he was able to earn enough from brand sponsorships and his share of advertising that he left the coffee shop gig and got his own apartment.

“This is my 9-to-5 job,” Nader, who earns between $1,000 and $12,000 a month as a creator, told CNBC. “This is what I do for a living. This is how I pay for my products. This is how millions of small businesses make money.”

Nader’s new reality, however, is far from stable. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, is approaching January 19. sold or face a ban in the US Like many other creators who have come to rely on TikTok, Nader urged his fans to find him in other social network programs before he potentially loses them completely and the substantial stream of income they represent.

“Not all of them my tiktok the next ones will come, and that’s very sad,” Nader said.

TikTok’s risk has been around for years, but in April, it escalated President Joe Biden signed by the right which requires ByteDance to drop the short video app this month. If ByteDance is unable to sell TikTok in time, an apple and Google will be forced by law to ensure that their platforms no longer support the app in the US

The elected president Donald Trumpwho advocated banning TikTok during his first administration, has since backed away from the issue. At the end of last month he urged The Supreme Court should step in and force a stay on Biden’s ban to give him time to find a “policy solution.” His inauguration is on January 20.

Trump’s rhetoric on TikTok began to turn after he met in February with billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican megadonor and major investor in ByteDance, who also owns a stake Social truthTrump’s social media campaign.

Supreme Court heard the oral arguments on both sides on January 10. During the more than two-hour hearing, the justices peppered TikTok’s top lawyer with questions about the app’s ties to China and seemed generally unconvinced by TikTok’s main argument that the law infringes on the free speech rights of millions of individual users in the U.S.

On Thursday, businessman Frank McCourt’s online advocacy group Freedom project announced that it has submitted an offer to buy TikTok from ByteDance. Calling it “The People’s Bet on TikTok,” the group said it would restructure the app to exist on a US-owned platform and prioritize users’ digital security, though it did not disclose the terms of its proposal.

A decision may come at some point. Nader isn’t waiting for a decision to figure out what’s next.

He currently downloads four or five of his TikTok videos every day to save them while transferring his content to Meta Instagram Reels and The alphabet of YouTube Shorts. After downloading the videos, Nader re-edits them, optimizing the clips for each program.

“It took me over a year and a half to build what I have now on TikTok to make it my full-time job,” Nader said. “Now it’s about realigning that whole brand to a different platform, which is not ideal.”

Nader said he isn’t making any money from Reels or Shorts yet.

Carter, who previously worked in luxury retail, is over her TikTok video letting her followers know they can find her on YouTube, Instagram, and Patreon.

“It’s not just a stupid app that people use to post dance videos,” said Carter, who earns an average of about $4,000 a month from her TikTok activities. “It’s been great in terms of changing people’s lives, changing people’s businesses.”

TikTok may still find a way to stay afloat in the US, but if the app does end up suspended, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram will be the biggest winners from the fallout, experts predict.

TikTok has about 115 million monthly active users in the U.S., far behind YouTube’s 258 million and Facebook’s 253 million, according to the market research firm Sensory tower. Instagram has 131 million. Short videos that mimic TikTok clips are gaining viewership on those apps, taking up about 41% of users’ time on Instagram, Sensor Tower data shows.

While TikTok has a smaller US user base and a smaller share of total ad dollars than its top competitors, it’s a dominant platform for creators, especially those focused on short-form content.

HyperAuditor’s influencer marketing platform defines a creator as a user with more than 1,000 followers. According to HyperAuditor, TikTok has nearly 8.5 million people in the US who fit this category, compared to about 5.2 million on Instagram and 1.1 million on YouTube.

Meanwhile, according to Sensor Tower, TikTok accounts for 9% of digital ad spending on social media platforms in the US, compared to 31% for Facebook, 25% for Instagram and 21% for YouTube.

If TikTok were to disappear, “it would equate to billions of dollars that could be grabbed by competitors,” Sensor Tower told CNBC in an email. Electronic marketer It is estimated that Meta and YouTube could receive about half of the redistributed dollars if the ban goes into effect.

Such market changes have occurred elsewhere. India has banned TikTok in June 2020, when the app had about 150 million monthly users in the country. A year later, the number of monthly active Instagram users in India has increased by 20%, while the number of YouTube users has grown by 11% year-on-year, according to Sensor Tower estimates.

“That’s when we saw the biggest spike in Reels usage ever,” said Meghana Dhar, a former Instagram executive who worked at the company during India’s ban. “If TikTok gets banned and creators have to fight between YouTube Shorts and Instagram, many creators are already hedging.”

At Meta, Instagram executives have scheduled multiple impromptu meetings Friday after hearing oral arguments at the Supreme Court, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. While many at the company have long expected TikTok to remain active in the U.S., Instagram leaders have begun directing their teams to prepare for a potential influx of users if the ban goes into effect, said the person, who asked not to be named for privacy reasons.

Some creators suggest that subscribers find them on “fbook”, for example, rather than writing on Facebook. Others will use just enough words to convey a message to their followers, hoping to avoid detection by TikTok, Nolan said. Some creators team up with brands to incentivize users by holding prizes gifts for users who follow them in other apps, she added.

“They’re obviously not saying, ‘Go on Instagram,'” Nolan said. “They say, ‘Follow me,’ and they talk about it.”

Even with many other options for finding a large audience, creators worry about trying to rebuild their business and whether enough subscribers will migrate with them.

“Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen, and we’re just going to make the best of it,” said Nelly Boschma, 27, of Los Angeles, who has been a creator since 2022. “It’s just how I have to look at it so I don’t panic.”

Despite the potential upheaval, Boschma said she sees the potential ban as an opportunity to expand her career and become more creative.

Boschma began to do TikTok video after quitting her job at a horse farm, she decided to live off her savings while simultaneously experimenting as a creator. Boschma’s bet on herself worked, and she earned enough to live in Los Angeles, paying for her own house and car.

Now she makes sure her TikTok fans see links to her other profiles so they can find her on other apps, including YouTube. If the ban is enforced, Boschma said she plans to make a video asking her fans to follow her elsewhere.

This will be a big lift as she currently has 2 million followers on TikTok compared to just 278,000 on YouTube. But Boschma said she’s going to try her hand at making longer videos, something she’s always wanted to explore.

“Whether TikTok goes away or not, I think something will happen,” Boschma said. “I will find my footing in other places like TikTok.”

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