Like many others suffering from quarantine-induced boredom, Gabbie Wiggins first hopped on social app and video platform TikTok in 2020 as a means to pass the time. She had just moved to St. Louis for work, and because of COVID-19, was unable to become acquainted with her new community.
Wiggins was initially opposed to the idea of TikTok, but that mindset changed after she learned about the different niches on the app. Observing other creators posting about their own experiences in St. Louis, Wiggins was inspired to use TikTok as a means to “dive deeper into what the city has to offer.”
“I started using TikTok almost like a diary,” Wiggins said. “I would post my visits of some of the places that I was starting to explore whenever I first moved to the city.”
Operating under the username @itisgabriellee, Wiggins posts primarily St. Louis-based “food and things-to-do content” on TikTok. In her videos, Wiggins recommends different St. Louis restaurants, bars, cafes and activity destinations. Four years after the pandemic, Wiggins’ account has accumulated about 45,000 followers and 783,000 likes on the app.
With the passage of a law last month that would force the sale of TikTok by its parent company, or ban the platform in the U.S., creators like Wiggins are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, flocking to other video-based platforms.
TikTok currently reports over 1 billion active monthly users, about 150 million of which are American. Launched in 2016 by Beijing-based internet company ByteDance, TikTok has long been plagued by accusations of sharing American data with Chinese authorities.
ByteDance has denied those allegations, and earlier this month it sued to block the ban, calling it unconstitutional. Last week, a group of TikTok creators filed a separate suit looking to block the law.
Under the law, ByteDance has up to a year to sell TikTok. If it is not sold within the given timeframe, TikTok will be removed from app stores.
Users with TikTok downloaded would not see the app disappear with the ban; new users would simply be unable to download TikTok. Because it would not be present on app stores, TikTok would not get updates, security patches and bug fixes, thus rendering the app unusable and a security risk as time goes on.
Shawn Denney, a growth strategist at Columbia-based digital marketing agency Intero Digital, said the proposed ban is “just another upcoming disruption” in the social media landscape, much like artificial intelligence. Intero Digital works with a range of business clients across the nation and has not had to voice concerns over TikTok to clients just yet, Denney said.
“It was more surprising that it was pushed through our government, but (it’s) not overly concerning in how it's happening,” Denney said. “If it does all go through, we're still a year out from that, and then we're probably still a year out from when they’re no longer able to receive updates to the platform and on your phone, so we're probably two to three years out from TikTok having a significant decline in how people interact and use” the platform.
On the clock
When Wiggins first heard about the TikTok ban passing Congress, she was “shocked.”
“I actually decided to expand on Instagram and I created my own account where I'm still posting the same content there,” Wiggins said. “With Instagram, I think it provides that stability at the moment, so I've kind of taken those preliminary steps there.”
About 5% of Wiggins’ annual income comes from her work on TikTok, she said.
In addition to TikTok’s Creator Fund, an in-app tool for creators to help monetize their content, much of a TikTok creator's revenue comes from outside brand deals, sponsorships or ads — paid collaborations with businesses.
In some cases, a business sends a sample of its product to a creator and asks for a review to be shared on the creator’s account for their audience to see. In others, a business might sponsor a creator’s video to build name recognition with the creator’s audience.
The price of promotions on the platform spans a wide range. TikTok ads start at $10 for 1,000 views, and TikTok requires brands to spend a minimum of $500 on a campaign, according to Influencer Marketing Hub, a media company focused on influencer marketing. It can cost brands $50,000 to $120,000 to take over a popular TikTok channel.
The highest-paid TikTokers in 2024, sisters Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, rake in an estimated $17.5 million and $10 million per year, respectively, according to Influencer Marketing Hub.
Wiggins knows many creators, entrepreneurs and small businesses that rely on the app more heavily than she does. For those that have not yet branched out to other platforms, “with this ban looming, it's definitely kind of scary,” she said.
Wiggins feels that TikTok’s inclusive algorithm sets it apart from other social media platforms.
“TikTok as a platform celebrates diversity of thought, ideas, perspectives, opinions,” Wiggins said. “That kind of algorithm really allows people to easily get their stuff out there.”
Denney echoed Wiggins’ sentiments.
“I think that what attracts people to TikTok the most right now is that they're finding that the algorithm is giving them more content that's engaging to them: it's short form content, it's easy to understand,” Denney said.
Nuv Kaur, another Missouri-based TikTok creator, recently started posting her content on Instagram as well as TikTok in preparation for a potential TikTok ban. Kaur has experienced difficulties in the transition.
“I feel like TikTok is my place to just be my most authentic self,” Kaur said. “(On Instagram) there is so much photo editing, and I think that's personally what I would struggle with is trying to be authentic on that app when a majority of creators aren't.”
Kaur, who is on TikTok to “make people laugh,” made between $10,000 and $20,000 from brand deals on TikTok last year, she said. As a creator, Kaur also finds TikTok’s algorithms appealing.
“I feel like, with TikTok, some algorithms you can assume,” Kaur said. “Like, ‘Oh, this is a trend. This is gonna go viral. This is what the comments are gonna be like.’”
Like creators, small businesses are looking to transition to other platforms, too. With an existing presence and following on other social media platforms, some small businesses are less concerned about a potential TikTok ban.
Twisted Ranch, on TikTok as @twistedranchstl, has more than 22,000 followers and about 1.2 million likes on the app. Though the St. Louis restaurant initially joined the app “for fun,” General Manager Bre Lanter said TikTok has been a powerful marketing tool.
“A lot of people from out of town come in and they say they saw us on TikTok and that's why they came in,” Lanter said. “I've been here for about a year and a half, and I've heard it plenty of times.”
Twisted Ranch has posted on its account fewer than 30 times in about two and a half years on the app. Lanter feels confident that Twisted Ranch will continue to market successfully on other platforms if TikTok is banned.
“There are other platforms you can use to target fans — Facebook Reels, or Instagram or YouTube Shorts — that will probably blow up," Lanter said, "so I'm sure we'll just go on there if the time comes."
Denney believes that, regardless of TikTok’s fate, there will be demand for social messaging and video and, therefore, room for a competitor to rise.
“I know Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are trying and they have not achieved quite that same level of success with it, but I think we will see a replacement come about one way or the other,” Denney said.
Denney predicts those who would suffer most in the event of a TikTok ban would be creators and businesses without a well-thought social media strategy. Denney expects to see dissatisfaction across the industry as a result.
“(TikTok) is going to see a decline in performance over time (assuming that it’s not sold),” Denney said. “The overall concept would be we’re likely going to feel frustration from the clients because their business starts to feel it.”
This story was originally published by the Missouri Business Alert, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
