People who use TikTok are looking for another option to post content, follow their favorite influencers or connect with their audience if the app is banned in America next week.
GRAND BLANC, Mich. (WJRT) – TikTok users are wondering what’s next and looking for another option to post content or follow their favorite influencers if the app is outlawed in America next week.
Rebekah Spencer, owner of Rebekah’s Health and Nutrition Source stores in Grand Blanc and Lapeer, used TikTok to build a community of more informed customers.
“I liked TikTok very much,” she said. “I was able to connect with educated practitioners. It was more of a video, more education. More than a picture to quick post.”
Spencer started her e-commerce business on eBay before Amazon took over, so she moved to Facebook and then TikTok to connect with customers.
“It was great to see clients become educated and do their research and they were walking through my doors as an educated clientele,” said Spencer.
Saleem Alhabash, a professor of advertising, public relations and media at Michigan State University, said businesses using TikTok may have to continue adapting to the changing social media landscape if the app vanishes in the U.S.
“A lot of businesses might be losing their revenue stream or might have to think fast about where they are going to generate more sales for their products,” he said.
Alhabash pointed out that people are built to adapt.
“Users are going to try to find other ways to satisfy those needs like substituting with another platform. It could be a domestic platform, an existing platform or a completely new platform like Rednote,” he said.
Spencer plans to focus on her Facebook and Instagram business pages with TikTok’s future in doubt, but she is open to something new.
“I really believe after TikTok there will be something else,” she said. “We just don’t know when and where and what that looks like. It’s about being able to pivot, adapt, grow and change.”
Alhabash said other platforms offer similar features as TikTok. However, the change for millions of users will affect people who made the app a way of life and those who acquired income or influence from it.
“As humans we have the power to adapt and evolve, but the question now is which social media platform is going to step in and offer the alternative,” said Alhabash.
TikTok is owned in China and U.S. political leaders are concerned that Chinese interests are collecting personal information about American users on the app.
Alhabash pointed to RedNote as a possible alternative. TikTok users are flocking to the Chinese social media app in protest to the ban, but there are similar concerns regarding RedNote’s collection of data.
RedNote’s terms and conditions are written in Mandarin and users are struggling to convert them into English.
