Creators respond to possible TikTok ban

iStock/WachiwitBY: MIKE DOBUSKI, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — News this week that the US is considering banning TikTok, a social media app that’s wildly popular among young people, sent shockwaves through the community of users on the platform.

Morgan Eckroth started posting on TikTok last May, under the handle @morgandrinkscoffee. She now has nearly four million followers, and mostly posts videos about her experiences working at a coffee shop outside of Portland, Oregon.

“I’ve really really enjoyed it,” she says. “It’s my first time, kind of, building a platform for myself that’s turned into something that’s led to me being like, kind of, a micro-public figure.”

When Eckroth first heard the news of a potential ban on TikTok, she said her initial reaction was of “fear and frustration.”

Nigel Braun, another TikTok creator, found the news funny.

“I laughed because I was like, ‘of course TikTok’s going to shut down.'” he says. “Now that we actually got established on it- that’s just when it all gets shut down.”

Braun, alongside his brother and a mutual friend, runs a TikTok account that focuses on science. A recent video shows Braun demonstrating the reactive properties of white phosphorus by lighting a piece of the toxic substance on fire.

@nilered

white phosphorus is scary ☠️ ##tiktokpartner ##learnontiktok ##science ##nilered

♬ original sound – nilered

Braun and his team, who go by @nilered on TikTok, began making videos on YouTube in 2014. They only started putting content on TikTok at the beginning of this year, but have since accumulated nearly three million followers. Though they operate out of Canada, Braun says most of his viewers are American. A few months ago, TikTok even offered to partner with them as part of a science initiative on the platform.

As for the news of a potential ban on TikTok in the US, Braun says he’d be sad to see the app go.

“It’s unfortunate because I was happy with how well we were doing.”

Some creators were skeptical from the outset.

“My first thought was that it’s not going to happen,” says Sally Darr Griffin, who mainly posts comedy videos on the app.

But at the same time, she did encourage her followers on TikTok to follow her on other platforms.

“It’s important to diversify your platforms,” says Griffin. “Send people to your YouTube or your Twitter, or your Instagram. Just so you can kind of, cover all your bases.”

Eckroth agrees, saying “I think right now with the realization that TikTok is a little bit in jeopardy, I think it’s a big wake-up call for creators who haven’t necessarily, like, diversified their platform usage to be like, ‘hey, I need to get these people who are interested in me – and interested in following my life – onto these other platforms.'”

 

@morgandrinkscoffee

i have the same username on all platforms, go follow because I’m not going anywhere! ✌️

♬ Chhromatica II Into Cant get you out of my head – nerukessa

 

Some of those platforms are working on services of their own that mirror TikTok’s short-form video format. Instagram this week announced it would bring an app called “Reels” to India, after testing it in Brazil, France, and Germany. YouTube is reportedly working on a competitor called “Shorts.”

“It’s not like there’s nowhere else to pivot to,” says Braun. “Whatever other company comes up with a replacement, whether it’s YouTube, Instagram, whatever- I’m sure a huge [part] of their base that TikTok had would just shift over, says Braun.

On Thursday, TikTok experienced a glitch that caused the amount of “likes” on certain videos to disappear. In a statement to ABC News, a TikTok spokesperson said, “the issues appear to have been caused by higher traffic than normal on our servers in Virginia, causing temporary service disruptions.” TikTok added they have since resolved the issue.

But that didn’t stop some TikTok users from thinking the glitch was related to recent events.

“All of the sudden my comments section was flooded with ‘this is the end! Goodbye!’,” says Eckroth.

And many were quick to follow their favorite creators on other platforms. “I think I gained about 2000 [followers] on Instagram in under 24 hours,” says Griffin.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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