In 2020, president Trump issued an govt order aiming to ban TikTok within the US because of considerations that the Chinese language-owned app posed “a risk to nationwide safety” (associated to TikTok’s entry to person knowledge). The manager order didn’t undergo, and TikTok continued to function within the US. Till now…
The approaching TikTok ban has been signed, sealed, and delivered by president Biden, and ByteDance (the corporate that owns TikTok) has now been given 9 months to promote the most well-liked app on the earth if it needs to maintain it working within the US.
Unsurprisingly (not less than to me), TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew responded, saying TikTok isn’t on the market, and vouched to combat towards the invoice that goals to take away TikTok from iPhone and Android telephones in the USA.
Politics apart, the factor is that… I don’t assume the essence of TikTok will ever go away the US. Or not less than not within the close to future, and definitely not within the subsequent 9 months.
That being mentioned, if/when “TikTok-ing” ultimately turns into uncool (like Fb did)… What would be the subsequent massive factor for social media?
How TikTok modified social media and the world without end: Creating alternatives, eliminating gatekeepers, and making folks much more hooked on their telephones
No Holywood? No Downside! TikTok gave a platform to next-gen celebrities like Matt Rife – one of many hottest stand-up comedians proper now.
TikTok isn’t good for you however the algorithm could be good to you
Though short-form movies aren’t a brand new phenomenon, TikTok revolutionized social media with two key strikes:
A mysterious content material discovery algorithm, which has confirmed to be certainly one of TikTok’s largest belongings
A concentrate on enabling customers to construct and preserve creator-fan relationships
In the case of TikTok’s notorious algorithm, though nobody actually is aware of precisely the way it operates, everybody is aware of that it’s been answerable for the countless scrolling we do on the app. However there’s a superb aspect to “the algorithm” – one fewer folks make the most of, and that’s the creator’s benefit.
By coincidence or not, the world of leisure was already headed in the direction of a future with out TV, and TikTok occurred to reach on the proper second, enabling creators from varied areas of leisure to discover a (typically) unpredictable however extremely disruptive platform to share their factor with the world.
A lot of the TikTok-made celebrities may be dancers, however one which stands out to me is comic Matt Rife who rode the TikTok wave like no different after a viral quick clip modified his life in a single day.
Using on the TikTok wave, rockstar-status comic Matt Rife bought out a world tour, crashed Ticketmaster (sure, like Taylor Swift), and can quickly turn out to be the youngest comic to carry out on the Hollywood Bowl.
Examples like Matt Rife are proof that TikTok isn’t only a enjoyable app for dance and cooking movies however a cracked door with out established “gatekeepers” on the earth of leisure ( you, Hollywood).
With TikTok, you don’t want a director, producer, and distributor… You’re the director, producer, and distributor! That’s in case you’re constant at posting, and if the notorious algorithm exhibits you some love…
Is TikTok addictive? The actual query is “how” addictive it’s…
What’s your TikTok display time?
Nevertheless, like the rest, TikTok has its “darkish aspect”, and and not using a shadow of a doubt, this is able to be the app’s addictive nature.
Positive, all social media apps are addictive however the identical “mysterious algorithm” that may change a creator’s life in a single day may hook folks on the opposite aspect of the TikTok like an actual drug.
I don’t have TikTok (relaxation assured, I discover different methods to waste time), however I can see TikTok’s addictive nature via somebody like my teenage cousin who by no means appears to not be on TikTok. As he’s scrolling, I’d preserve overhearing essentially the most random issues sounding off from his telephone’s audio system.
And to show my questionable professionalism, I may inform you that, in keeping with analysis, the common individual within the US appears to spend almost one hour on TikTok (as of 2024). That’s twice as lengthy in comparison with 2019.
To test how a lot time you spend on TikTok (or another app), open your iPhone/Android battery settings, and test which apps are consuming up your display time.
The US can ban TikTok however TikTok’s id will reside on via Instagram and YouTube
See, TikTok exploded onto the social media scene very quickly, quickly changing into the most well-liked app on the earth – put up the Covid pandemic when folks had a whole lot of free time on their fingers to create and devour TikTok movies.
However a few of you may do not forget that earlier than TikTok there was Vine – an analogous short-form video platform that attracted a younger viewers and principally younger creators. However Vine is… lifeless (and Elon Musk in all probability isn’t too thrilled about it).
Nonetheless, TikTok’s affect and operation mannequin rapidly prolonged past the app itself, as different social media platforms straight copied TikTok’s operation, enterprise, and algorithm mannequin for their very own apps – Instagram (owned by Fb) and YouTube (owned by Google).
Therefore, relaxation assured that even when TikTok had been to be pressured out of the US (the place 5% of its world person base comes from), the essence of TikTok isn’t leaving the USA simply but. It’s going to live on via the likes of Instagram Reels and TikTok Shorts.
US-based TikTok creators make up an necessary a part of TikTok’s “creator’s block”, they usually’d have to seek out one other option to join with hundreds of thousands of their followers. Naturally, Instagram (Reels) and YouTube (Shorts) would be the apparent new locations for his or her short-form content material. And so, the US authorities’s purpose could be achieved – preserve American person knowledge in… America.
Are “tremendous apps” the following massive factor after TikTok, and can Elon Musk resurrect the essence of Vine as a part of “X”?
Fb may be the closest factor to an excellent app obtainable within the US nevertheless it pales compared to the Chinese language WeChat.
Personally, I believe copying TikTok’s algorithm-based working mannequin is ruining Instagram and YouTube. I haven’t seen my mates’ Instagram photos in one million years, however I see adverts and random cat movies all day, each day. However now I see why Instagram needed to be “reinvented”, and that’s to suck up America’s soon-to-be-stranded TikTok person base.
In the long run, even when Instagram and YouTube are the apparent options to TikTok (having copied TikTok’s entire factor), each social media app that’s shaken up the world ultimately hits a peak level. After which comes one thing new.
If I needed to hedge my bets, I’d say that the pure evolution for apps like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter is to turn out to be the so-called “tremendous app”.
A “tremendous app” is mainly a single app that acts like a swiss military knife, permitting you to do nearly every little thing and something on it, which means you by no means really want to depart the app to make use of a special one.
Twitter boss Elon Musk has been fairly vocal about his plans to create the primary “tremendous app” within the US, utilizing Twitter as the idea of the venture. Maybe that’s the appropriate time? Hear, hear! What if Vine is coming again… as a part of “X”?
Whereas Fb may be the closest factor to an excellent app obtainable within the US (due to its personal Market and even courting app capabilities), it pales compared to the Chinese language WeChat.
Aside from appearing like a social media app (just like Twitter), WeChat lets Chinese language customers textual content, name, and even make cell funds and purchases with out leaving the app. And that’s simply scratching the floor.
The issue with this app-roach (no have to clap) is {that a} single app that does every little thing you have to do in your telephone sounds a bit… monopolistic. However not in case you ask the identical US congress members who say Apple ought to enable such apps on the App retailer. Who’re additionally the identical congress members who’re about to ban TikTok.
