US TikTok content producers advise fans to follow them on YouTube and Instagram.
After a federal appeals court decided that TikTok could be prohibited if it is not sold to a U.S.-based corporation by January 19, American content creators on the social media app advised their followers to subscribe to their channels on competing platforms like Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram.
With 170 million users, TikTok has emerged as a significant digital force in the United States, particularly among younger audiences who are attracted to its brief and frequently humorous videos. Fearing that TikTok’s Chinese owners are collecting data about American users, the U.S. Congress approved a measure mandating that ByteDance, the company’s Chinese-backed owner, sell off its TikTok in the United States or risk being banned.
Since politicians and others have been threatening TikTok for years, some users have dismissed the latest claims. With the possibility of a ban in as little as six weeks, that seemed to alter on Friday. It is still feasible to appeal to the Supreme Court. Viewers and content producers expressed uncertainty and worries about the app, with many expressing that they were ready for the worst and that they didn’t think the platform would last. Chris Burkett, a TikTok content creator who has 1.3 million followers and makes videos on men’s lifestyles, expressed his doubts about the platform’s viability.
Data indicates that US spending on TikTok Shop increases when TikTok confronts the possibility of being banned.
According to estimates from TikTok and a Reuters study of spending trends based on Facteus data, US TikTok users have spent a lot of money this holiday shopping season on products from a variety of vendors on the e-commerce site TikTok Shop.
The trends indicate that TikTok Shop, which debuted in the US in September 2023, has probably increased its e-commerce market share at a pivotal time. Major brands like Ninja Kitchen and e.l.f. Cosmetics, among others, use TikTok Shop as an e-commerce platform.
In a news statement issued in late November, TikTok Shop reported that its sales had topped $100 million on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when American shoppers looking for deals spent a lot of money online.
According to a previous report, the monthly number of customers making purchases on TikTok Shop has almost tripled. Its assertions could not be independently confirmed by Reuters. Chinese company ByteDance was ordered by a US federal appeals court on Friday to divest TikTok in the US by the beginning of next year or risk being banned. TikTok Shop may also be banned if the well-known app for short videos is banned.
Similar to its competitors Shein and Temu, TikTok Shop features goods from independent sellers, some of whom ship from China and engage in price wars. To speed up shipping, each platform has attempted to entice more US vendors with reduced rates.
Ads and sponsored “influencers” are common strategies used by TikTok Shop merchants to promote their goods to the 170 million US users of the TikTok social media app.
TikTok Shop merchants complete customers’ orders directly, occasionally with the help of outside parties or TikTok’s e-commerce fulfillment services. TikTok Shop has given consumers like York, Pennsylvania resident Jasmine Whaley, 31, a new location to purchase clothing, cosmetics, and Crocs. After watching influencer videos on the platform this year, she has spent over $700.
Third-party data company Facteus reports that in the seven days preceding Cyber Monday, December 2, a significant day for online shopping, US expenditure on TikTok Shop surpassed spending on Shein and Temu. According to Facteus, 140 million consumer credit and debit cards account for 7% to 10% of all US purchases.