TikTok, which has been a cultural phenomenon, could be banned on January 19 under a law that requires the platform to cut ties with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or end its U.S. operations .
The fate of the social media platform will be decided by the Supreme Court, which last week heard oral arguments in a legal challenge to the law and appears likely to uphold the law. The Court could rule on the case as early as this week. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has asked the justices to suspend enforcement of the law so he can negotiate a “political resolution” to the issue after he takes office.
TikTok has more than 170 million users in the United States, and if banned, it’s unclear which competitors will benefit the most. Some experts believe that established social media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, could see the greatest influx of users. But some users are looking for something different and might turn to other apps.
Here are the different alternatives and what you need to know about them:
Xiaohongshu,ou RedNote
Recently, some American TikTok users took to Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu to protest the impending ban. Like TikTok, Xiaohongshu, which means in English Little Red Bookcombines e-commerce and short-form videos.
The app has gained traction in China and other regions with a Chinese diaspora, such as Malaysia and Taiwan. It has 300 million monthly active users, a majority of them young women who use it as a de facto search engine for product, travel and restaurant recommendations, as well as makeup and skincare tutorials. the skin.
Tuesday, Xiaohongshu, called RedNote by US users and in some app stores, was the most downloaded free app in Apple’s US app store.
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Lemon8
Lemon8, which is also owned by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is a lesser-known lifestyle app that allows users to post photos and short videos. Although the platform allows users to post videos similar to TikTok, it focuses more on photos and has been described as a mix of Instagram and Pinterest.
In recent weeks, many creators have hailed Lemon8 as the place to go if TikTok is banned by federal law. Some have also recommended it through paid sponsored posts tagged #lemon8partner, indicating a recent push by the company to generate more users.
But the law targeting TikTok also states that ByteDance’s divestment or ban obligation generally applies to applications owned or operated by the two companies or one of their subsidiaries. This means that even though Lemon8 is not explicitly named in the law, its future in the United States is also at risk.
Instagram launched Reels in 2020, a stream of short TikTok-like videos that users can create or scroll through. This feature has proven to be extremely popular, and some experts say creators are likely to move to it if TikTok is banned. In 2022, Instagram had 2 billion active monthly users. Meta no longer communicates the number of users of its different platforms.
But could it replace TikTok? It depends. While many creators currently post on both platforms, some experts say younger users are unlikely to migrate to a service made popular by their millennial parents. And if Meta’s algorithm is addictive, it’s not TikTok yet.
In the past, some TikTok users have also accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of being behind the focus on the platform, citing a 2022 Washington Post report that the streaming giant tech allegedly paid a Republican consulting firm to undermine TikTok through a nationwide media and lobbying campaign.
YouTube
Although TikTok makes headlines as a driver of internet trends, Pew Research Center says YouTube is actually the platform most used by teens and adults.
YouTube users can scroll through short films like they do on TikTok or Reels on Instagram and Facebook, allowing them to watch hours of small videos. Many videos featured on YouTube come from TikTok or from creators who post on multiple platforms. That said, YouTube is still known for its longer format videos and therefore may not offer the variety of content that TikTok users are looking for – at least not yet.
Snapchat
Snapchat, launched in 2011 with its famous disappearing videos, remains popular among teens and young adults. The platform has gained so much traction that Meta designed a similar feature in Facebook and Instagram called “Stories” that allows users to post photos or videos that disappear within 24 hours. In 2020, Snapchat launched another feature that allows users to “highlight the most entertaining Snaps, no matter who created them.” »
According to eMarketer, the platform had approximately 692 million monthly active users worldwide last year.
Twitch
For TikTok users who enjoy the “TikTok Live” stream, which features live-streamed videos, Twitch could be a good alternative. This platform, which is owned by Amazon, is a leader in the streaming industry and allows users to watch some of the internet’s most popular streamers, such as Kai Cenat. Twitch claims to have 105 million visitors per month.
Clapper
Clapper, a TikTok clone, has also gained popularity amid the impending ban. The app was launched in 2020 by Edison Chen, a Dallas entrepreneur, and focuses on Gen X and millennial users. In September of that year, the company described itself in a Facebook post as a “free speech” platform that does not “censor posts and comments.” But in a blog post published on its website in 2021, the company writes that it “ceased to be a ‘free expression’ platform” in September 2020 and that it has “changed its mission and goals ” to focus on “community.”
Other little-known applications
For TikTok users who want to get away from crowded places, there are lesser-known apps like Triller, which is popular for music videos, and Zigazoo, which was designed for children.
If none of these apps appeal to you, it’s also possible that other platforms will emerge in the coming months as companies try to attract users looking for a new place to go.
