When considering the Supreme Court ruling and today’s news cycle, the answer to the question posed in this blog’s headline is: it’s anybody’s guess. Despite an official governmental ban effective as of today, the platform may have been provided potential “new life” thanks to comments by the incoming president.
As for what the long-term future holds for Tik Tok and its 170 million users, Rolling Stone took an interesting look at other platforms that are courting those individuals:
- Substack: Known as more of a newsletter publishing platform, the company has upgraded its video capabilities including allowing anyone with at least 10 subscribers to stream live from their pages
- YouTube: This stalwart stands ready to pick up the Tik Tok slack with its YouTubeShorts which premiered in 2020. Already, many users in India – which also banned Tik Tok in a recent year – have found a home here.
- Snap: Currently allowing for the monetizing of vides and story post, the platform recently announced a new monetization program in December which pays content creators for Spotlight videos over one minute
- Tumblr: Over the past two years, administrators at the site have introduced a Communities section which allows Tumblr posters to interact directly with fans
- Lemon8: TikTok sister app combines video posting albeit with a static homepage similar to Pinterest or Instagram. What is unclear is how TikTok’s fate will affect this sister platform
- Fanbase: Founded by Isaac Hayes III – son of Isaac Hayes, Fanbase prioritizes transparent monetization.
Obviously, many potential options exist amid TikTok’s upheaval. The million-dollar question: which, if any, will catch on and fill any potential long-term void amid stiff competition, fickle consumer tastes, federal regulation and lay person pronouncements. With all of the back and forth and uncertainty, it behooves any organization to continue to watch the trends and consider closely how best to target and appropriately/effectively reach its key audiences – with the right platform(s) at the right time(s).