Could Influencers Survive a Tik Tok Ban?

With some content creators able to make good money from views and brand collaborations on the app, losing access to it could come ata high price

- ALICE GIBBS

AS THE POSSIBILITY OF A U.S.ban on TikTok looms, influencers have found themselves grappling with the potential ramifications on their careers and livelihoods.

The video-sharing app-which has 150 million users in the United States is the cornerstone of many influencers' online presence, a crucial avenue for audience engagement and a significant source of income.

But, fueled by concerns over national security, on April 24 President Joe Biden signed into law the bill that started a 270-day clock for TikTok's Chinese parent company Byte Dance to divest their stake in the company, otherwise a U.S. TikTok ban comes into effect. "It's like a stab in the back," said Noah Jay Wood, a content creator and actor with 7.2 million followers for his account @noahjaywood on the app.

"TikTok is the foundation of all of my social media platforms. So without TikTok, I would have never grown on like Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube," he told Newsweek.

According to Influencity, a platform specializing in influencer marketing, the U.S.has an estimated 10 million influencers.

Increasingly, these individuals are forging full-time careers in content creation. Goldman Sachs reports that the creator economy, encompassing such influencers, was estimated to be a $250 billion Industry in 2023 and is projected to hit $480 billion by 2027.