Questions about TikTok? We have some answers.

TikTok’s future in the U.S. is looking tumultuous at best. One minute, it’s banned; the next, a U.S. executive order intervenes to keep the scroll rolling. Meanwhile, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is literally dancing around a potential sale to the U.S.


This raises so many questions, right? Will TikTok survive the drama? With so much in limbo for this social media giant, what’s in store for vertical video, and how should brands and businesses react to this ever-evolving story? We talked with Ethan Brown, our Sr. Social Media strategist, to get some answers.


So, is the ban over?


Not really. Things are still in flux and changing pretty quickly. Users can post and comment on content as usual, but the TikTok app can’t be downloaded from the Apple or Android stores. And service providers are concerned that if they keep the app running, they’ll incur hefty fines. That means no one is updating the TikTok app, which will only lead to bugs and security issues. There’s also a fair amount of skepticism about whether the president’s executive order can legally supersede a piece of legislation passed by Congress. So there’s definitely more to come on all of this.


Given this tenuous situation, how can marketers plan and prepare for what’s next?


Predicting what’s going to happen next is nearly impossible, so it really is about watching and analyzing other competitors and platforms and staying nimble enough to react. Ultimately, people aren’t going to stop watching vertical video, even if TikTok does eventually shut down. They’re just going to find different platforms to watch it.


Are audiences moving to other apps?


A lot of people have flooded to other apps like Red Note and Lemon8. But I don’t see either of those being super viable alternatives because they are governed by the same Chinese data collection regulations as TikTok, and therefore could be banned in the future as well. That’s why we’re always using our expertise to monitor and track how all social media platforms are changing and adapting. 


What other platforms are you watching right now?


We see Pinterest, for example, as a platform that has significant room to grow for a lot of our clients because it is still a site traffic driver. In Q4 of 2024, 16 million monthly active users were added, bringing their total up to about half a billion monthly active users. That’s a massive platform, but it requires a very different content strategy than a platform like TikTok — there’s obviously not as much vertical video there. But this also underscores why we don’t invest in just one platform or produce an asset that can only live in one place, and we will continue to do so whether TikTok sticks around or not.


Should content creators completely shift their vertical video strategy?


Vertical video is absolutely the leading type of content right now, and it should definitely be part of your content strategy. But I think this situation with TikTok is a good reminder to not put all your eggs in one basket. If you’re just chasing trends or reacting to the month-by-month shifts of the algorithm, and a platform like TikTok shuts down, you’re going to be hurting a lot more than someone who is producing a good mix of content.


If TikTok does ultimately go away, what will that mean for the social media landscape?


In the long term, there’s going to be some more competition. For example, when there was a mass exodus on Twitter, that just led to further competitors. That was not a forced mass exodus like this one, but it’s still an exodus of users, right? So it’s likely there will be attempts to create a U.S. based vertical video platform that isn’t Instagram or YouTube. But because the vertical video market is already saturated, it’s unlikely we’ll see a brand new platform right away. Rather, we expect to see a spike in usage of other vertical video platforms.


What does TikTok have that other apps don’t?


One interesting thing about TikTok is that, while it’s a content consumption platform, it’s also somewhat of a search engine — its search functionality and SEO is fantastic. The only other platform to compare that search functionality to is YouTube, whose algorithm is great for seeing what content you’ve already consumed and predicting your future content. And that feels a lot more like TikTok than Instagram. But I think YouTube has a reputation challenge to get past when it comes to Shorts, so I’m very interested to see where that goes.


Ban or no ban, what can we learn from this TikTok situation?


I think there’s a lot that brands and businesses can learn from individual content creators. The best ones are community builders. If you look back on the creators who survived the collapse of Vine, for example, they were the ones who relied on their community of followers, and not just the platform — they knew how to build personal connections and how to give their videos a human touch so that wherever they went, whether it be TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or the next app that came along, their community followed them. It’s important to remember that while your tactics may need to change for the platform you’re on, your focus on the community that you’re creating content for should not.


Stay tuned! This story is far from over. And if you want to chat more, we’re here for it…even if TikTok isn’t.