TikTok influencers across the U.S. are facing the potential loss of significant income as a shutdown of the app seems imminent. The latest development in the ongoing legal battle indicates that TikTok could be banned in the U.S. as soon as January 19th, 2025, unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells the app to an American entity.
Sarah Perl, a 24-year-old influencer and business owner, has amassed over 2.5 million followers and a popular manifesting coaching business on TikTok. For Perl and many other content creators, the app has become an integral part of their daily business, making it difficult to imagine life without it. She notes that, despite the looming threat, many influencers are still receiving brand deals scheduled for the near future, suggesting that it is business as usual—for now.
However, the potential ban poses a serious economic challenge for many. Christine Ly and Olivya Soth, creators behind the popular slime account OG Slimes, are already bracing for the loss of their primary marketing platform. Their TikTok account, which has nearly 2 million followers, drives a significant portion of their business. They sell over 3,000 orders per month and have seen TikTok posts directly correlate with products selling out. While they are exploring other platforms like Instagram and YouTube, the ban will undoubtedly cause a ripple effect for their business, especially considering how integral TikTok has been to their success.
According to Jess Maddox, a social media researcher, many TikTok creators—especially micro-influencers with fewer than 300,000 followers—will face the most significant financial setbacks from a potential ban. These creators, who rely heavily on the platform for exposure, may find it difficult to pivot to other platforms without losing income or audience engagement.
TikTok has significantly transformed the creator economy by offering anyone the opportunity to go viral and monetize their content. Perl, who attributes her success to the platform, estimates she’s made over a million dollars from her TikTok business. However, without TikTok, she could lose up to six figures a month from product sales and affiliate earnings, as TikTok’s algorithm provided massive visibility for her videos. The challenges of replicating that success on platforms like Instagram, where content discovery is slower, would be significant.
The impact of a TikTok ban is likely to extend beyond big-name influencers. Small businesses that rely on TikTok’s Shop feature for marketing and sales would also be greatly affected. As Maddox points out, the shutdown would hit middle-class Americans particularly hard, exacerbating existing financial struggles caused by inflation and other economic factors.
Despite the potential loss, many creators are prepared to adapt. Rachel Muse, a small business owner and content creator with 150,000 TikTok followers, emphasizes that short-form video content is here to stay, regardless of the platform. While she is concerned about the disruption, she plans to continue documenting her journey on Instagram and YouTube.
As the deadline for the TikTok ban approaches, influencers remain hopeful that the situation will change, but they are also preparing for the worst. New platforms such as Xiaohongshu (Red Note) are already attracting some younger creators, and some influencers, like Perl, see this as an opportunity to be among the first to gain traction on new platforms.
For now, TikTok creators can only wait and watch, knowing that the fate of their businesses—and livelihoods—could change dramatically in the coming days.
