How NYC influencers feel about a possible TikTok ban

TikTok’s fate is hanging in the balance.

On Friday, the Supreme Court heard arguments regarding a law that would ban TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell the app by Jan. 19.

The hugely popular platform’s stateside demise would have enormous implications for influencers — some of whom have built followings and livelihoods through the platform — but many of New York City’s top social media creators say they aren’t particularly stressed: They’ve already diversified their brands and grown followings on other platforms. And many doubt that the app will cease to exist.

“I feel like it's been such a topic of conversation for years now that I think we're kind of numb to it actually happening,” said Codey James, who has accrued more than 27,000 TikTok followers with his tours of NYC thrift shops. “I haven't heard as many people talking about it as you would think for such a monumental case that's going to affect everyone.”

Brian Lee, CEO of Righteous Eats, thinks it's important for brands to diversify across platforms, regardless of what happens to TikTok.

Even if the short video platform does go away in the United States, Brian Lee, CEO of the restaurant-highlighting brand Righteous Eats, isn’t really worried because he sees his company as “platform agnostic.”

“We’re on Instagram. We have YouTube shorts. We’re trying to push into other areas anyway,” said Lee, who is also founder of the content creator advisory firm Flavor Thing.

It's the same for influencer Emma Wahl, who has amassed more than 67,000 TikTok followers with her interviews about New Yorkers’ worst dates. She doubts TikTok is going away, and in the meantime she is also continuing to boost her presence on other platforms.

“If it does go away, another platform will emerge in its place quickly,” Wahl added.

Codey James has accrued more than 27,000 TikTok followers with his tours of NYC thrift shops.

Sam Clanon, TikTok’s former head of content strategy, has also observed widespread confidence a ban won’t happen.

“While we have certainly seen TikTok creators attempt to direct their audiences to other platforms, there is nowhere near the level of frenzy that occurred in 2020 on the occasion of the first ban,” Clanon told WNYC, referring to then-President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring TikTok a national threat. (Trump has since said that he would like the chance to save TikTok.)

“In my conversations with creators, brands and TikTok employees alike, there is a near-uniform belief that the platform will survive by legal means, acquisition or 'deus ex Trump,'” Clanon said.

Just because the most potentially affected individuals aren’t panicked doesn’t mean they’re not dismayed by the possibility.

“TikTok has given me the ability to reach a critical mass of people who are like me in a way no other social media platform has,” bassist April Kae said. “If TikTok gets banned, I’ll be alright, but it’ll definitely hurt.”

For comedian Pooja Tripathi, losing TikTok would not only mean potentially losing brand partnerships and a specific audience, but also the platform she feels most comfortable experimenting on.

“TikTok feels like a place I can test out ideas and try new things, versus Instagram where everyone you know will potentially see it,” she said.

East Village-based art director Olivia Stauber does not depend on TikTok for her income, but she’s a regular user. She not only enjoys it, but has once had her life changed by it: If it weren’t for TikTok, she may never have met her boyfriend, the thrift shop influencer Codey James.

“ I was literally being thirsty in his comments,” Stauber said. “ I was bored at my parents’ place and shot my shot and now we live together.”