TikTok creators mourn app where 'overnight' success is possible

Some creators told the BBC they will start to diversify where they post their content and lean in to platforms like Instagram and YouTube.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersTikTok creators mourn app where 'overnight' success is possibleWatch TikTokers weigh in on potential US TikTok banFor online sensation Erika Thompson, TikTok is the most powerful social media platform to educate her 11 million followers about her life's passion: bees.

The loss of the platform in the US - made more likely after the Supreme Court upheld a ban that is set to be enacted next week - will be "substantive" financially for Ms Thompson, a Texas beekeeper, but it is also a loss of an educational tool.

"There are a lot of other people on the platform offering educational content or informative content," she told the BBC. "That's the biggest loss and that's what should be focused on, beyond the financial aspect, is the loss that we as a society - the people who use TikTok - will certainly feel."

Some 170 million Americans use the app and website. Unless its China-based parent company ByteDance sells the platform or intervention comes from the executive branch, the platform is set to go dark in the US on Sunday.

The fate of the social media giant was left in the hands of the US Supreme Court after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app last year, over concerns about its links to the Chinese government and worries about the app being a national security risk.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdd99r0jm3jo

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