Influencer, social media expert says impact of TikTok ban could be career-ending and disruptive to economy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - As the implications of a ban on the popular social media and marketing app TikTok loom, influencers and social media experts warn about the economic impact of an app ban.

“I started making TikToks for for fun, I think like a lot of people did. It was a fun app to learn things and see funny videos and and I started making videos for myself,” explained Charlotte native and Charleston TikTok Influencer Sarah Baus. “I went from 200 followers to 200,000 in a month. And my story is...the story of success...[of] many creators, many small businesses.”

As news of a ban of TikTok continued, she decided do something at the Supreme Court hearings on January 10th.

“I flew to DC and I stood outside of the Supreme Court from 8:30 till 1:30 PM in the freezing cold. We had signs,” said Baus. “We just knew that we had to be there and make our presence known. Be loud and I wanted I wanted to be there to make sure I not only was paying attention, but the importance of this decision was seen.”

The importance of the app is not just felt by influencers like Baus, in recent years, it became a hub for marketing just about anything.

“What they don’t realize is that TikTok is not just somewhere where people go and make silly videos. It is a marketing platform. Is an SEO platform. In fact, it’s slowly becoming larger than Google. It’s a sales platform and it’s also one of the fastest ways for people to get information,” explained Harlot Inc. PR Owner/Partner Shea Thompson.

While some argue that can be accomplished on other platforms, Thompson who oversees digital strategy and influencer marketing for clients all over the country said TikTok’s algorithm has yet to be replicated.

“The TikTok algorithm is special,” said Thompson. “They’re able to immediately say, you know, I am looking to reach this specific audience and this specific age range and they don’t have to go through someone else. They can just reach these folks directly and these companies like that. And it’s been been very, very successful.”

While advocates of the ban say influencers should just switch to another platform, influencers like Baus agree simply switching to another platform is not a viable option.

“It’s not like we haven’t tried. It’s not like we don’t–A lot of us have audiences on the other social media,“ said Baus. ”I know I’ve struggled to gain the following that I have on TikTok. On the other platforms, and it’s just it’s simply not the same.”

With that knowledge, Thompson said a ban would eliminate micro-influencers and impact the economy.

“Just the TikTok shop alone sells millions of dollars worth of products every day just in the United States. If suddenly one day that just goes away, then that’s a huge disruption,” Thompson explained. “TikTok itself estimates that the United States, that small businesses here could lose, I think, about 1.3 billion in revenue within the first month of the ban.”

That said, if TikTok disappears, marketers will be scrambling to replace their ads, realocate funding for the year, and re-write their digital marketing strategies.

“So my biggest question that I have is if TikTok is banned, then I’m wondering, will we see more companies go back to traditional advertising?” posed Thompson. “If TikTok is banned and companies are having a hard time directly reaching their consumers, say they try to move to another platform, it’s over saturated, not having a lot of success on it, will they go back to traditional advertising? Will they go back to using billboards magazine ads? Will they go back to the TV ads? I think that’s something to watch out for and I think it’ll be really interesting to see.”

So what will influencers do if the ban goes into effect?

Thompson said she is sending her clients to YouTube, “I think that as far as the similarities between what is out there, that’s the most similar to TikTok then I think it’s YouTube and then subsequently Snapchat...on YouTube and on Snapchat, you see a lot more of that raw, unpolished content.”

She also said she does not see micro-influencers making the cut.

“If they’re on the cusp, then there is a chance that they won’t survive. They just won’t be able to make it,” explained Thompson. “It is extremely hard if you’re very popular on one platform, to switch and be popular on a a completely different platform. There’s different people on it, it’s a different demographic. And people tend to just not make the jump.”

Meinwhile, influencers like Baus are digging their heels in.

“I don’t have a plan B. You know, if things do not go our way on January 19th, the ban goes through, I will just keep fighting so that the next administration or or somebody comes and is able to reverse that ban,” said Baus, “I think it is greatly against the U.S. Constitution and our our rights.”

Baus said she feels the concern about data security that legislators are citing as reasoning for the ban is “decades old.”

“This is a conversation that should have been happening when social media, when these platforms started coming up decades ago,“ Baus argued. ”We need comprehensive–We need to look much deeper into this. Need a lot more research, into the data security laws and we need to hold all platforms accountable. We do not need to pinpoint a single platform."

Thompson agreed the risk of security is a moot point considering how the digital world is so integrated into most Americans’ daily lives.

Thompson explained, “In order for your information to not be out there at all, you’d pretty much just have to be one of those people completely off the grid.”