How Creators Are Preparing For A Shutdown

TikTok creators are scrambling to find a lifeline as the platform’s “opt-out or ban” deadline approaches. Although some directing audiences to their existing Instagram, YouTube or Snap accounts, others are moving to lesser-known alternatives such as Lemon8 and RedNote (Xiaohongshu), a Chinese-owned app. popular for many years among the Chinese wanhun (creators).

Even if a buyer comes along at the eleventh hour, the shake-up will be a powerful reminder of the fragility of platform-dependent work.

Indeed, the creators of TikTok have been waiting for a ban for many years. In 2020 when I started researching platform-formerly known as-Musical.lythe creators were preparing for a potential ban in accordance with decree then-President Trump. Some created farewell videos in advance, while others created backup accounts on competing platforms. As TikTokers warned during the first wave of bans: “Don’t build your house on borrowed land“

Members of the creator community were alarmed again in 2023 when CEO Shu Zi Chu Congress The testimony failed to allay national security concerns about ByteDance’s Chinese parent company. During an interview in March of that year business creator Dulma Altan shared her concerns about relying on a platform so susceptible to political and algorithmic whims:[s]

as if it could be… chosen at random, because it depends on the algorithm, because it depends on US-China relations and Congress…”

Other authors have mentioned the closure in 2017 Vine – a Twitter-owned platform that pioneered short videos – as a cautionary tale about excessive platform dependency.

TikTok’s “magic” algorithm?

Tik Tok was enrolled with the supercharged economy-creator, thanks in part to its clearly “virality-orientedlogics. Alessandro Bogliari, co-founder and CEO Influencer Marketing Factoryrecalled how TikTok stood out from the very beginning with its “content-based discovery system.” He explained: “Instead of starting with 1 million people and then potentially being seen by 10,000 people, you potentially have 10,000 followers and [can] millions of people will see it.”

Last Friday, when TikTok representatives and legal scholars spoke oral arguments to court, Judge Alito interrogated whether ByteDance really “developed this magical algorithm that all the Meta geniuses can’t replicate.”

Considering how often TikTok’s algorithmic system is the source trembling, anxiety And excitement“magical” conversion is not that far off. Last year, Internet researcher Kelly Cotter and colleagues introduced the idea of ​​”algorithmic spirituality” to describe how users attribute powerful mysticism to TikTok’s black box visibility system.

Uncertainty and labor

Algorithmic expertise has become something of a prerequisite for creators. However, the unpredictable nature of algorithms, as we argued in 2021 research embedded in layers of uncertainty: fickle audience tastes, boom-and-bust market cycles and, as the TikTok case illustrates, the volatility associated with Big Tech’s “move fast and break things” culture.

Such uncertainty is a long-standing feature of work in the creative industries. IN just published study Exploring the mental health of media workers, media researcher Mark Doise traces academic descriptions of precarious—even dangerous—working conditions to the 19th and 20th centuries.

For modern creators, this instability is exacerbated by their location within legal gray areas that make them largely unrecognized like the working class. Moreover, the work of professional influencers, content creators and streamers is obscured by a seductive narrative “work that doesn’t feel like work” Norms of passion and authenticity force many authors to hide the less glamorous aspects of their careers behind screens.

What are we I don’t see in a 30-second video – countless hours spent brainstorming, researching, filming and editing content, communication with the audienceand (hopefully) brokered deals.

Risk reduction

If instability is inherent in the social media economy and creative careers in a broader sense – then it is not surprising that workers are forced to diversify their activities. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” said social media researcher Zoe Glatt. causes “a common metaphor” among today’s creatives. Accordingly, the creators told me about their efforts to develop podcasts, newsletters, merch, and other expressions of their individuality. cross-platform brand.

But despite suggestions from Supreme Court justices that creators might simply move their audiences to competitors, it’s far from a smooth transition. Jeffrey Fisher, a lawyer representing a group of TikTok creators, said The court said this platform transformation was “completely unsatisfactory” to its clients, who are not celebrities but rather “ordinary American citizens.”

Or, as Altan puts it: “There is no creator.” [who]…is equally popular on all platforms. Everyone has one or two dominant platforms.” Audiences are not easily transferred from one app to another, and the culture of platforms—for example, #BookTok or #careertok—varies markedly.

As TikTok’s fate hangs in a delicate balance, teachersartists and small business owners who grew up economically dependent on the platform, prepare for a crushing blow. This time, their “borrowed land” seems to be on borrowed time.