Instagram and YouTube are preparing to benefit from the TikTok ban

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On Wednesday afternoon, Meta executives held a question-and-answer session with some employees about the current state of American politics.

Chief Marketing Officer Alex Schultz addressed questions about Meta's support for the incoming Trump administration and the company's precarious position overseas, according to two attendees. He also said Meta is paying close attention to the fate of TikTok, one of its biggest competitors.

Schultz faces a ban in the U.S. depending on what happens to TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, but Meta could lead to big changes in how Americans use social media. He said it was necessary to prepare for certain situations. He said the meta could be a boon, but we need to be prepared.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, is particularly interested in the outcome. If a law banning TikTok in the US takes effect on Sunday and the US's 170 million monthly TikTok users remain high, the Silicon Valley giant, along with Google's YouTube and other social media apps, will There is a possibility of benefit. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the federal law in question.

Meta is preparing to send a team privately to collect as many so-called TikTok refugees as possible, according to three people familiar with the plan. This includes further tweaking Instagram to make certain features more approachable for heavy TikTok users, as well as making TikTok's most popular influencers feel even better. Instagram offers Reels, a short-form video product that competes with TikTok.

“Instagram is a natural home” for TikTok creators and users, said Richard Kramer, a financial analyst at Arete Research. “Similar to TikTok, the app has online shopping and strong user engagement.”

YouTube has also made changes to the app to appeal to TikTok creators, especially YouTube Shorts, which provides users with quick vertical videos. In October, YouTube expanded the maximum length of YouTube Shorts videos from one to three minutes to capture creators accustomed to TikTok, where videos can be up to 10 minutes long. This week, YouTube invited some creators who use its app and TikTok to a YouTube Shopping “bootcamp” program to get the platform up and running.

A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that the company is “monitoring the news closely.” He added: “As with other apps and services in this competitive space, we are of course evaluating what different potential scenarios could mean for our product.” he added.

A YouTube spokesperson said the company regularly conducts bootcamps to educate creators about product features and formats.

Meta and Google have been preparing for a possible ban on TikTok in the US for years. Their plans began in earnest in April, when President Biden signed legislation forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners or face a ban in the United States. TikTok sued the federal government to challenge this law, and the case eventually went to the Supreme Court.

Meta and Google have been relatively quiet in public about what would happen if TikTok is banned from the U.S., but they have been active behind the scenes, according to people familiar with the companies' plans. three people said.

At Wednesday's meta-meeting, led by Schultz, executives discussed how to allocate internal resources, including employees and financial support, to deal with a potential influx of TikTok users, the meeting said. said two employees familiar with the matter. Officials say some teams are considering ways to help TikTok users transition to Instagram, such as bringing some of their TikTok videos to Instagram.

John Blackledge, an analyst at investment firm TD Cowen, said in an interview that if TikTok were banned, both Instagram and YouTube would see a “gradual” increase in revenue and user time on their apps. But Instagram has an advantage, he says.

According to a recent survey of 2,500 consumers by TD Cowen, US internet users said they were most likely to watch Instagram Reels after TikTok was banned. According to the survey, 29% of respondents said they were interested in Reels, 23% spent more time on YouTube Shorts, and 15% said they would look for new apps.

Instagram's dominance appears even more pronounced among advertisers, with 56% of ad buyers telling TD Cowen in last quarter's survey that their clients most wanted to advertise on Reels this year. Another 24% prioritized YouTube Shorts and 20% prioritized TikTok.

Meta and Google aren't the only companies looking to capitalize on TikTok's potential misfortune. On Saturday, newsletter startup Substack announced a $25,000 “TikTok Liberation Prize.” This award will be given to the creator who creates the most convincing video that gets the most TikTokers to post to join Substack, no matter what happens with TikTok.

This week, Clapper, a short video app similar to TikTok, offered some creators $200 for each video promoting their site as a destination for TikTok refugees. According to the company, prices vary depending on the creator's content and following status. And China's TikTok-like app “Xiaohongshu,” colloquially known in English as “RedNote,” also rocketed to the top of the App Store.

Still, it's still unclear which company will take over TikTok's space. Sami Scott, who creates content for TikTok and helps other creators join the social media platform, said she doesn't have all her eggs in one basket.

“I'm going to focus on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, but I'm going to keep looking at other things,” she said.