Lili Bikri burst into tears Friday morning as she discussed the news that the Supreme Court had ruled against TikTok, rejecting the company's argument against a law that would effectively ban it in the United States next week.
Bikri, a content creator, said, “I'm really shocked because I feel like we live in a world where there's so much judgment.'' TikTok is a place where I can be free, I can shrink back, I can be who I am.'' It gave me a place to be.” Based in New York, she is best known for her nostalgic 2000s parody videos.
“I shouldn't cry over something so stupid, but it really changed my life,” she added.
These are sad and stressful times for TikTok creators.
In the days leading up to the verdict, creators posted condolences and proactively praised the platform that helped many change their destinies and give them a sense of community.
Ariel Fodor, who joined TikTok in March 2020, said, “The people I met on my For You page ended up becoming friends in real life.”
At the time, she was a kindergarten teacher who had just been sent home as the pandemic began and was looking for an alternative IRL connection.
She said in an interview Friday morning shortly after the Supreme Court ruling that she found what she was looking for on TikTok, and then some. Like Bikri, she lamented the platform, but eventually amassed 1.3 million followers and quit her teaching job to become a full-time content creator.
“I heard the arguments and the writing was on the wall,” Fodor said of the court's decision. “Obviously I'm disappointed, but not shocked.”
Fodor said she has worked to strengthen her presence on other social media channels as TikTok has come under increased scrutiny over the last year.
“We've all been preparing in a way,” Bikri said, echoing Fodor. “Nobody's really stuck with one platform.”
For example, on Instagram, which introduced the vertical video feature Reels in 2020, some TikTok users are already cross-posting their own content. YouTube may also be poised to attract so-called TikTok refugees. But for many content creators, especially those who stand to lose income as a result, TikTok won't be easily replaced.
“It's a big source of my livelihood,” Bikri said. “Everyone is going to have to adapt.”
How exactly they will adapt is not yet clear. For now, American creators are still adjusting to the idea of a world without TikTok.
“It makes me sad. I feel like this is more than just social media to me,” Taleatha Johnson, better known online as Leesa Teesa, said in an interview earlier this week.
Johnson became an overnight sensation last year with a 50-part video series that dramatized his relationship with his former mistress. A series of TikTok videos is currently being adapted for television.
“I'm one of those people who can honestly say that TikTok completely changed my life,” she added.
