TikTokers in the UK say goodbye to their US followers as ban approaches. What a beautiful community | technology

If TikTok disappears from the U.S., it's not just its 170 million American users who will lose out.

TikTokers and business owners in the UK told the Guardian they would lose a significant amount of their audience following the ban. The video app has become a major gateway for American to British online video creators, who earn their living by racking up views and trading sponsored content. The ban is set to take effect on Sunday, leaving a US-sized hole in its global user base.

In English-speaking markets, many creators have sizable American audiences following them, says Thomas Walters, CEO of Billion Dollar Boy, a UK-based advertising agency that connects blue-chip advertisers with creators and influencers. He added that the ban would be truly sad for creators who built their audiences on TikTok from scratch.

The Guardian spoke to several UK-based creators and an entrepreneur, all of whom said they would be affected by the ban.

Jay Beech, 30, London

US users make up nearly half of Beechs' 1.7 million audience on TikTok. He says there is a strong relationship between creators and users on both sides of the Atlantic, a form of digital cultural exchange that will be missed by millions of Britons and Americans.

Identifying gaps in our feeds will make a big difference for all of us, he says.

Beech, who describes his posts as high-energy fashion content, says sponsored content from brands such as American skincare line Kiehls and Sky TV provides the majority of his income. He said he's also noticed that TikTok users don't necessarily follow you elsewhere, although you do have a presence on YouTube Shorts and Instagram.

[A ban] He said he'll be drawn into the diaspora, bringing people back to their favorite creators and trying to find new homes on the platform of their choice.

Fats Timbo, 28, KentFats Timbo is a comedian and podcaster. Photo: Fats Timbo

Fats is a comedian and disability activist who posts comedy, beauty and lifestyle content to her 3 million followers on TikTok. She said the U.S. platform, which reaches about a quarter of her followers, is critical to her work.

TikTok has been invaluable to my career, she says, because it allows me to connect with an American audience that lacks representation of black women like me with dwarfism.

Timbo added that the United States offers creatives like him the opportunity to grow, collaborate, and showcase themselves on a global stage.

It's not just about numbers. It's about the impact I can have and the representation I can provide to people who rarely see people like themselves in the media. Losing that connection, she says, would feel like losing part of my purpose.

Timbo says U.S. customers are key to securing brand deals, collaborations and visibility globally. While losing TikTok in the U.S. would be a significant setback, she's also been creating content on Instagram to stay connected with her American followers.

Em Wallbank, 25, West Yorkshire

American viewers make up approximately 40% of Em Wallbanks' audience. The West Yorkshire-based creator says her comedy skits have become a hit across the Atlantic, partly because of her accent. Wallbank, best known for its posts about Harry Potter characters, has 1.7 million followers on TikTok.

I guess part of my popularity is because I'm from the North and my accent is a bit of a novelty. [to US users]she says

Wallbank, who began posting skits on TikTok in 2022, says the U.S. social media market is a testing ground for the ability of creators to pursue careers as expansive as the Kardashians and Nicole Richie.

People who pursue careers outside of social media appeal to American audiences, she said.

Wallbank's popularity in the United States has led her to work at American fan conventions and produce sponsored content with multinationals such as the UK's Disney+. She's concerned about the potential for prospective creators and American viewers who can use TikTok to access creative careers that might otherwise be inaccessible.

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Being able to enter the creative industry with my background is huge, she says.

Sarah Yuma, 30, London

Yuma said the U.S. TikTok audience has been crucial to the growth of her business as she sells homewares and hair accessories using African fabrics.

Building a business solely relying on a UK audience can be tricky. It was the American audience that propelled my business and took it to the next level during the lockdown, she says.

Yuma, who has more than 3,000 followers on TikTok, said the surge in popularity of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 brought in an influx of American customers and followers.

Sarah Yuma sells handmade products using African fabrics from her home in London on Thursday. Photo: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

If TikTok disappears from the U.S., I'll lose a big part of my community, says Yuma. They helped me with my design. It's a really beautiful community that I've created.

She adds that if TikTok is turned off in the US, it will have to rethink how it communicates with its American audience.

I have to rethink my strategies for how to keep them in my community and in touch, she says. I don't want to isolate them. They are really important to my business.

Sam Cornforth, 29, London

Cornforth posts fitness-related comedy sketches to his 460,000 followers, with the United States making up about a quarter of his followers. He said the fact that he was working with a UK-based brand like Argos would protect his income from sponsored content.

But he said brands could react negatively to creators losing significant chunks of their audience.

Brands pay attention to total reach. If potentially 20-30% of that gets cut, will that affect future opportunities with that brand? he asked.

Cornforth adds that TikTok's US audience is important in establishing trends that filter across to other platforms. Without that influence, creators can lose drive and inspiration for their work.

That's where the trend was born, he says, and later filtered into YouTube Shorts and Instagram.

This article was revised on January 17, 2025. Em Wallbank is based in West Yorkshire, not South Yorkshire as stated in a previous version.

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