Well, that was fast. TikTok is back, and the message welcoming back Americans thanked Trump. I’m pleased to see a number of creators who are glad it’s back, but feel like it’s been tainted. At moments like this, where you have Zuckerberg sounding like every toxic podcast bro, Elon vying to be treated like he’s vice president… it’s important to pay attention to who they want you to thank, who they want you to blame. It’s propaganda 101.
There are a lot of conspiracy theories. To me, Facebook letting you link your TikTok page isn’t a sign that meta is going to own it – it’s a sign that whatever deal was cut lets TikTok into the right-wing social media club. Which is where you need to be to survive in this New America.
I am going to keep my eye on the platforms that were being created when the ban looked eminent. Because I do think that free speech is important. I wish I could find the TikTok – but someone pointed out that in the digital age, book banning would look a lot more like banning or controlling an app.
If some creators showed their ass by breaking trust with their audience prior to the “ban”, then even more showed their own bias by how they celebrated Americans being banned.
Last week someone I’d considered a friend had made a comment that when Americans were banned on TikTok, then the world could finally have a conversation. I asked what they couldn’t say with us in the room, he said that they wouldn’t need to be polite. I made it clear that the world already isn’t polite. They complain about seeing Americans in their feed – but don’t block or tell the algorithm they aren’t interested. They say that Americans think they’re the center of the internet, but some of these same creators created XSH/Red Note accounts just to stay in touch with Americans. So which is it? (It isn’t lost on me that the majority of these complaints come from Commonwealth nations)
One Canadian TikToker I’d enjoyed the content of said that once the ban was in place that she was freed of a parasocial relationship with Americans. Then the ban ended. And suddenly her American audience saw that, and were upset and began to unfollow her. What perplexed me is that nobody told her she had to cater to American audiences. She could have drawn her line and made what she wanted. If she entered into any sort of relationship with Americans, it was her own choice.
I suspect this week will be full of more creators embarrassing themselves.
I highly recommend that any creators pour attention into an updated website. Crosspost your own content, and make it the hub of everything you create. That way, no matter what happens – you are protected. If you do, I recommend that you use WordPress. They don’t pay me to say that – but Blogger is not supported by Google unless they have to. Squarespace is its own issue – you can’t really take your posts anywhere if you want to change platforms. What you see is what you get builders like Wix or Weebly are easy to use, but they do have limitations. (Most WYSIWYG builders are not accessible. They dynamically name divs, rather than labeling them with helpful information like content or sidebar)
WordPress can seem a little intimidating to get started with, but you can pick a standard theme, customize it – and learn as you go. It has plugins that you can integrate as you grow to help you optimize your site, add features, etc.