What happens to influencers when social media dies?

Whilst most of us use social media as a form of downtime, liking random videos and doom scrolling to our heart’s content, it’s not a secret that there are ways of making big money by simply just posting on socials. Currently one-third of TikTok influencers earn a full-time salary on the app, with the Creator Fund allowing people to properly rely on social media as their primary source of income.

When you hear that Charli D’Amelio makes around $246,618.83 for each video she posts on TikTok, it’s easy to be convinced to quit your job and invest in a ring light, a tiny mic, and a sticky-back phone case: everything you need to kick off your new career as a social media influencer, in whatever niche you choose. But the reality is that influencing sounds great until you realise exactly how precarious of a job it is.

It's becoming more apparent that the social media platforms we use on a daily basis - the same ones that plenty of people rely on for an income - might not be here next week, and we’re wondering what influencers are planning to do if and when that happens. When your entire livelihood relies on TikTok, what happens when TikTok dies?

Should we really be worried about TikTok?

When it comes to social media platforms, their life spans are turbulent, relying on a myriad of carefully balanced factors to stay buoyant and in competition with the rest. For example, MySpace was once the world's biggest social media site, acquired for $580 million, but it fell fast, losing 10 million users in January 2011 alone for a variety of reasons.

Whether you blame poor management, growing competition, website bugs, or overspending for MySpace’s downfall, all of the above surmounted to the sudden end of what was previously the most popular social platform in the world. What we’re getting at is that social media platforms might appear stable, but they’re not: blows like financial downturns or competition can come out of nowhere, and before you know it we're all deleting the app off our homescreens.

The short answer is: yes

TikTok might seem like it's not going anywhere, but the app has already been banned in a number of countries, including India, Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Somalia, and is facing more and more restrictions every year. Only this year, President Joe Biden signed a bill on April 24th that would ban TikTok from the United States, unless ByteDance which currently owns it sells off the app within a year. According to Reuters, ByteDance would rather shut down TikTok than sell, so basically the 170 million Americans currently on the app - one-third of which are making money off it - could be looking at a blank screen when they open their TikTok in less than a year.

Patreon argued in April this year that “banning TikTok just serves to further entrench YouTube and Instagram as the dominant platforms in this industry,” but that doesn’t mean these three platforms are interchangeable; they each deliver in unique ways. The same influencers blowing up on TikTok don’t necessarily have a following on other platforms, and their algorithms are completely different: even just finding your footing on each of these apps takes very different approaches and skills.

So, what’s the plan for when TikTok’s gone?

From influencers to businesses, thousands of people are having their financial stability put at risk by the potential TikTok ban; CBS spoke to one user, @delyannethemoneycoach, who claimed that TikTok being banned in the US would cost her up to 30% of her business. So, what’s going to happen to the creators making a living off of TikTok when it disappears from our phones?

You’ve probably noticed the myriad of creators venturing into side hustles lately, with Lena Mantler and Noen Eubanks walking for Miu Miu at SS25; KSI dropping new music; Madeline Argy and Olivia Neill both starting podcasts; and even Emma Chamberlain selling us coffee. Well, these are all ways that influencers are finding a stable source of income outside of the social media platforms they blew up on. 

For those who have the funds, investing in a side hustle is a way of escaping the precariousness of earning your income by posting content on an app that might not be here tomorrow. It doesn’t always work, and you usually need to have established a large following and enough cash to get it off the ground, but if everything aligns then your side hustle can actually become lucrative. In the face of TikTok being banned, side hustles seem to be influencers’ best option right now. Well, it's either that or face getting a real job when the end of TikTok arrives.

Featured image via @emmachamberlain ©

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