
As of minutes ago, social media app TikTok has begun closing for many Americans following a Supreme Court agreement Friday.
This decision will impact over 170 million Americans, over half the country’s population, and the amount of active monthly users on TikTok, according to TikTok.
One of those users, Joey Ostrowski, a freshman construction management major, has mixed feelings about the ban.
“I would be a little sad that the most popular social media is being banned,” Ostrowski said. “However, I think it will be a good thing long-term considering how addicting the app is.”
However, there is still some hope for U.S. users to access the app again after Sunday.
If the Beijing based parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, sells the app to an American company it will no longer be banned in the United States.
President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office a day after the ban, has the power to extend the deadline by 90 days under the law’s regulations if he can certify there is a path for and evidence of progress toward a divestment, including binding legal agreements.
Although, there have been no reports of ByteDance having intentions to sell.
Trump has voiced his opinion on the matter on his social media app, Truth Social.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” he wrote. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned.”
A few hours before he posted that he just spoke with China’s President Xi Jinping and one of the topics of interest was the TikTok ban.
With a decision that will impact half of the American population, the community of EIU is bound to be affected as well.
One EIU student that has a big following on the app is junior public relations major Monica Alifantis with 207,500 followers.
“I am not too stressed about the ban,” Alifantis said. “Most creators already have been pushing Instagram Reels, so I think most people will convert to that.”
Alifantis mentioned the value of TikTok for marketing.
“As a creator on the app I feel empathy for those who use the TikTok as a form of marketing,” Alifantis said. “So many small businesses relied on the TikTok shop or just the ability to reach a large audience to increase sales.”
EIU marketing and communications is another part of Eastern’s community that will be affected by the ban.
The Social Media Coordinator for EIU Marketing & Communications Alyssa Osterday said that marketing at EIU goes beyond just social media but not being able to utilize TikTok will certainly have an impact.
“TikTok is an integral part of our social media strategy. Utilizing paid ads can allow us more control over our audience and can be helpful for things like admissions recruitment,” Osterday said. “The strength of TikTok for us has been the sense of camaraderie and inclusion it provides to our current EIU community. TikTok is good for student engagement and retention”
Losing TikTok means losing an audience of current and prospective students, Osterday said.
It would also affect the newly introduced influencer marketing program that partners EIU with students and alumni creators since a platform those creators use is TikTok.
EIU does utilize other social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and recently joined Threads and Bluesky.
“Unfortunately, there is no social platform that is exactly like TikTok or as popular,” Osterday said. “While some of our content was cross posted to other platforms in addition to TikTok, a lot of our TikTok content was created specifically for that app.”
There are other short-form video feed options, which TikTok is known for, such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Snapchat Spotlight, but Osterday said those still don’t give the same opportunities that TikTok does.
“I don’t feel that there is currently another online space that lends itself to the same type of content and atmosphere that TikTok fostered,” she said.
Bryce Parker can be reached at 581-2812 or at baparker2@eiu.edu.