It has now been over a week since the TikTok ban. It’s left people confused, feeling lost, weary. For some people, TikTok was a point of comic relief during the day, a way to learn new recipes. For a lot of small businesses in America, it was their lifeline. TikTok connected people from different places and gave several businesses visibility because no matter what kind of business you ran, you could find your place on the app.
Before TikTok, businesses were limited to a few lackluster marketing options. These included: in-person marketing, maybe throwing some posters up around town, and a bit of social media marketing. Algorithmically though, those didn’t go very far. TikTok was a chance at virality, and a chance for exponential growth – something not found in other platforms, ones that hit a lull quickly.
Without TikTok, the world would reinvent itself, not end. But to businesses barely hanging on post-pandemic – the blow would be deafening.
Even when it seemed that TikTok would be gone for good, the unease climbed at the realization that there was no plan in motion from the government to support small businesses and creators, who owed a lot of their income to the app. Thankfully, the app came back and the inevitable shitstorm was avoided. But, it really makes us wonder about our dependence on these methods of marketing as a small business and the sustainability of them. Are we forever at the whim of the “next big thing”, flying by so fast that if you miss it your business could very well see the consequences. Are we meant to focus so much on content and virality rather than trust in the product we are selling? Are we even seeing real results from participating in these trends? How long can they last? And finally, what’s next?
Well, Print Renegades, along with other businesses, is happy to be able to use one more social media app to connect with people interested in what we do. We’ve taught people about screenprinting, made funny videos with members of our team, and found ways to genuinely reach out to people in times of need. All in all, this kind of connection is indispensable. And we hope something so vital to the current paradigm doesn’t get disrupted once more, at least not without a plan to support those who pour their heart into what they make.