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Dustin Hawley
Dustin Hawley
As TikTok’s future hangs in limbo, TikTok users are ramping up efforts to drive followers to other social media platforms, like Instagram and YouTube. The Trump administration issued an executive order on August 6th, 2020 that barred any US transactions with the company that owns TikTok, Chinese tech company ByteDance. The order would ban TikTok from operating in the US if ByteDance doesn’t sell TikTok within 45 days. As many of us have heard, Microsoft is looking to finalize a deal to buy TikTok by Sept. 15th.
While TikTok’s future in the U.S. hangs in the balance, CEO and co-founder of Viral Nation, Joe Gagliese, says that agents for the company have been helping their clients diversify their online audience, but “the reality is that it’s not something you can do in a two-week period.”
Gagliese says that a large part of TikTok’s appeal is that it instills the belief in anyone that they have the ability to become an influencer. Online creators who are popular and knowledgeable enough to affect the buying habits of others have immense opportunities. “They can grow really rapidly,” Gagliese says of TikTok videos. “The videos get featured to huge amounts of people.”
He also says that influencers who are more authentic and engage with their fans will be more effective at getting audiences to watch their content on other social media platforms. Gagliese also thinks that if Microsoft’s purchase of TikTok goes through, it could help the tech giant connect with teenagers and the millennial audience. Brands that might have been hesitant to advertise on TikTok because of national security concerns could also help fuel the growth of its business. If Microsoft purchases TikTok’s US operations and the security concerns die down, it could “create a tsunami of interest” from brands that have been wary about being on the app, he said.
“From a brand perspective, I think everyone’s just kind of pulled the reins back and said let’s see how this shakes out.”
Joe Gagliese, co-founder and CEO of Viral Nation
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