Edition #3

[MARCH EDITION] What if it's banned?

Ashwath Narayanan
April 03, 2023

We’ve got some new folks on here so welcome! Every month, I put together a round up of news, highlights, tests and things we’re exploring around the creator economy as it relates to the progressive space at Social Currant.

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I also share more about what we're up to at Social Currant, my interactions with creators and how you should be thinking about working with creators. so, let's dive in.

Some highlights from the work we're doing at Social Currant & a few quick plugs:

We hosted our very first happy hour in partnership with the awesome Community Change & Cooperative Impact Lab. We’re excited to continue bringing folks in the creator space together and if you’re in DC, make sure you stop by the next one!
We’re doing some Wisconsin creator work and if you would like creator recommendations, get on my calendar - we’ll make some intros! Want to chat just generally about what we’re building at Social Currant - get on our calendar.
We hosted a Q&A with Carlos, community manager on our team and awesome creator. We’re looking to bring more and more creators into progressive spaces. If you’re hosting an event or a workshop and would like to bring us in - let us know!
I’m hosting a LinkedIn Live Series highlighting innovative marketing tactics. The goal is to give other folks ideas around how they can elevate their work. If you’ve run a cool campaign, fill out this form.
We’re always looking for feedback on our product. If you’d like to test it and give some - let us know. Sharing another sneak peek below:

Propose rates & deliverables with ease to notify creators.

A TikTok Ban…What it means for us, our creators and everyone: I will start by acknowledging that we are more close to this than the average person. We use TikTok, create on TikTok, work with TikTok creators and started as a TikTok first platform. We speak with hundreds of thousands of TikTok creators whose livelihoods would be at risk with any action around the platform that does not have a proper plan. While we began taking action last year to build our creator network across platforms and are significantly diversified, we still believe in the power of creators for social good.

However,,,

Our foundational theory is that PEOPLE, not platforms are where we must invest our time and money and we will continue doing that no matter what platform.

WHAT HAPPENED: A quick timeline of how we got to where we are.

2020: Trump signs an executive order banning TikTok if it’s not sold to an American company within 45 days. A federal judge blocks it.

2021: Under a new Biden administration, any calls for TikTok seem to temporarily disappear and the administration plans to take an evidence based approach by analyzing the security issues of platforms like TikTok.

2022: TikTok transfers its data servers to Oracle and creates a new plan with oversight under national security agencies. Forbes reported that an internal investigation by TikTok parent company ByteDance found that TikTok employees tracked multiple journalists covering the company. The same week, TikTok was banned on federal devices and bipartisan legislation around a ban was proposed.

Statusphere has a great timeline with more detail.

WHAT’S HAPPENING: So fast forward to March 2023 & what’s happening this month around a potential TikTok ban. The ban TikTok is now facing would forbid ByteDance from doing business in the United States, forcing Apple and Google to stop hosting the app on its app stores.

A few things, that are true, at the same time:

TikTok could present national security concerns - their data was accessed before - what if it was accessed again? (It’s important to note that Facebook, Uber & Microsoft have all accessed information on their platform to spy on journalists.)
TikTok’s plans around data and privacy could be a potential solution. Project Texas would rebuild TikTok on US servers and TikTok is committing over $1B to do the same.
The problem’s being posed to TikTok is not unique to TikTok and are faced by any American social platform. Think Cambridge Analytica or the laundry list of Meta issues.
Many creators and businesses depend on TikTok for economic purposes, even though the platform directly doesn’t pay them.
TikTok is where a lot of people consume their information. It has over 150M monthly active users in the U.S.
There has been no meaningful regulation on social media in the United States and there needs to be.

Platforms have a responsibility to us and to creators and TikTok is not unique in that.

WHAT MAY HAPPEN: There are a few potential outcomes around TikTok that could happen:

An outright ban & removal from the app store.
A divesting of the TikTok business from ByteDance - though the Chinese government has come out against that.
Regulation for other platforms (Though this seems unlikely given we’ve had YEARS.)
An agreement between ByteDance and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) - they’ve been negotiating for three years.

Vox has a great explainer worth checking out.

WHAT IT MEANS: The TikTok ban could affect a number of different stakeholders. Here’s a few of them:

Creators: Many have depended on TikTok as their top of funnel - building audiences on it in authentic manners and then using it to grow to other platforms. Creators get paid through brand deals based on TikTok followings and this will affect them economically. TikTok fundamentally changed who gets to be a creator - opening up the door for many more people and this is important to remember. There will be a vacuum that other platforms will have to help.

Platforms: A ban would be a dream come true for Meta & Google. TikTok’s audience would have to go somewhere - AKA Instagram Reels & Youtube Shorts.

Us/Our Work/Other folks working with creators: A TikTok ban would mean investing in creators on other platforms like Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat and more to reach audiences where they are. We’ve got a significant IG & YT creator base and many of our creators are large across all channels.

Other Creator Economy News I’m Reading:

Bytedance is already testing a new platform in the United States as it starts to push Lemon8, a lifestyle app aimed at competing with Instagram. Read more about the app here.
Instagram is going in on search - adding ads on search as a new feature for advertisers on the platform. Full article here.
Creator funds sounds good but do they actually work in theory? There were rumors around TikTok’s creator fund and how there was no real tracking on whether the company was actually paying out the dollars to creators. Now, recent news shows that Spotify has only paid 10% of it’s creator fund out to creators. Read more here.
TikTok has still been at the forefront of the news. Make sure you stay up to date on what’s happening and check-in with the creators you work with.

Some ideas we're testing/looking to test. I'd love to chat with you if you're interested. Grab some time / reply!

Instagram Channels: We’re really excited about channels and how it allows creators to get directly in the audience of their inbox. We’re attempting to test petition signatures and other conversion actions through this feature after seeing some initial success.

FAQs from the month:

How do you evaluate creators? Today’s question is something we get asked a lot. How do you tell whether a creator is actually a strong creator? This question, slightly prompted by a potential TikTok ban is more relevant today than ever. A sign of a strong creator is consistent engagement. An even stronger sign is a multi-platform audience, showing that creators can take their audience from one place to another.

Have a question you want answered? Reply to this email with it!

If you made it all this way - thank you! For reading, trusting creators and me. I'm building Social Currant to make an impact and you all are a part of this journey. Until next month!

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