In the month of April, the US Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill known as Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA). The US President signed the bill hours after it was passed. President Biden has in the past stated his support on banning of the social media app, TikTok from US online application stores.
Where does this leave TikTok?
TikTok was the most downloaded app in not just America but the world in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. TikTok boasts of around 150 million American users. This number constitutes half of the total American population. The main concern with the app was that its owners ByteDance allegedly relayed massive troves of data back to its home country, China.
There were fears then, that the ruling Chinese Communist Party could use this collected data to sway and influence the opinion of users in regard to politics. The PAFACA Bill gives ByteDance just under one year to sell TikTok or see the app permanently banned from US app stores. TikTok CEO says his company will not be sold and that they are exploring legal options.
What the competition is doing.
TikTok’s competitors include the traditional social media platforms: snapchat, Instagram, X (FKA twitter) and Facebook among others. These companies are all angling to get a piece of the pie.
Elon Musk’s X is reportedly in the works of bringing back Vines. Musk himself posing the question on his platform. Vines was a video sharing platform launched in 2012. It quickly rose to become the most used video sharing application in the world. Twitter bought Vines for $30 Million. It was shut down in 2017 since the app was not generating growth for its creators and owners. With Elon’s X popularity plunging, it is safe to assume that he is more than willing to revive Vines.
Instagram and Snapchat have both introduced new features that increase user interaction within the apps. Instagram has announced new custom stickers, including Add Yours Music, Frames, Reveal, and Cutout stickers. On the other hand, Snapchat unveiled new features such as editing sent messages, AI reminders and new emoji reactions.
What are they fighting for?
TikTok, according to multiple estimates made $6 Billion from the American market in 2023 alone. This figure mainly comes from Advertising where the app deploys in-video ads. TikTok also makes money from shop commissions when users shop directly within the app. For a relatively new app, TikTok is doing well for itself. TikTok is the undisputed king of Social Media.
In conclusion, the social media companies are circling around TikTok. Whether or not the app gets banned or sold, the competitors will do as much as they can to be crowned – The World’s Leading Social Media Company.
