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What can TikTok learn from Vine?
A valuable lesson to avoid repeating the same mistakes
January 20th, 2025
The last few days have certainly not been peaceful for TikTok in America, with users even calling the emergency number 911. How did it come to this? A law passed in the United States last April required the app's parent company, ByteDance, to sell its operations to an American buyer by January 19 of this year, under penalty of blocking the platform in the country. The Chinese company had been at the center of national security concerns. Meanwhile, names like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk had been floated as potential buyers, but the sale did not occur within the stipulated time frame. As a result, the ban was enforced on the set date, sparking a wave of collective panic and numerous calls from people suspecting a service outage. The platform was reactivated after just fourteen hours, thanks to Donald Trump's intervention. The new president told NBC News he would grant a ninety-day extension for the sale. However, despite his efforts, it seems unlikely that he can override a law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court with his limited powers. The issue remains unresolved, and the ones paying the highest price for this climate of uncertainty are the influencers and creators. Since the pandemic of 2020, many of these figures have made TikTok their primary source of income, becoming almost dependent on the video-sharing app. This raises the question of the consequences for this category.
Even if the ban were to be lifted, recent events have highlighted the risks of basing all one's success and investments on a single platform. TikTokers, role models for Gen Z, have reacted by migrating to already well-known apps like Instagram and YouTube or to new platforms such as the Chinese app Red Note. The latter is among the most downloaded apps of the week on the Apple Store. However, given its origin, it could raise the same concerns that affected TikTok, drawing the attention of authorities. Influencers feel the need to strengthen their presence on other platforms, and it is crucial for followers to follow them in their transitions. To encourage followers, some offer prizes, while others use the same nickname to be more easily found. However, a portion of their audience will inevitably be lost during the process. Influencers are aware of this and, to some extent, saddened. At the moment, none of the alternatives can match TikTok's user base or cultural relevance. Just think of the numerous micro-trends and -cores launched by the platform: from “very demure, very mindful” to brat summer and Barbiecore. The feeling of melancholy accompanying this ban could be compared, in part, to what millennials felt in 2017 over the closure of another social network: Vine.
Vine was launched in 2013 as a video-sharing app that allowed users to share six-second, looping videos. It was the origin of trends like “eyebrows on fleek” and “do it for the vine,” expressions that transcended the platform and, due to their cultural influence, became part of an era’s lexicon. Concepts like virality, trends, and challenges link Vine to TikTok, making the former the predecessor of the latter. Vine's demise resulted from an economic decision by its parent company, Twitter, which chose to focus on other apps after a challenging period. The Viners, the content creators before TikTokers, made the mistake of tying their fame too closely to a single social network, experiencing a sense of loss when the platform disappeared. A few days ago, to prevent TikTokers from being unprepared in case of a definitive ban, some former Vine creators shared practical advice with The Washington Post. While some simply advised saving their video archives or focusing on content rather than striving for virality, everyone seemed to agree on the importance of adaptability and mastering the languages of different platforms. The TikTok case, like Vine's, highlights how crucial it is for creators to diversify their digital presence. Adapting to new platforms and building a resilient community represents the key to survival in an ever-evolving digital ecosystem.