TikTok interrupted users' scrolls Saturday night to inform them that the app was no longer available after a law was enacted banning it in the United States. But the following afternoon, the app was already back up and running, with a pop-up message thanking users for their "patience and support" and attributing the app's return to "President Trump's efforts." Some creators were left with whiplash.
"It felt like a breakup, and now my ex is coming back after no contact for 15 hours," Lizzy Friedman, known as @lowermerionfoodie on social media, siad Monday. "I feel like I went back to my ex."
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Brandon Edelman, the Philly-based content creator known to his 724,600 TikTok followers as @bran_flakezz, also felt like a spurned lover.
"I think that's my number one question for everybody is just, listen, love that (TikTok's) here, love that we have this, but are we just gonna do this every three to six months? … It's just exhausting at this point," he said. "So I'm at a point where I'm like, obviously I don't want it to be banned — what a nightmare. But if you're going to do it, just do it. I feel like I'm being led on in a bad relationship. I'm sick of the back and forth. I literally think I'm in a situationship with the app."
TikTok went offline Saturday about two hours before the clock struck midnight on Jan. 19, the day the ban was set to go into effect. The action came after the Supreme Court upheld the ban on Friday that was passed with bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law in April by former President Joe Biden. The law prevented American companies from hosting or serving content for TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media platform, unless it sold itself to a buyer from the United States or one of its allies. Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he planned to give TikTok a 90-day extension to avoid a ban, and TikTok informed users it was in the process of restoring service just before 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
How did Philly-area content creators deal with the hours-long TikTok blackout, and what do they see as the future of the app? We got in contact with some local influencers to find out.
Preparing for the potential ban
The events of the weekend were a long time coming, as content creators — and the rest of the 170 million Americans on the platform — had been anticipating the ban since at least the spring.
Kory Aversa of Aversa PR, who posts to 142,000 TikTok followers as @Phillypublicist, said he downloaded and began familiarizing himself with social media apps like Threads and Bluesky months ago. As the ban came closer, he spent time speaking with elected officials to urge them to support an extension on the ban and scrambled to secure all he had built on TikTok.
"I was very concerned leading up to the day of the ban that I would lose content and also my sense of community," Aversa said. "I spent an extensive amount of time following my favorite creators on there on other platforms, I made a screen grab of my 'following' list so later if I forgot someone I could look them up, and I also went through my DMs and made sure to connect with folks I regularly spoke with. …
"I also screen-shotted all my data, metrics, back-end numbers so I had them — I worked hard to get 10.4 million likes on there and didn't want to lose that — and I wanted to have it as a reminder that if it never comes back I started on there from scratch and I can do it again."
Christina Mitchell, better known on the internet as half of @phillyfoodladies, said she also saved all of her TikTok data to her computer so she wouldn’t lose anything and made moves to post some of her existing content onto YouTube. Edelman also began posting some of his most viral videos there.
Friedman said her "main platform" is Instagram, where she figured the traffic from TikTok would go, especially with its video-sharing Reels feature. But she noticed that many loyal TikTok users "refuse to watch a Reel." Instead, there was also a push by soon-to-be displaced U.S. TikTok users to flock to a Chinese social media app known by its Chinese name "Xiaohongshu" or "RedNote." There, American TikTok users were pleasantly surprised by the new international connections they made.
"I did download RedNote to check it out and it’s hilarious to see everyone welcome us with open arms," said Jackie Frei, who posts Philadelphia and New York City content on @bon_nappetit.
Aversa added that RedNote was "one positive outcome" of the ban.
"In my few days on there, users have been welcoming, curious and lovely — asking thoughtful questions, learning about America, teaching us about life in China," he said. "It reminds me of why I loved TikTok — it shows we are all not so different — and my browsing on Red Note did the same thing."
Others, like some of Friedman's clients through her social media consulting company Iconic Creative Consulting, clung to TikTok.
"I was prepping my clients for the ban, and making them a plan, B, C, D, just in case it needs to happen," Friedman said. "Some of my clients actually, funny enough, wanted to up their posting on TikTok."
Edelman also wanted to keep up his usual, steady TikTok posting as long as he could.
"I went even harder on TikTok just to really maximize the app in case we lost it," Edelman said. "I really just wanted to take advantage of the algorithm and how amazing it was."
When the ban became real
TikTok suddenly going offline Saturday night — with a pop-up that read, in part, "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now." — interfered with some content creators' weekend plans.
"I was sitting there with my friend in her apartment, and I went to show her TikTok, and I opened up the app, and it came up with that notification, and I felt a big black hole in my heart," Friedman said. "It was so sad. Part of me was in denial. I was like, Yeah, right. How can they have something just go away that's been so popular and brought so much business, not only to the small businesses that sell things through TikTok, but the creators and people who were hired from creators? Then when it happened, I was in total shock. … I guess I have to go on Twitter (X) and read tweets to fall asleep."
Edelman said he was "stressed" when the ban went into effect earlier than expected on Saturday because he was DMing with Alex Cooper, host of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, at the time about a "cool opportunity." They were still able to meet up the next day at the Eagles tailgate, which is when Edelman found out the app was already back up. While TikTok was down, he switched over to Instagram to share his final TikTok DM with Cooper.
"If it had just been banned for me, I would have been freaking out, but it was banned for everybody, so I was just like, eh whatever," Edelman said. "If we lose it for a week, it's probably better for my screen time and my mental health."
Frei also felt comfort in knowing others were dealing with the same TikTok shutdown, but she was sad to see the content disappear.
"It was shocking to see it actually happen, but I felt comfort in knowing we were kind of all in this together," she said. "I was more upset to lose it as a consumer, not even as a creator. It’s a space to escape, a community, and a place of quick communication to the masses."
Aversa was appalled that the community could vanish so quickly.
"(I felt) sad, depressed, angry, let down but also disgusted and embarrassed for my country that we could let it come to this," Aversa said. "Over 170 million users use TikTok daily in America — how did we let this happen and allow such censorship to take place? People use it daily including content creators who make a living, influencers who promote Philadelphia and our restaurants/attractions, small businesses selling their wares, artists using the marketplace to make their living, DJs, musicians and bands reaching new audiences. One of the biggest uses is feeling connected, finding community, creating supportive communities — and when I logged in it made me want to cry — all that was in jeopardy.
On the other hand after months of news on the impending ban, Mitchell was more surprised by the timing of the shutdown than the actual act.
"I was a little surprised since it happened before midnight, but by that point I had kind of accepted it, and based on the ominous message I had a feeling it would come back, so I felt pretty desensitized," Mitchell said.
TikTok has returned. Now what?
Without TikTok, Friedman was forced to chan switch up her daily routines.
"Sunday morning, when I woke up, I couldn't do my daily morning scroll," Friedman said. "I had to go get some chores done. I think I did some crunches, trying to entertain myself before the (Eagles) game."
By the afternoon, U.S. TikTok had returned with a pop-up message that partly read, "You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on TikTok." Friedman said she "screamed" and called her friends to "tell them the news immediately."
Mitchell happened upon the news of TikTok's return after her muscle memory caused her to open the app without remembering the ban.
"I’m not gonna lie, I laughed and pretty much had the reaction of 'well that was fast.'" Mitchell recalled.
Moving forward, in the wake of the ban and its quick reversal, Mitchell said she's "definitely not going to put all my eggs in one basket" and solely rely on TikTok and she also is "concerned" about the deals that happened behind closed doors to bring back the app.
"I think (TikTok) will stay around for the long run, but I don’t think it will ever be the same after this ordeal," she said.
Frei also said she's "relieved it’s back, but not sure what the future will hold."
Aversa, who said he "felt used and misled and that this was all for political theater," is also wary of the reactions he saw about the weekend's TikTok happenings and is not sure how he will use the app in the future.
"I think from a very logical point of view — and as a business person who uses the app for both of my businesses — I'm waiting to see what happens next," Aversa said.
For other creators, like Friedman, she's looking to increase her TikTok time now that the app is back.
"It makes me want to use it more, post on it more," she said. "Isn't that crazy? It has the adverse effect on me because I realized … that I could utilize that platform even more than I was. And I'm a scroller. I call it TikTok University. I learned so much, tips on how to curl my hair in different ways, style inspiration for outfits, recipes, and I'm like, well maybe I should start posting more stuff on there. …
"Us creators benefit so much from our platform. It took so much time and effort to build the trust of followers and our audience in general. And so many people are employed because of these apps, and while some people may see it as brainrot, which it is in many ways, it also has beneficial factors and has really employed a lot of people. And I think it would be such a shame to lose something so big."