How To Make Time Count: How Marketers Are Planning Next Steps During The Scramble for TikTok
Have you ever wondered why certain websites or articles appear after looking them up on a search engine? When a person asks Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Google a question, you enter the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the moment you click the link to find the answer. SEO merges marketing and information technology to help organize which information source best serves your needs. It elevates content based on keywords, relevance, domain authority, etc. (Moz, 2023). SEO extends its influence through any platform you look to for information, including social media.
On January 19, 2025, the social media platform TikTok "shut down" its operations in the United States. Millions of users mourned the loss of "brain rot" scrolling and unique FYP (For Your Page) recommendations. While TikTok originated in 2016, the COVID-19 pandemic springboarded TikTok into the mainstream social media universe (Schwartz, n.d.). Over the past five years, TikTok has evolved from a Kesha song to the media representation of Gen Z: digital natives who absorb information faster than previous generations and champion individualism and entrepreneurship (Desiree Design, 2024).
With TikTok somewhat offline, marketers and users scramble to find the "next" platform. But what is this brave new world where the clock has stopped TikTok? Even if the U.S. government reverses the ban, would TikTok continue to capture the zeitgeist of the 2020s?
History exists in cycles. A century ago, the 1920s began with a pandemic (Spanish Flu) and continued with a government ban (on alcohol). People took advantage of this ban by becoming bootleggers or moving abroad to create cultural hubs in Paris, among other places. Will influencers flee the United States to create TikTok content, à la Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast? Critics would decry that our society sees social media influencers as modern-day F. Scott Fitzgeralds or Salvador Dalís. Is Gen Z doomed to become the second Lost Generation?
Every social media marketer feels confused about the next steps. Recent reports suggest some users still have access to their TikTok accounts (CBS, 2025). Additionally, President-elect Trump will issue a 90-day pause on the TikTok ban ( Ingram and Marquez, 2025). As the U.S. government works toward renewing TikTok usage, how has this experience shifted marketers' perspectives on social media?
Anyone working with social media will be in limbo for the next three or so months. While we pause but do not end the clock on TikTok, remember that everyone is taking this news one day at a time.
Citations
Moz. (2023). The beginner's guide to SEO. Retrieved January 19, 2025, from https://moz.com
Schwartz, Q. (n.d.). The history of TikTok. Grin. Retrieved January 19, 2025, from https://grin.co/blog/the-history-of-tiktok/
Desiree Design. (2024.). Gen Z on TikTok. Retrieved January 19, 2025, from https://www.desireedesign.co.uk/brand-insider/gen-z-on-tiktok/
CBS News. (2025, January 19). TikTok voluntarily shuts down in U.S. as "divest or ban" law set to take effect. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-voluntarily-shuts-down-in-u-s-divest-or-ban-law-set-to-take-effect/
Ingram, A., & Marquez, E. (2025, January 19). Trump likely to give TikTok 90-day extension to avoid ban. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-likely-give-tiktok-90-day-extension-avoid-ban-rcna188258
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