Tik Tok Ban Delay is Extended Again, But Older Adults Brace for Potential Shutdown

"Yes, yes, we're not in the dark. ... We're not in the dark. We're in the light," he said. "It's not over yet. Believe me, it's not. Now we can go on about our business and then some."

Platform’s content has evolved since 2017

Kids and teens recording outrageous dance videos fueled TikTok’s early formula. Social media denizens of all ages eventually flocked to TikTok for myriad reasons: to learn, be entertained, find recipes, socialize and promote causes and businesses.

TikTok’s algorithmic For You feed and thumb scrolling have been huge drivers of their success, says Cliff Lampe, social media professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. Copycats haven’t quite been able to duplicate that success.

Through the years, numerous celebrities planted a flag on the platform as well. Music legend Bob Dylan, 83, signed on Jan. 14.

AARP maintains a presence on TikTok too.

Lots of older adults scroll through TikTok

About a third of the adult U.S. population uses the platform, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted the first half of 2024. Twenty-six percent are ages of 50 to 64; 10 percent are 65 and older.

According to eMarketer forecasts, 9.1 million U.S. TikTok users are ages 45 to 54, 8.8 million 55 to 64 and 8 million 65 and older.

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Even under a cloud, TikTok was still the 8th most popular free app in the Apple App Store on Friday, and No. 3 in the Google Play Store.

What’s next for TikTok content creators, users?

“I’m going to have to wait to see which platforms people choose to go to,” McFarland says. “We want to be where the crowds are going.”

So does veteran Los Angeles TV writer Michael Jamin, 54, @michaelwjaminwriter, who by his own account became TikTok famous while sharing his knowledge of writing. He also expects the absence of TikTok to damage his business.

“I already post on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. But the TikTok algorithm is the special sauce. It allows people to go viral. The other platforms don’t have the same reach. Ultimately, I’ll go where the fish are.”

Early on, schools of fish began swimming in another Chinese social networking app known as Xiaohongshu in its native country and RedNote in the U.S. The app temporarily topped the free download charts in both the App Store and Play Store.

“The most popular creators have multiple channels where you can find them,” says Lampe, the Michigan professor. The list may include Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, as well as lesser-known apps such as RedNote, ByteDance-owned Lemon8 and Texas-based Clapper.

Will the TikTok app remain?

TikTok’s fate is still unclear but the company previously indicated a desire to work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps it operating in the United States. Several buyers have reportedly bid on TikTok.

Canceling TikTok “on a technical level and a social level [means it’s] going to take a lot of unpacking,” Lampe says. “This is unprecedented territory for the U.S. to ban a site like this. So are we going to ban all sites from China? Where does that end? That’s why I think you see so many adoptions of RedNote.”

“Something might come along to replace [TikTok],” Lampe says. But at the same time, people don’t like to make those changes.

“It’s one thing if a site just goes out of business from lack of use like [Twitter’s ill-fated video site] Vine,” he says. “But it’s another thing where your very active users are meeting their needs, and some external agency comes and shuts it down.”

TikTok creators, some users not concerned about data privacy

In the meantime, many TikTok diehards don’t see a difference between data collected on them from TikTok and data collected by the likes of Meta and Google. The Supreme Court cited concerns about the app gathering detailed information from users, including their contact lists, that could pose problems for national security.

“From an individual users’ point of view, worrying about the country is a little abstract,” Lampe says. “Their own personal risk in these sites has always felt low, which is why there’s never been a populist cry to get rid of TikTok. [It’s] because the risk of privacy violation there feels no different than the other platforms. Most people don’t feel like [they] have any national security secrets.”

Polise agrees.

“Every other app is taking our data and using it and targeting us with ads and collecting our information. ... People on TikTok don’t really care about the data problem. They’re just like, ‘This is my livelihood. If China wants photos of my dancing videos, whatever.’ That’s the attitude.”

But she is already in mourning: “If [TikTok] goes away, it’ll always hold a special place in my heart.”