A possible TikTok ban is just days away. A list of other available apps

With a possible TikTok ban just days away, many American users are looking for alternative social media platforms to help them keep up with pop culture or deliver the type of entertaining videos that popularized the short video app.

TikTok, which has been a cultural phenomenon, could be banned on January 19 under a law that forces the platform to cut ties with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or shut down its US operation.

The social media platform’s fate will be decided by the Supreme Court, which heard last week oral arguments in a legal challenge to the statute and appeared to want to uphold the law. The court can decide on the case as early as this week. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has asked the justices to put the law on hold so he can negotiate a “political solution” to the issue after he takes office.

TikTok has more than 170 million users in the US, and if it is banned, it is not clear which competitors will benefit the most. Some experts believe that established social media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, could see the biggest influx of users. But some users are looking for something else and may turn to other apps.

Here are the different alternatives and what you need to know about them:

Xiaohongshu or “RedNote”

Recently, some American TikTok users have flocked to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu in protest of the looming ban. Like TikTok, Xiaohongshu, which means “Little Red Book” in English, combines e-commerce and short-form videos.

The app has gained traction in China and other regions with a Chinese diaspora – such as Malaysia and Taiwan – amassing 300 million monthly active users, the majority of whom are young women, who use it as a de-facto search engine for products, travel and restaurant recommendations , as well as makeup and skincare tutorials.

On Tuesday, Xiaohongshu, called “RedNote” by US users and in some app stores, was the top downloaded free app in Apple’s US app store.

Lemon 8

Lemon8, also owned by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, is a lesser-known lifestyle app that allows users to post photos and videos in short form. Although the platform lets users post TikTok-like videos, it leans more towards images and has been described as a mix of Instagram and Pinterest.

In the past few weeks, many creators have hailed Lemon8 as the place to go if TikTok is banned by federal law. Some have also recommended it through paid sponsored posts tagged #lemon8partner, indicating a recent company effort to generate more users.

But the law targeting TikTok also says the divestiture or ban requirement for ByteDance generally applies to apps owned or operated by the two companies or one of their subsidiaries. This means that even though Lemon8 is not specifically mentioned in the statute, its future in the United States is also in jeopardy.

Meta’s Instagram

Instagram launched Reels in 2020a TikTok-like feed of short videos that users can create or scroll through. The feature has proven hugely popular, and some experts say creators are likely to set up shop there if a TikTok ban happens. As of 2022, Instagram had 2 billion active monthly users. Meta no longer discloses user numbers for its individual platforms.

But could it replace TikTok? It depends. While many creators currently post on both platforms, some experts say the youngest users are unlikely to migrate to a service popularized by their millennial parents. And while Meta’s algorithm is addictiveit’s still not TikTok.

In the past, some TikTok users have also blamed the rise in scrutiny on the platform on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, pointing to a 2022 Washington Post report that said the tech behemoth paid a Republican consulting firm to undermine TikTok through a nationwide media and lobbying. campaign.

YouTube

Although TikTok dominates headlines as a driver of internet trends, the Pew Research Center says YouTube is actually the most widely used platform among teenagers and adults.

YouTube users can scroll through Shorts, just like they can on TikTok or Reels on Instagram and Facebook, to watch hours of small videos. Many of the videos on YouTube are from TikTok or creators who post to multiple platforms. That said, YouTube is still known for its longer-form videos, so it may not have the variety of content that TikTok users are looking for — at least not yet.

Snapchat

Launched in 2011 with its infamous disappearing videos, Snapchat remains popular among teenagers and young adults. The platform gained so much traction that Meta designed a similar feature on Facebook and Instagram called “Stories” that lets users post photos or videos that disappear within 24 hours. In 2020, Snapchat launched another feature that lets users “shine a light on the funniest Snaps, regardless of who created them.”

The platform is estimated to have around 692 million global monthly active users last year, according to eMarketer.

Ryk

For TikTok users who enjoy the “TikTok Live” feed that features live-streamed videos, Twitch could be a good alternative. The Amazon-owned platform is a leader in the streaming industry, allowing users on the platform to watch some of the internet’s most popular streamers, such as Kai Cenat. Twitch says it has 105 million monthly visitors.

Clapping

Clapper, a TikTok clone, has also gained some traction amid the looming ban. Launched in 2020 by Dallas-based entrepreneur Edison Chen, the app focuses on Gen X and millennial users. In September of that year, the company described itself in a Facebook post as a “free speech” platform that did not “censor posts and comments.” But in a blog post on its website from 2021, the company wrote that it “ceased to be a ‘free speech’ platform” in September 2020 and “changed its mission and goals” to focus on “community”.

Other little known apps

For TikTok users who want to get away from the crowded places, there are lesser-known apps like Triller, which is popular for music videos, and Zigazoo, which is designed with kids in mind.

If none of these apps excite you, it’s also possible that other platforms could emerge in the next few months as companies try to attract users looking for a new place to go.