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TikTok Unbanned š¤·š»
We spent months preparing creators for the TikTok ban only to have the app return 12 hours later. Yay? Maybe? Let's talk about why I think this could be a nightmare scenario, and why the success of Red Book signals that banning TikTok in the first place was a terrible, terrible idea.

This is the first official newsletter in two weeks, and I think itās fair to say itās been the most eventful in creator economy history.
Side note: Iām not done talking about the fires, and if you havenāt already donated money, time, and/or attention, please do it ASAP: https://www.lafires.org/
We saw Zuck try to destroy Metaās reputation single-handedly, politicians who voted to ban TikTok vow to save it, an app thatās so Chinese that the menus are 100% Mandarin hit #1 in the US App Store, and TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and oddly enough Marvel SNAP disappear in an instant only to reappear the following day.
Iām calling Sam Bernstein, because this whiplash is killing me.
So why am I down on the future of social media right now?
Also in this edition:
RedNote and the āTikTok Refugeeā
Instagram Goes Long(er) on Reels
Creator Tax Season Begins
Three job ops from TikTok.
ā¦and a dank creator economy meme by yours truly!
Letās get into it.
NEWS:

The Sunday Morning News
Iāll assume you havenāt been under a rock for the past year, so I wonāt rehash the history. Just know this: TikTok was supposed to be sold to a US entity by January 19 or it would face a ban.
It didnāt sell, so it went dark in the US on Saturday, January 18, at 7:30pm PST, along with other ByteDance companies, Lemon8 and CapCut.
Every famous U.S. TikTokker posted their āfarewellā message that ranged from funny to depressing to reflective.
The following day, news broke that the app was coming back, and minutes later, the app was reinstated with the above message.
Few details about the next steps have been released, but I think this is a disaster of the highest order.
My hot take: A backroom deal was done, and it will ruin TikTokās āvibeā.
One of my favorite things about TikTok is how wildly apolitical it is.
The FYP feels like bursts of joy with content that truly understands me.
And every message from the app and execs are suddenly talking about Donald Trump like a God.
We all know how Donald Trump does business. He requires absolute loyalty to work with you.
And now he has TikTok, Meta, OpenAI, and, of course, Twitter worshipping at his feet.
We were worried about TikTok being state-run media for China. Now, itās state-run media for the U.S.
The return happened a bit too fast. The name drops of Donald Trump were a bit too heavy-handed, especially since he wasnāt president yet.
And, right before the app went back online, Trump ātruthedā that he wanted 50% U.S. ownership of the app.
And you know if a Trump administration has an āownershipā stake, itās going to be very, very rightwing.
So we went from a murky āthis could be a psyops appā to āthis is going to be a psyops appā¦but for us!ā
Strong North Korea vibes.
Not great for people who believe the spread of misinformation on social platforms is a massive issue.
More thoughts here:

RedNoteās totally U.S.-friendly logo
Never underestimate the pettiness of internet.
With a looming TikTok ban, it would make sense to think Snap, Instagram, or YouTube may have a huge surge in downloads.
So what has been number 1 in the U.S. social app charts for almost two weeks, including right now as I type this?
Xiaohongshu (called āRedNoteā in English), a Chinese community app with over 300 million monthly active users that are almost entirely Chinese.
So Chinese the appās text is literally in Mandarin. You canāt read the help pages in English.
And huge creators including Adam Rose, Ray William Johnson, 50 Cent, and, of course, Duolingo have already made a splash, calling themselves āTikTok Refugees.ā
Everything politicians said was their worry about TikTok is in-your-face on RedNote: young cool Chinese people saying that America just doesnāt understand China, encouragement for Americans to travel to China, and how weird the U.S. is for banning TikTok.
Soā¦what gives?
My hot take: This is exactly why the TikTok ban was so dumb.
TikTok very well could have posed a national security threat. But:
The American people werenāt told exactly what data was causing that threat.
There were no credible examples of censorship or āpsyopsā
The same politicians who were banning TikTok were posting videos on the app.
This smelled fishy.
The American people donāt like the idea of punishment without a crime.
More so when itās an app 170 million of them love.
What we needed was comprehensive legislation around how Chinese software can do business in America, how social media companies can collect user data (including US companies), and some sort of due process for all of this.
Without this, every time you cut off a Chinese social app, two more will grow back.

Instagram Reels in 3D!
Almost every app was preparing to take market share from TikTok in case the ban stuck around.
Well, except for Mark Zuckerberg who for some crazy reason decided to spend a few weeks offending the exact kind of person who loves TikTok by showing himself to be a political hypocrite, an evil firing-hungry CEO, and firmly part of the manosphere.
But Adam Mosseri, the head of Metaās Instagram, is far more loved than Zuck for hundreds (millions? billions?) of reasons.
And he announced Reels are extending to 3 minutes from its previous 90 seconds, putting them closer to TikTokās 10 minute limit.
Why?
My hot take: Smart platforms are starting to realize āFYP supremacyā isnāt going anywhere.
TikTok nailed it when they introduced the world to the FYP (for you page).
Itās a perfectly curated feed. Not redundant, not āsingle topicā, but always feels like it knows you.
It takes away that annoying part of YouTube or Instagram where you have to decide what to watch next.
Itās just there for you.
And as TikTokkers start to upload longer content and tell more complex stories, Instagram knows it needs to keep up.
Just because TikTok is back, Adam is smart enough to know itās still TikTokās game to lose. If anything (say, the heavy-hand of inelegant operator like Trump or Elon) were to hurt TikTokās FYP perfection, Instagram will be there with apples-to-apples offering for creators and fans.
And I think thatās a pretty decent bet.
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FAME & FORTUNE:

2025 Dall-E 3
Happy tax season! DeCypher Financials works with some of the worldās largest creators to make sure theyāre doing their taxes correctly and getting the maximum refund. Their case studies are incredible. Let them know I sent you!
I had the chance to read Justin Mooreās new book āSponsor Magnetā early and itās killer. A must read for any creators, creator reps, or influencer marketers looking to uplevel their negotiation skills.
The music industry has changed. Now songs chart if they pick up steam on TikTok. Thatās where Sound.me comes in. They pay creators to feature specific songs on their videos, and they have a lot of volume. If youāre looking to make extra money from your short-form videos, check them out!
Did you know almost every social platform has their version of a āCreator Academyā to learn how to optimally create on their platform? Now that TikTok is back in the U.S., itās a great chance to check out TikTokās Creator Academy, which I believe to be one of the best.
Why not? While theyāre doing a victory lap, letās do all TikTok jobs!

2025 Dall-E 3
TikTok needs a Gaming Creator Growth Manager, TikTok LIVE. Now we just need Nintendo to start making their games in vertical video!
TikTok is looking for a Artist Partnership Manager, Music. And after your first paycheck, your money wonāt jiggle jiggle, it will fold.
TikTok wants a Partnerships Solutions Media Lead. And if you get it hereās a tip: just have Zach King do everything.
MEME ZONE:

The answer: all of them.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, Iāll send you my ā10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!ā deck!
Until next time, protect yo rep.
INDUSTRY HIRING: