Here Are Some Meme Platform Alternatives To Turn To If TikTok Gets Banned

Over a month ago, it was rumored that TikTok might be banned in America over potential privacy concerns between it and the Communist Party of China. Things quickly escalated in early July when President Donald Trump announced that he was considering a total ban on the app for U.S. citizens. Just last week, news then broke about the possibility of Microsoft acquiring TikTok, who would reportedly buy the American portion of the app from parent company Bytedance.

Despite this, the future of TikTok and its 100 million American users is uncertain. Although some are happy at the potential of TikTok being banned, the app remains a unique source of creative video memes in the current online landscape. In the event that TikTok is banned, just as it was in India, it is worth exploring some of the other alternatives that might fill the void it ultimately leaves behind.

all the hype house members when they finally get a call back from mcdonald’s #tiktokban #tiktokdown pic.twitter.com/HfL88Ro3a8

— ig: plutoxfairy (plutoxfairy) August 1, 2020

Vimeo

Vimeo isn't a new video app by any means, as it actually pre-dates YouTube by several months. With a similar toolkit to YouTube, such as uploading videos or the ability to live stream, it's not quite the same environment as TikTok, but an option nonetheless. With Vimeo's unique benefits for creators that help them sell their original content (giving it some OnlyFans potential), the enticement of creators receiving compensation might make it a contender. There is already an established user base on the platform, so people switching from TikTok will experience the community aspect right from the start.

Facebook and Twitter

Perhaps two of the most obvious replacements, both Facebook and Twitter already have video uploading, live streaming and editing capabilities that rival TikTok. They also feature massive user bases, so switching from TikTok will feel similar in terms of community and sheer numbers. Facebook recently began to push more towards streaming and video content, so there is potential that Facebook will be a better target for such creators compared to Twitter -- although the differences between the overall demographics will likely push someone to one or the other.

Byte

Byte came about fairly recently and comes from the original creators of Vine, so there is a level of knowledge about how to make a successful viral video app. Byte is all about classic six-second video content but is still relatively new and unproven compared to some of the more well-established alternatives. What this means is that there is a lot of room for some TikTok creators to jump over and be on the ground floor of a new movement in video memes. Byte hasn't had any large viral memes of its own, so the first big one is waiting to be created -- an exciting proposal for people looking to be the big fish in a new pond.

Dubsmash

Dubsmash is a five-year-old video-sharing app with over 100 million downloads. It allows users to record and put together 10-second video clips. Out of all of the competitors we've discussed, it is easily the closest to TikTok right now because of the "Smash" feature. This feature shares many similarities to TikTok Duets, only it lets you smash together multiple clips from different sources, as well as letting you add dubbing in the form of sound effects. These tools give Dubsmash a lot of creative power for video makers. If it received a large injection of new users, it could really kick start its potential in the meme scene, which has been very lackluster since its inception.

Instagram

The most likely place that most TikTok stars will try to move on to is Instagram as it has a similar user base, video sharing abilities and tools for editing this content. Instagram also features a massive user base and is a worldwide-recognized brand owned by Facebook. While transplants might find it convenient to switch over, as many have already started to gain followings by reposting TikTok content, due to the sheer size of the platform, it can be difficult for small- to medium-sized TikTok accounts to properly adjust and get traction on the crowded platform. Despite this potential challenge, it is still swarming with video memes and other content, so the potential of Instagram absorbing stranded TikTok users is likely.

Triller

Triller is another music-themed video-sharing app with potential as an alternative. It's been around for just over five years, and it has something that some of the other apps we've discussed don't -- corporate backing. The app itself has been used by some big-time musicians, such as Chance the Rapper and BTS, which means for the ever-present K-pop Twitter Stans, it may be familiar territory. Triller allows for multiple takes of a video set to a preselected music snippet of any length. This allows more freedom than the restrictive "10-second-or-less" apps. With corporate backing by Sony Music and big-name stars, it should be better protected from copyright issues that other creators on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram have faced.

Now that Trump has given Microsoft 45 days to purchase TikTok or face a potential ban, whatever ends up being the final outcome of this event, a shakeup in the world of video memes appears to be just on the horizon.

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