TikTok could be banned in the United States on April 5 if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell it to a non-Chinese owner before then. That’s after former President Biden signed the ban into law in April 2024, then current President Donald Trump gave the company a 75-day extension to find a new owner.
The debate over the app’s future is fueled by national security concerns, with lawmakers fearing the Chinese government could use it for surveillance or political interference. Nevada Congressman Steven Horsford was the only member of the state’s delegation to vote against the ban, expressing concern about the impact on small businesses.
Since its launch in 2016, TikTok has grown to 170 million users nationwide, with many of those users not only watching videos on the app, but creating them, too. Those creators, like Kari Garcia — owner of the Vegas-based TSP Baking Company — do rely on TikTok to market their businesses.
She says that the difference between TikTok and Instagram, where she also promotes her bakery, is significant.
“I call Instagram ‘bright and shiny Kari,’ she says. “TikTok is ‘talk in your car and cry because I own a bakery and I'm tired,’ and it's kind of like you see behind the scenes. … I've been trying to do [Instagram] more now because of the impending ban. I hope it doesn't happen, but I've been doing more content on Instagram too, just in case, because as a business, I have to cover my assets. [But] TikTok is more relatable.”
That difference is perhaps most evident when comparing the reach of the two platforms.
“[TikTok’s] algorithm is way different than Instagram and a more international audience, especially because I post every morning at 4 a.m.,” Garcia says. “I get a lot of New York, I get England, I get Australia, I get Canada. A lot of East Coasters come to Vegas. So, in turn, me being on there does showcase Vegas, and they do come, and they do visit [my shop].”
As such, TSP Baking Company is one of the roughly 35% of small businesses in the state that say TikTok is critical to their operations.
Then there are others, such as Vegas-native Sarah Hester Ross, who not only use TikTok as a marketing tool — in Hester Ross’ case, to promote her comedy — but also as a platform to build and engage in community spaces.
“I am a millennial, so I have been on all the apps since MySpace,” Ross says. “TikTok is special. It is not just for me as a content creator. For me, as a person, I have gleaned and learned so much as a feminist, as a white woman. I have been educated by things. Because I'm not in these communities in the real world, TikTok has changed me as a person.”
Ross credits her audience growth on the platform for landing a musical comedy special last year, riffing on her “TikTok famous” life.
Despite Oxford Economics research that shows TikTok supported nearly 2,000 Nevadan jobs and generated to an estimated $46 million in taxes in 2023, experts caution the app does pose real risks.
UNLV Professor Benjamin Morse, who researches social media, says the way TikTok’s algorithm is structured predisposes users to insulated echo chambers.
“It creates silos,” he says. “It makes you think, ‘Oh, everyone around me has the same views that I do!’ Not necessarily because that's the case, but because that's what’s being put in front of you. And then when you have to function in the real world, where there are people with multiple viewpoints, all of a sudden you're incapable of doing that.”
Morse adds that, while social media maintains its ability to expose users to new discoveries, that magic has dwindled over time. “I just think part of the algorithm we've seen has stifled a lot of that,” he says.
@sarahhesterross My version of Savage Daughter is to empower ALL WOMEN. Every race, age, size, and trans. If you can’t handle that or agree, use your own voice #savagedaughter #sarahhesterross ♬ Savage Daughter - Sarah Hester Ross
Guests: Benjamin Morse, digital and social media lecturer, UNLV; Kari Garcia, owner, TSP Baking Company; Sarah Hester Ross, Las Vegas performer and TikTok content creator
