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- As a TikTok ban looks more likely, several apps are vying for its crown.
- Sister app Lemon8 has soared in popularity, but would likely get the ax, too.
- Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat have been competing in short-form video for years.
As TikTok inches toward potential extinction in the US, creators are trying to transition viewers to other platforms, while some viewers are already in a state of mourning.
The Chinese-owned platform is set to be yanked from US app stores on January 19. That's unless it's tossed a last-minute life raft by the Supreme Court or President-elect Donald Trump, who has asked the court to pause an enforcement deadline.
The former scenario is looking increasingly unlikely, however, as legal experts tell Business Insider that the Supreme Court appears to be leaning toward upholding the divest-or-ban law.
If the app goes dark, US users will have to look elsewhere for a short-form video fix. TikTok's ethos and community are unique, but competing formats exist on the world's biggest social-media apps, and are also offered by emerging competitors.
Here's who is — and who's not — in the running.
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Data shows that new apps often struggle to gain long-term traction when they have well-established rivals. And Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat have all been competing in the short-form space for years.
Meta launched Instagram reels in 2020 to great success — even chipping away at TikTok usage, according to two studies from last year.
YouTube, the original video giant, added short-form video in 2021, which has paid off handsomely. More recently, the Google-owned platform has used the prospect of a ban as a selling point for its ad team.
Snapchat, for its part, launched a TikTok counterpart called Spotlight in 2020, offering payouts to get creators to post.
Meanwhile, LinkedIn has more recently targeted TikTok by encouraging influencers to post short-form content. Some have told Business Insider that they've seen engagement boosts as a result.
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TikTok sister app, Lemon8, has soared to the top of the app charts in recent weeks. Lemon8 is reminiscent of Pinterest and contains a mix of photos and videos.
However, given that the law specifically mentions ByteDance, the parent company of the two apps, Lemon8 would likely be banned along with TikTok.
Christopher Krepich, the communications director for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, previously told Forbes the bill would ban Lemon8 unless ByteDance divested.
Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, another Chinese social app — which functions like Instagram but with more commerce features — has recently surged in popularity. It could, however, also be subject to the same divest-or-ban law as TikTok if the US government chose to target it.
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Triller has long sought to position itself as an alternative to TikTok — and currently offers a tool to help creators save their videos ahead of a potential ban.
Triller has gone through a series of strategy shifts over the years. After several false starts, it went public late last year through a reverse merger with a Hong Kong-based company called AGBA Group Holding Limited.
It recently hired former TikTok product head Sean Kim to run its video app, as well as several other subsidiaries.
Whatnot
TikTok helped social shopping break through in the US in a major way in 2024. The app drove $100 million in US sales on Black Friday alone, for example.
It's not the only one in the space, however. Some of its competitors include Flip and Complex Shop, formerly known as NTWRK. Flip, which raised $144 million last April at a $1 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg, launched in 2019 and enables users to post short, shoppable reviews.
Whatnot also made headlines after closing a $265 million funding round earlier this month at a $5 billion valuation. The app hosts livestreams across categories like fashion, collectibles, and storage unit finds.
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