Change Is Coming To TikTok: Be Ready For What’s Next

Change is coming to TikTok. The platform is likely getting sold, but not the part that makes it so addictive. U.S. users and creators could soon be stuck with a version that just doesn’t hit the same.

Change Is Coming To TikTok: Be Ready For What’s Next

by Bobby Owsinski via Music 3.0

For many, TikTok is the only social platform that they use on a continuous basis, spending on average 58 minutes per day being entertained and informed of the news. It’s huge global enterprise, with 1.59 billion monthly active users from almost every country in the world. That said, it’s still on the block to be shut down in the U.S., having seen a reprieve twice from its original ‘sell or close’ date in January. President Trump really wants to see it stay open though, and is doing everything in his power to make that happen.

The odds of that ocurring are looking better and better, as supposedly there are buyers all lined up to purchase the platform from its Chinese owner ByteDance. But buyer beware, as what the platform is today, may not be the same if and when the new owners take the reigns.

Potential Owners

It’s been reported that a consortium of the data management giant Oracleand private equity companies Blackstone and Adreessen Horowitz had made an offer in the past before talks broke down. Now those talks have been revived, but it also seems that what the companies will be buying isn’t what we know as TikTok today.

The Information reported on Sunday (July 6) that TikTok is developing a standalone version of its social media app for US users, and it will be launched on September 5th.

It’s pretty apparent why ByteDance is doing this. It wants to keep the suggestion algorithm, the secret sauce of the platform, to itself. In other words, it’s saying to the investors, “Go ahead and take the U.S. user base, but we’re keeping the essence of the platform.”

It’s estimated that there are around 170 million users in the United States, and that user list is essentially what the investors are buyer. Even without the algorithm, the data on these users is still well worth having, especially considering that the majority are from the 18 to 34 age group.

Why Is This Happening?

If you recall, the calls to either ban TikTok or have it under the control of a U.S. company came primarily because of a suspected national security issue. ByteDance is a Chinese company and the Chinese government is involved with every company, especially ones with the reach of TikTok. That means that the Chinese government has data on about half of the American people.

Even if the platform is sold, the Chinese government still has all that data, so any security issue remains.

While many crusaders wanted a ban on the platform because of the influence that it has on young impressionable minds, that’s not the argument that won out.

Change is coming to TikTok

The only way ByteDance would go through the trouble of porting over a separate U.S. version is if a sale was imminent. 

The problem for the current users is that the new version may resemble the current one, but they may find it doesn’t quite serve up the same content that the old one did, since the recommendation algorithm will be different. That might not be such a bad thing for a social anthropology standpoint.

Of course, this isn’t a done deal and could still blow up before the ink is put to paper, but for better or worse, it sure looks like TikTok will have new U.S. owners soon.

Bobby Owsinski is a producer/engineer, author, blogger, podcaster, and coach. He has authored 24 books on music production, music, the music business, music AI, and social media.