JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Some Jacksonville small businesses said they could be impacted financially if TikTok is banned.
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President Biden signed legislation that gives TikTok’s parent company ByteDance nine months to sell it or face a ban,
Small business owners like Terrance Armand of IMB Photography are not in favor of the ban.
“This could impact me because I utilize TikTok to showcase my work, doing video, videography and photography, as well as I educate a lot of my followers on business credit,” Armand said.
He said he could lose a lot of money from the ban.
“Most content creators that have a lot of following are getting paid per month to showcase their work and also show different aspects of how they utilize TikTok,” Armand said.
He said he also talked about how he utilizes the money generated from the platform.
“I’m utilizing that money and allocating those funds to help other students around the city, as well as funding myself so that I can do volunteer work around the city, with photography and with business as well,” Armond said.
Chef Love owns Chef Love Sol Cuisine food truck and she said most of her following comes from TikTok.
“A lot of my customers come to me all the time and I asked them, ‘How did you hear about Chef Love?’ and they say ‘Oh from TikTok,’ and it just brings me great joy to know that they are following me and that they have heard of me from this platform,” Love said.
She said she believes TikTok has a specific audience that’s different from other social media platforms.
“TikTok in my opinion has its own following of people that is its own brand. So you have people on TikTok that don’t even get on Instagram or Facebook,” Love said.
Armand said he feels that TikTok has a larger audience than other social media platforms.
“There’s a lot more reach that I can contact through there. And I really created a great family base questionnaire and answers and just a lot of people across the world that are watching what we’re doing right here in Jacksonville, Florida,” Armand said.
He did say that he does have a plan to continue promoting his business if it does get banned.
“I still utilize different social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, as well as LinkedIn,” Armand said.
ByteDance is planning to challenge the ban in court.