What It Means for Food Creators

Nearly two billion. That’s the number of active users currently on TikTok. Some 150 million of those are Americans. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, one-third of Americans use the platform. But here’s the thing. Barely any of them post. Instead, the very vast majority, Pew noted, never post a single video, instead relying on creators to not just entertain them through short-form content but also inform them, as a growing number of Americans say TikTok is how they get their news and information. However, all that’s in jeopardy thanks to a proposed ban on the app in the United States, which has already made its way through Congress. And that could have serious consequences for your favorite creators — including up-and-coming chefs and your local restaurants. 

On April 23, Congress passed new legislation that the Washington Post explained is an “ultimatum to TikTok’s parent company,” ByteDance, a Chinese technology company, that gives them two choices for their future in the U.S. The company can either sell to a non-Chinese owner, or be banned for use in the U.S. The following day, President Biden signed the bill into law — a law stemming from fears that the app may sell American’s personal data to the Chinese government or, as the New York Times noted, fears that China could use TikTok’s algorithmic content recommendations to fuel the spread of misinformation. 

All of those concerns are real and valid, but the same argument can be made for all social platforms, and really any website. In 2023, Texas A&M researchers published their study looking into visual misinformation on Facebook and found that “on the eve of the 2020 election, nearly one out of every four political image posts on Facebook contained misinformation,” the researchers shared. “Widely shared falsehoods included QAnon conspiracy theories, misleading statements about the Black Lives Matter movement, and unfounded claims about Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.”

And in 2018, MIT researchers published a study showing that false information spreads faster on Twitter than truthful stories — not due to bots but due to humans. “These findings shed new light on fundamental aspects of our online communication ecosystem,” Deb Roy, an associate professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab and a co-author of the study, shared at the time. 

Without question, social media has its pitfalls — be it the negative impacts on our well-being, the misuse of social media by children, and the specifically terrible effects of social media on teen girls.

There is, however, another side. 

“A majority of adolescents report that social media helps them feel more accepted (58%), like they have people who can support them through tough times (67%), like they have a place to show their creative side (71%), and more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives (80%),” a study by the National Institute of Health stated. But that’s not all. There’s serious cash at stake too.

According to TikTok’s own data (which, should always be taken with a grain of salt) its platform “fuels significant economic growth for more than seven million businesses and the U.S. economy as a whole by helping to support more than $24 billion in gross domestic product and more than 224,000 American jobs, delivering a competitive edge to small businesses across the nation.” And, for some food-focused creators, the app has been life-changing. 

“TikTok really blew up for me because I just found certain things that worked on there, and so it grew very, very fast in a short space of time,” James Brooks, a creator with more than 100,000 followers on TikTok, shared. “I think that one of the differences that I’ve found between TikTok and a lot of the sort of the western social media platforms is that they don’t hold creators at arms length like a lot of other social media companies do,” he added, pointing to the often-infuriating problem of having no one to speak to at different platforms to help with an account issue. You see these huge Instagrammers going onto LinkedIn and saying, ‘Does anyone have any contacts at Meta because I need help.’ And with TikTok, they invest much more heavily into staff members whose job it is to look after creators and to be available to creators. I think that was one of the things that I absolutely loved about TikTok from the very beginning.” 

Through his account, Brooks says, he’s been able to connect with other creators at TikTok-led events as well as brands who are looking to partner, and pay, people like him to create the content people love, including plenty of recipe videos and product recommendations. 

Though Brooks is mostly UK-based, he says, if the ban were to happen, he’d lose “a considerable chunk of my audience,” which could affect his potential earnings with partners. And, naturally, he’s far from alone. 

“People understand that there could be a very real impact on their livelihood and what they’ve worked really hard to create, Scott Sutton, CEO of Later, a social media management and influencer platform, shared. “I think that there’s a heightened attention from the whole community around what’s happening. There’s a very active dialogue, and we see it from our brand partners and with our internal relationship with TikTok. It’s occupying their time and their energy.” 

For the creators, Sutton, who also hosts a podcast about the future of creators, says, “They’re deciding whether to hedge and start to produce on different networks or lean into different strategies like YouTube shorts or reels, leaning more in on stories as kind of that short-form video content alternative to TikTok.” 

As for what the thinks the app has done specifically for the food community, Sutton shared, “I think it’s offered a new and distinct way that the general community can engage with food, with wine, with experiences, in a whole different way than was offered by the traditional TV network or the live in-person experience. And I think there are so many different interesting ways that TikTok has taken it — from people who are all about organic and healthy eating. There’s the fitness community and paleo, or other trends like keto and fasting, and so many different ways of viewing food, all the way to the most imaginative artistic chocolatier that has 20 million followers and is making these amazing creations and is exposing us to different ideas, to different expression, and really opening people’s eyes to new ways to interact with [food].”

Indeed, TikTok has become the space for consumers to find inspiration on what – and where — to eat next, especially among the Gen Z demographic. According to a report by Cassandra, an insights and strategy group, 53% of Gen Z respondents said they find “inspiration for new food through TikTok,” adding, that the Gen Z audience is “eager for unique culinary experiences and are adventurous eaters. Due to the pandemic, Gen Z has become self-taught at-home chefs, thanks to the help of social media. This trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon as Gen Z has found a new way to be authentically themselves, and brands and marketers should be taking note.” 

Beyond Gen Z,, TikTok has also specifically created space for underrepresented creators in the BIPOC community, who haven’t found the same success elsewhere. A March report by Oxford Economics showed that small- and midsized businesses (SMBs) from minority groups “report seeing their sales increase after promoting their products and services on TikTok — 83% of African American SMBs have experienced this outcome at least once, while an even greater percentage of Latino or Hispanic (86%) and Asian-American and Pacific Islander (88%) business owners have seen the same boost in business. Nearly half (45%) of SMBs from minority groups say that TikTok enables them to establish lucrative brand partnerships and sponsorships that would have been more difficult to establish without the app.” 

As for why TikTok foodies and other creators became so popular in the first place, Chloe Sappern, the founder of Chloe Sappern Creative, says, it’s because it’s simply far more casual than other platforms. And that ease of entry has allowed creators to feel more confident in posting, and followers feel like they really know the creators behind their favorite videos. 

“It’s less about the image you’re curating and more about the content and what you’re saying and how you’re engaging with your community,” Sappern said. “What I say to my clients in the food space is, if TikTok were to disappear tomorrow, let’s just make sure that the content that we were using on that platform, so the behind-the-scenes unfiltered stuff, we’re just finding a new home for it, whether that’s YouTube shorts or Instagram stories, maybe it’s in a reel, but it’s not living on the grid.”

As for if our experts think the ban is really going to happen, all of them said no. Or, at the very least, if it does happen, it won’t be happening tomorrow. 

“From everything that I’ve seen, the most likely scenario is that it gets held up in some extensive legal battle,” Sutton shared. “I think also what will determine this is the outcome of the election in November, as Trump and the Republicans have now changed their position on the topic and are more on the anti-ban side. That being said, no matter the candidate, Sutton added, “there will be an intensive legal battle,” or, TikTok really may just shutter its U.S. operation. “Shutting down the U.S. would actually be their preferred force of action,” Sutton added, which would “force the government into action knowing that there would be heavy backlash from the American citizens.”

But maybe you should make sure to follow your favorite creators on other platforms. Just in case.