When TikTok influencers in the United States opened their apps on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 18, many expected to have their last few hours of scrolling or posting. Instead, they were met with the following message: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
What followed was hours of uncertainty and discomfort for many high-profile TikTok users, as they sought to find alternative avenues to connect with their fanbases.
On Sunday afternoon, TikTok announced that it would begin restoring service to U.S. users that already have the app downloaded. The social media platform went on to thank President-elect Trump, who had spoken out on Truth Social hours before, stating that he planned to issue an executive order to save the app upon his return to the White House on Monday.
After the app went dark on Saturday night, TikTok’s biggest U.S. influencers reacted with a mixture of disappointment and resigned humor as they embarked on their first day without the platform. Some influencers rebounded by using other social media options, primarily Instagram.
TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, whose online fame has landed her a role on Broadway’s & Juliet, posted on Instagram reels on Saturday night: “Hey reels, how we doing? We’re here,” she said in the short upload. She later returned to Instagram to post a video of “the first TikTok dance she ever learned.”
Although D’Amelio’s Instagram audience is more than substantial—she currently has 42.8 million followers—her following on TikTok is staggeringly higher, as she boasts 156.8 million followers on the app.
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Like D’Amelio, other top influencers used alternative social media platforms to post notes of gratitude to their followers and share nostalgic look-backs at their years on TikTok. Jojo Siwa, of Dance Moms and Dancing with the Stars fame, was among many influencers that reacted by posting old videos of themselves. Siwa, who has over 45 million TikTok followers, took to Instagram—where she has 11 million followers—to post a compilation of popular TikTok videos of herself, her caption reading: “Making this made me pretty emotional. Thank you for all the memories made.”
Spencer X—a musician and beatboxer who rose to fame on TikTok and eventually racked up almost 55 million followers on the app—also relocated to Instagram during the ban.
“TikTok forever changed my life. This is so crazy to see…” he wrote on his Instagram story to his 958k Instagram followers. “You’ll forever be in our hearts. Thank you for everything.”
YouTuber Larri Merrit, known professionally as “Larray,” posted videos on his Instagram story of him and fellow internet personality-turned-celebrity Quenlin Blackwell crying after TikTok stopped working for them. Larray, who has 27.5 million TikTok followers and around 6.5 million followers on Instagram, wrote that he hopes his followers will “continue to uplift and celebrate [their] favorite creators as they navigate this new chapter,” urging them to follow creators on other platforms.
Meanwhile, Alix Earle— a TikTok and media personality known for her vlog-style content—posted a video of herself teary-eyed and emotional on TikTok before the app went dark on Saturday night.
“I feel like I’m going through heartbreak,” she wrote for a caption displayed across the video. “This platform is more than an app or a job to me. I have so many memories on here. I have posted every day for the past 6 years of my life. I’ve shared my friends, family, relationships, personal struggles, secrets.”
“I cried myself to sleep last night,” she added.
Other influencers complained they felt “disconnected” and “cut off” from their communities when unable to access the app.
Internet personality James Charles, who got his start as a makeup aficionado on YouTube but now has over 40 million followers on TikTok posted to Instagram when his TikTok stopped working, complaining that it was “dystopian.”
“I don’t know what to do… I’ve already opened and closed the app probably six times already just to keep getting the same stupid warning message,” Charles told his 20 million Instagram followers. “I feel disconnected. I feel cut off from the world and my community…Now I’m rooting for Trump? Ew.”
TikTok went dark after the Supreme Court unanimously decided on Friday that the app’s potential risk to U.S. national security warranted a ban in the United States, outweighing anger from citizens over freedom of speech concerns and its popularity in the country.
Trump, set to be sworn in on Monday, January 20, posted on his Truth Social account on Sunday that he was “asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark.”
“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,” he wrote. “The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
