UK TikTokers say goodbye to US followers as ban looms: ‘It’s a really beautiful community’
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British content creators, who may lose a big chunk of their audiences, say they see the app as a gateway to Americans. If TikTok disappears from the US, it won’t just be its 170 million American users who will lose out. British TikTokers and business owners have told the Guardian they will also lose a sizeable chunk of their audiences after a ban. The video app has become a key gateway to Americans for the UK’s online video creators, who make a living from accruing views and making sponsored content deals. With the ban scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, a US-sized hole will appear in the global userbase.
![[Dan Milmo]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/08/09/Dan_Milmo,_R.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“In English-speaking markets, a lot of creators have sizeable US audiences that follow them,” says Thomas Walters, chief executive of Billion Dollar Boy, a UK-based advertising agency that pairs blue-chip advertisers with creators and influencers. A ban would be “really sad” for creators who have “built audiences from nothing” on TikTok, he adds.
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The Guardian spoke to several UK-based creators and one entrepreneur who all say they will be affected by a ban. Users in the US account for nearly half of Beech’s 1.7 million-strong audience on TikTok. He says there is a strong relationship between creators and users on both sides of the Atlantic, a form of digital cultural exchange that millions of Brits and Americans will miss.
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“It’s going to be a big difference for all of us, to see that gap in our feeds,” he says. Beech, who describes his posts as “high energy fashion content”, says sponsored content – from brands such as US skincare line Kiehl’s and Sky TV – provides the majority of his income. He also has a presence on YouTube Shorts and Instagram but says he has noticed that TikTok users “don’t necessarily follow you elsewhere”.
