Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The impending U.S. ban on TikTok could threaten the ability of some creators to grow their audiences across all platforms — not just on the beleaguered Chinese-owned short video app.
As the United States moves toward banning TikTok on Jan. 19, live streamers in particular are lamenting the potential death of the so-called “clipping culture,” which they believe has had an uplifting effect on their followers on TikTok and other platforms. .
“TikTok is now pretty commonly used to grow Twitch,” he said Brokena Twitch streamer who asked that his real name remain private. “When we think about the new age of Twitch streamers – Kai Cenat, CaseOh, Jynxzi – they all got their virality through TikTok.”
On TikTok, it has become standard practice for masses of third-party creators to cut interesting parts of larger live streams or long videos and turn them into short video posts. As a result of this clipping activity, TikTok will consider the original creator as a keyword, moving them to the top of the algorithm and causing a rise in followers downstream.
For creators on Twitch and other streaming platforms, cropping can be one of the most effective ways to build an audience. Many big streamers run dedicated Discord servers for this purpose, forcing superfans to mass-edit their streams and post their content to hundreds of smaller TikTok accounts.
Mathews Content Creator”MatcrackzArroyave credits TikTok for all of his approximately 41,000 followers on Twitch.
“Now that TikTok is going away, I’m concerned — a lot of people could be affected by streaming or experience a drop in new followers,” Arroyave said. “A lot of people have taken advantage of the time they’ve had, but if that’s gone, I think people will feel that new growth slows down for a while.”
Although the creators of TikTok have tried to monetize their presence on the platform in past years, some believe TikTok’s ability to grow its audience is unsurpassed due to the inherently palatable nature of its short-form content.
“I see clip/short form content as something like ads or ‘teasers’ for longer content,” said the TikTok creator. xeviwho asked to withhold his real name to protect his personal information. “If people like your shorter content and want to see more of you, they’re more likely to check out your longer forms of media. Without TikTok, the growth for many aspiring creators will be close to zero.”
While other short-form platforms such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts offer similar opportunities for creators to clip their content, these platforms lack the “clipping culture” that has naturally developed on TikTok over the years. Creators also believe that TikTok’s algorithm is designed to reward smaller creators for posting clips of viral content.
If the ban goes into effect on January 19, creators who want to recreate TikTok’s audience growth opportunities elsewhere will have to actively push for the development of a similar culture on whatever platform they choose next, whether it’s Instagram, YouTube or another competitor.
“TikTok kind of enables that with the recommendations and the search features — so it’s kind of pushing it, while others don’t really,” said Iyrah Williams, creator and co-founder of Gen-Z. social media publisher Pubity. “It’s still a thing, but not as much.
For creators looking to rebuild the nexus between short clips and long-form content, some observers believe YouTube and YouTube Shorts could offer more opportunities than Instagram Reels. While short video is deeply ingrained in Instagram’s culture, long-form video remains a more niche type of content on the platform, while it’s a more dominant force on YouTube.
“The short form is like a farm system, isn’t it?” said Arthur Leopold, CEO and co-founder of YouTube advertising platform Agentio. “It generates traffic and interest through quick content – but the ultimate price is building the largest possible audience through long-form content. It’s where by far the most monetization opportunities are.”