The popular social media platform TikTok went dark across the U.S. after a federal law banning the app took effect last week. Less than 24 hours later, millions of users received a message that the app was back online.
Now, the fate of TikTok — owned by the China-based company ByteDance — lies with President Donald Trump as he signed a list of executive orders, one of which granted a 75-day extension for the social media app to comply with the law that requires the banning or selling of the app.
But many TikTok content creators in Hawai‘i and elsewhere expressed frustration over the uncertainty. Some use it as a source of income and as a tool to make genuine connections with people around the world.
Using the app for public engagement
Maui resident Stacey Alapai was not surprised that TikTok temporarily went offline.
“It was a little off-putting to me,” she said. “I felt manipulated by the way this ban was rolled out and especially it only lasted like 12 hours and then it’s saying ‘Oh it’s been saved.’”
Alapai, whose username is @just.actually, made her TikTok account in 2020 purely for entertainment.
@just.actually Surprise! All this fuss over building permits is probably just another strategy for Blackstone to extract as much profit as they can before selling it off to the highest bidder and taking the profits with them. All at the expense of our history and the people who actually live here. Same story, different day in Hawai’i nei. #greenscreen #hawaiipolitics #iwikupuna #kahea #hawaiian #hawaiitok #kanakamaoli #kanaka #Wailea #Maui #waileamaui #hewa #grandwailea ♬ original sound - just.actually
Then she started connecting with other Hawai‘i creators on the so-called Hawai‘i TikTok, similar to Kanaka Twitter for users from Hawai‘i to connect by sharing content.
Last year, Alapai started posting videos of her civic engagement at the Maui County Council and other government meetings.
"It is kinda a personal diary,” she said. “At the same time where I’m able to talk through some of what’s been going on in my head around these really big picture ideas like affordable housing, the Grand Wailea expansion, and as I’m learning more stuff in my community from talking to my kūpuna and talking to people who've been activists for a long time.”
Like many content creators, Alapai was drawn to the authenticity of TikTok where she could build connections, and there was “a sense of honesty.”
But after it briefly went offline, she said she felt the app lost authenticity.
“I feel like it really broke the public trust in that vibe that has been so special and unique to that TikTok community,” she said.
“I didn't really appreciate playing with people's emotions, especially, I'm not someone who makes money on that app, but I know people who do. It's really insensitive to be playing with people's income like that.”
A space for creatives
TikTok launched in 2016 and rose in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tammalivis Salanoa, whose username is @lalaniko, is Samoan from Alaska. She created her account just before the pandemic.
When she graduated from college during the pandemic and had trouble finding employment, she turned to TikTok to sell her art.
“When TikTok started to gain more traction, I started using it as a platform to sell because it even had that option,” Salanoa said.
One of her first viral videos was of her painting with bleach.
@lalaniko Custom Itachi bleach tie dye:ramen:#fypシ #naruto #itachi #weebnation #animelife #otaku #anime #bleachtiedye ♬ Naruto's Theme (From "Naruto") - Anime Zing
She made about $6,000 a month during the pandemic through her digital storefront. She promoted and documented the process of her art through TikTok.
While Salanoa now only uses TikTok as a side hustle, she said she likes the app’s algorithm more than Instagram.
Social media algorithms are made up of rules, signals and data that govern the platform’s operation, according to SproutSocial. That means the more you like and comment on certain content, the more you will see related content on your personalized feed.
Salanoa said when TikTok became accessible for her again, her algorithm was briefly off.
Mara Mahoney is another TikTok content creator (@mara.fiji) who shares her poetry as well as books by Pacific Islander authors. She also uses her platform to talk about decolonization and other social issues in the Pacific.
Mahoney is of Fijian and Yapese descent and lives in Fiji. She created her account when she was in Hawaiʻi. So she thought she was safe from the ban until she got the notification that the app was down. At that moment, she thought of the community she’d built in the last year.
“What really strikes me is how these digital spaces have become modern versions of traditional Pacific meeting grounds,” she said. “Just as our ancestors would gather to share stories and knowledge, we're using these platforms to maintain those connections across these vast distances.”
“When you think about it, Pacific people have always been experts at long-distance communication and community building,” she added.
What’s next?
While the future of the app is unclear, Salanoa said she’s seen the rise and fall of other social media platforms like Myspace, Vine and Musical.ly.
“There's so much more than TikTok out there,” she said. “There are different apps, different avenues, and it's just like being more present in who you are now, and building up yourself because that is basically who you're marketing on these apps is you. If you, yourself don't know who you are, then how can you expect others to follow?”