The Countdown Clock for TikTok

If you've been paying even casual attention to the tech news you might have heard that TikTok's presence in the USA (and by extension its general viability as a social media platform) has some question marks over it.

But who needs TikTok anyway?

I mean it's just a bunch of shameless extroverts dancing on camera for self-promotion, right?

If that's what you imagine, you may want to think again. TikTok is a social media juggernaut, winning fans from all generations, particularly Gen Z and Millenials.

Eye care practice owners, like many small businesses, have embraced it for marketing and education.

Whether it's dry eye treatment tips, advice on choosing sunglasses or explaining LASIK procedures, serious eye health professionals everywhere are using short form video to connect with potential patients.

However, there is a great deal of uncertainty about whether TikTok still has a future due to events of the past 12 months.

The Story So Far

Let's catch up on the back story. In April 2024, then-President Joe Biden signed a law ordering the parent company, ByteDance to divest its ownership of the brand, due to fears about the company's connection to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Many security sector analysts had been voicing concerns about geo-location surveillance, personal data harvesting and weaponization of the algorithm to push propaganda.

Initially, ByteDance was told it had to find an approved buyer by January 2025. Then, President Donald Trump extended the deadline by another 75 days to 5th April, 2025.

Mr. Trump has stated that he will "probably extend the deadline again" to avoid another platform shutdown (which happened briefly after the initial deadline expired).

Several potential buyers have either announced interest or rumored to be considering, including Elon Musk, MicroSoft, Oracle, and an investor group that includes James Donaldson, better known to YouTube fans as "Mr. Beast". Valuations are said by some to be as much as $50 billion (exceeding the $45 Billion that Mr. Musk paid for Twitter).

It's unclear whether ByteDance actually wants to sell, or whether the Chinese Government would allow it. In early 2023, a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman said that China would oppose any forced sale of TikTok because a sale or divestiture of the app would involve “exporting technology”.

Why is TikTok a Hot Property

TikTok was originally introduced as "Douyin" in China back in 2016. To expand globally, the company later launched an international version under the name TikTok. Its popularity surged in 2018 after ByteDance acquired and integrated the lip-syncing platform Musical.ly, creating the app's well-known format today.

TikTok’s AI-driven interest-based approach makes its news feed faster at adapting, more personalized, and less dependent on who you follow compared to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Its focus on watch time, passive signals, and hyper-personalization is why users often feel like TikTok “knows them” better than any other social media app. It also makes it easier for a creator to "go viral" and immediately gain massive exposure compared to its competitors.

What Will It Mean for Eye Care Practices

If TikTok shuts down, eye care practices will need to shift their short-form video efforts to Meta, YouTube Shorts, Twitter/X, and even LinkedIn.

The good news? Existing content can be easily repurposed for these platforms. The challenge? More competition. A wave of experienced TikTok creators will move to these spaces, making it even harder to grab attention.

In addition, advertising budgets currently going to TikTok will be redirected, which in turn could lead to more expensive ad costs for everyone.

If you haven’t started flexing your short-form video-making muscle, now’s the time. These other platforms are already crowded, and they could be about to get even busier.

Could Instagram Reels Eat TikTok's Lunch?

Instagram is reportedly considering launching a standalone Reels app, as revealed by platform chief Adam Mosseri in a recent staff meeting. If TikTok disappears from the U.S. market, Instagram sees an opportunity to capture short-form video users and strengthen its position against its biggest competitor.

The proposed app would provide a TikTok-like experience, featuring an endless stream of full-screen, AI-driven video recommendations. However, Meta’s track record with standalone apps isn’t great—remember IGTV? It was quietly shut down after failing to gain traction. Then there was Threads, initially hyped as a Twitter alternative, but it struggled to retain users.

Launching a Reels-only app is risky, as it could cannibalize Instagram’s own audience rather than growing engagement. But if TikTok is banned, Instagram might bet on users migrating to a dedicated Reels experience instead of switching to YouTube Shorts or other platforms.

Whether this gamble will pay off remains to be seen, but Meta is clearly bracing for a TikTok-free future.

Watching and Waiting

So in summary, there are plenty of known unknowns:

• Will ByteDance agree to sell (and be given permission to sell by the CCP)

• Will a buyer find the cash for what would probably be a record social media app price tag

• Will President Donald Trump follow through on his promise to "save TikTok" by giving another extension to the divestment deadline

• Will other countries (including Australia) follow suit if indeed the app is banned in the USA.

Meanwhile, the social media universe is in spectator mode. Regardless of the outcome, short form video as a content format is only going to keep growing in popularity, and small business owners in all industries need to adapt to the new "video first" paradigm, or be left behind.

AUTHOR BIO

Paul Sallaway is the founder, owner and web strategist behind Optics Digital Marketing. His agency specialises in assisting business growth for eye care practices through conversion optimised websites and data driven marketing. For a free consultation, visit: opticsdigital.net.