Maine is a great place to produce content for TikTok. The state’s beautiful, natural scenery is often featured in shortform videos that rake in views and likes on the popular social media app. And for some enterprising creators who have partnered with sponsors or TikTok itself, those videos can be an important source of money.
But with Congress now threatening to ban the platform, Maine’s TikTok influencers are cautiously planning their next steps.
On Wednesday, the House passed a bill that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if its China-based parent company doesn’t sell it. The legislation still has to pass the Senate and receive President Joe Biden’s signature before it would become law, but the threat of the ban is weighing on those whose livelihoods depend, in no small part, on the app.
Jill Devlin is a Portland-based travel influencer on TikTok. Her videos showcase picturesque Maine scenes to her nearly 30,000 followers: a pancake picnic with local maple syrup, a bopping Portland restaurant, steaming coffee on the beach. Devlin’s following is big, with her most popular video viewed 2.7 million times. She earns income from TikTok for those views, as well as from the brands she displays in her videos.
Devlin also has a job as a content director for a Portland company, but if TikTok goes away, she said that she would lose her fastest means of growing an audience for her side hustle as a travel influencer. It’s been easier to gain followers there than on alternatives such as Instagram.
“I mean, I’m bummed,” Devlin said. “I would hate to lose that momentum.”
Another Maine TikToker, Brock Holmes, who uses the handle MaineGang, also said TikTok has been the fastest way to grow his audience. While he started out producing videos about gaming, he now posts varied content that’s more tied to the state, such as discussing the weather, local news and expensive houses on Zillow.
Holmes hasn’t had as much success with other platforms. While his TikTok has accrued more than 100,000 followers in recent years, he said his follower numbers have stagnated on all of his other social media accounts. When bans on TikTok have been floated in the past, Holmes said he’s had trouble getting his audience to follow him on other platforms. He noted that his TikTok following has helped him raise money for charitable causes, such as the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.
“If TikTok were to be banned, for me it would just be the end of my content career,” he said in an email.
Devlin is more optimistic. Trends on social media are always changing, and she said if TikTok is banned, she can still make marketable content through Instagram. She also doesn’t think a ban would take effect right away, providing a few months for her to make a plan and steer her followers to another platform — though she admitted that could be easier said than done.
“Social media is fluid,” Devlin said. “So if it does go away, I really think that something else will pop up.”
