TikTok uncertainty leaves influencers feeling nervy
For many people, TikTok is a fun escape - a place to share viral trends, discover new recipes, music, books, or learn clever life hacks. But for others, it's their full-time job
Leila Nikea is a beauty content creator from Derby. She left her job as a make-up artist three years ago to focus solely on TikTok. The platform has become her main source of income - in fact, her earnings have tripled since joining the app.
"It was difficult making that initial jump to quit... but it's the best thing I ever did," she says."If it wasn't for TikTok, I wouldn't be here now. TikTok really enabled me to be seen, I've had so many opportunities."I've been able to purchase my house, something I didn't think I would ever be able to do on the wage I was on before. It's really opened doors for me financially, I feel a lot more secure."
But uncertainty around its future is making her nervous.I've put so much effort into TikTok, I've put my heart and soul into it," she says.The amount of work that creators put into their videos behind the scenes, isn't spoken about enough.To think that the app could just be taken away, after all of that hard work, is disheartening.
"It makes me panic about income and whether people will want to work with me on other platforms. It's nerve-racking We've always really struggled to get our music out there, we've tried so many ways," Howard says. "But now we've grown a following on TikTok, people are actually listening to our original music and we've actually got our first gig as The Whiskey Brothers coming up in March.
