Will TikTok Die?
With YouTube’s recent announcement that they’re going to start monetizing their Shorts Feed, a lot of creators are asking:
is it time to ditch TikTok and go all-in with YouTube Shorts.
My Opinion? Unless TikTok makes some major changes in the next 6 months, I believe we will see a mass exodus of creators ditching TikTok’s closed ecosystem for the more creator-friendly platform offered by YouTube and YouTube Shorts.
It will be a slow bleed, especially for small creators who have only ever made content for TikTok. Change is always hard, but money talks. TikTok runs ads and makes massive revenue off of the video content shared on their app, but creators see almost none of that revenue. Earlier this year Hank Green put out a YouTube video talking about the perils of the TikTok creator fund, and how the platform really isn’t doing anything to benefit creators. To summarize, TikTok sucks at paying creators, and the long-term negative effects on creator community will be bad news for the platform.
Is it time to jump ship? The catch here is that many of the large TikTok-first creators (aka: the Addison’s and the Charli’s) are already making content for, and have gained a following on other social platforms, including both Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. For them the decision is clear, but for someone who only has a following on TikTok, the decision will be a lot harder.
The double-catch is that many creators are already making long-form videos that currently live on YouTube. In many cases these creators have been trying to convince their TikTok audiences to also follow them and watch their YouTube content. While converting your audience might seem straightforward, it’s rarely the case. TikTok is a self-contained ecosystem. The app doesn’t want you to leave. Everything from the full screen interface, to the active censorship of any mention of “link in bio” is designed to keep people inside the app as long as possible. Simply put, the last thing TikTok wants you to do is to leave TikTok for a competitor’s platform.
YouTube on the other hand is much friendlier toward creators. YouTube doesn’t sensor creator’s comments, it understands that most creators make revenue beyond just AdSense, and that the inclusion of product links or “links in bio” is a critical way that creators make money.
One major hurdle to overcome is that YouTube has traditionally been seen as a “highly curated” platform. There’s a minimum level of viewer expectation when it comes to the quality and production value of your content. YouTube comes with the stigma that content should “look” a certain way, with good lighting and good music. While, I don’t necessarily agree that this is true for all niches, for some creators this subconscious roadblock will work in their favor, and for others it will be a major stopping point that will prevent them from leaving TikTok behind and jumping in to the deep end with YouTube Shorts.
Will TikTok change in response to YouTube Shorts monetization? As Mr. Beast has pointed out: what incentive does TikTok have to suddenly shell out billions of dollars to creators? They built their platform hard and fast, and don’t have the same long-term reputation with advertisers and monetization that YouTube does.
YouTube is making the promise that all of your short and long-form content can live in one place AND be monetized. The choice is obvious. Many of my creator friends, including myself, are excited to finally have a way to directly monetize our short form videos, while also driving views to our long-form content. If you still aren’t excited for the future of YouTube and YouTube shorts, I highly recommend watching this interview between Mr. Beast and Todd Beaupre of YouTube that occurred this year at VidCon, for insight into how YouTube is evolving over the coming months. As for me and my creator friends, we recognize the massive potential with YouTube being the all-in-one destination for our content, and are looking forward to next year with optimism.