As a small-business owner and TikTok creator, I rely almost exclusively on TikTok to pay the bills. The platform has become a lifeline for my small business and my family, which is why I was disturbed to read a recent New York Times editorial spreading a misleading narrative about the platform.
I’ve experienced how TikTok can change lives, and I won’t stay silent while fearmongering threatens a tool that has empowered so many. Whether in front of the Supreme Court or on the screen of someone’s phone, I’ll continue to speak up for TikTok and share what it’s done.
The year 2020 was one of the most difficult of my life. I was fired from a corporate marketing job after telling my employer that I was pregnant. At the time, I was also struggling to care for my mother, who had brain cancer and had just taken over the responsibility of raising my younger sister, who was only 7 years old.
Out of a job and grieving, I started creating TikTok videos to support my family. The platform became my creative outlet to discuss everything I was going through, from parenting and grief to my passion for baking.
I could never have expected the outpouring of love and support I received from the community I quickly built. Beyond being a creative outlet for my mental health, TikTok allowed me to jumpstart my baking business through its unique algorithm.
Before I knew it, my videos were going viral, and I was able to start selling thousands of cookies nationwide. Orders continued to pour in. Now, I have a dozen employees to help me keep up with the demand.
In January, I stood in front of the Supreme Court to fight for the existence of TikTok. Not just for me, but for the millions of other small businesses and families that depend on the platform. It was clear that the justices couldn’t comprehend the effect the platform has on small businesses. Small businesses were only mentioned nine times during the two-hour hearing.
While the court associates TikTok with “cat videos,” and the New York Times thinks it’s a political tool, I’m here to speak on behalf of the 7.5 million businesses that are forever changed because of TikTok. This is about supporting people, allowing them to get back on their feet, to put food on the table for their loved ones, and to keep small businesses alive.
No other platform can replace TikTok. Several times, I have posted the same video on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. Every time, the amount of traction I get on my TikTok videos far exceeds that on other platforms.
Thanks to TikTok, I am financially independent and able to put my sister in a great school. If it were taken away, businesses and families would be devastated. Not only is the New York Times missing the massive economic effect TikTok has, but it is also ignoring the reality of the majority of American businesses. Small businesses depend on TikTok for marketing.
The bottom line is that what the New York Times thinks is not what the American people think. Taking away TikTok would mean erasing the stories of many small businesses.
