Update: January 17, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to , which will go into effect on January 19 if the social media’s parent company does not sell the platform.

In 2023, Tatiana O鈥橦ara, a content creator in Atlanta, Georgia, began to document her running journey on TikTok. She , and soon attracted a dedicated following of other beginner听runners. By the end of 2024, she had . “When people are looking for a run club for slower runners, they find me,”听O’Hara said.

Now, what she has built is in jeopardy as a ban on the app goes into effect on January 19, 2025, unless the Supreme Court intervenes. “I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檒l be able to get that same searchability on other apps,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara is just one of thousands of creators and small business owners grappling with the impending TikTok ban.

In April, Congress passed a law banning the app beginning on January 19 of this year. The government says that TikTok . Outrage by many lawmakers and users of the app over followed. TikTok鈥檚 parent company, ByteDance, a Chinese technology company, challenged the law, and the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on January 10, to determine its constitutionality.

As of now, TikTok continues to operate in the U.S., pending the Supreme Court’s decision, which will decide whether the ban will proceed. President-elect Donald Trump, who had previously sought to ban the app in 2020, has reversed his position and is now . Last month, he filed a brief with the Supreme Court requesting a delay in the ban to allow his incoming administration to negotiate a resolution.

Social media professionals and creator economy analysts have called the ban an “” for creators, and many users fear that the communities they’ve participated in will disappear overnight with no replacement.

TikTok’s Impact on Outdoor Access

The ban is set to have unanticipated ripple effects in the outdoors community. Though TikTok is seen as a hyper-online platform, built to maximize screen time, the app actually does more than other major social platforms to encourage people to get outside and explore nature, some users said. “TikTok lowers the barrier of entry to outdoorsy activities because the information is so accessible,” O’Hara said.

John Facey, a web and graphic designer in Queens, New York, credits TikTok with helping him discover a love of horticulture and environmentalism. Through his page on TikTok, he said, he met a lot of people who were interested in environmental science, local ecology, and issues affecting the environment. Facey even got tips for identifying plants along his hikes.

Andy Neal, an outdoor content creator who posts under the handle @andyfilmsandhikes, said that, “TikTok has played a significant role in democratizing the outdoors.”

While traditional media often depicts those hiking, biking and engaging in other outdoor sports as young, fit, and conventionally attractive, Neal said that TikTok, more than any other platform, has helped change those perceptions. “TikTok has given visibility to people of all body types, genders, and backgrounds who love spending time outside,” he said. “Compared to other platforms, TikTok has done a better job of making the outdoors feel inclusive鈥鈥檝e learned more about outdoor gear and education听on TikTok than anywhere else because the platform encourages real conversations and storytelling, rather than focusing solely on aesthetics.”

Activism at Risk

TikTok’s hyper-curated algorithm and community-first approach have inspired millions to explore the natural world and to develop a deeper appreciation for nature. The app remains a hub for Gen Z climate activism, with creators like Elise Joshi and sound the alarm on climate change.

Jessie Dickson, a TikTok creator with 215,000 followers in Sacramento, California, said that TikTok’s capacity to mobilize people to action is unmatched. “Think of all the campaigns to or that only succeeded because of young people on TikTok,”听Dickson said. “Think of all the young people who on hikes is important.”

Dickson said that as an environmentalist and scientist, the ban terrifies him. “We are muting millions of young voices鈥� so many areas of conservation are going to suffer without TikTok.”

TikTok’s short-form video format has also made information about outdoor adventures more accessible and appealing, especially to younger generations. Creators share , , and , lowering the barrier to entry for those looking to spend more time outside.

This content has translated into real-world action. Thousands of users have they discovered through the app. The platform has been credited with motivating people to take up hiking and nature walks, with users and the mental health benefits of spending time outside. Without the platform’s influence, some users will be pushed toward more solitary apps that are less about community and more about consumption. Creators said that people would have a harder time discovering outdoors activities and meetups around them.

The Business Repercussions

The ban will also affect thousands of small businesses, including many sellers of outdoor and sports equipment. “If I was interested in taking up kayaking, it is so easy to go on TikTok, follow ten people posting about kayaking, and see their Amazon storefronts,” O’Hara said. This seamless integration of content and commerce has been a boon for small businesses looking to tap into niche outdoor activity related markets.

Creators face financial peril as a major source of their听income may dry up with no real alternative. “The money I made on TikTok helped pay for my son鈥檚 daycare,” O’Hara said.

The platform has enabled influencers to monetize content through brand deals, live streams, and affiliate marketing. These income streams will disappear if the ban is enacted. “TikTok isn鈥檛 just another social media platform, it鈥檚 a launchpad for creators,” said Jasmine Enberg, vice president and principal analyst at eMarketer.

While other platforms feature their own versions of live streaming and business opportunitites, Instagram and YouTube, TikTok’s primary competitors, just don’t offer the same ecommerce integration, monetization options, and discovery systems as TikTok, creators said. “One unique aspect of TikTok that I鈥檒l miss is the live-streaming feature,” Neal said. “I鈥檝e had incredible live streams while out on hikes, showing people beautiful spaces and having meaningful conversations in real-time. Other platforms don鈥檛 foster that same kind of live engagement.”

In response to the fast-approaching ban, some TikTok users which translates loosely into “little red book,” named after a propaganda book written by . 听The app is lifestyle-centric and more similar to Instagram than TikTok. However, it shot to the top of Apple’s app store on January 14 as TikTok users desperately searched for alternatives to the platform.

“Do the great people of China like nature?” one new Xiaohongshu alongside a video of the view from a mountain top. “I’m an American TikTok refugee that posts simple nature content that highlights the greatness of the outdoors,” he .

Within hours of posting, he had gotten a reply from another Xiaohongshu user, who posts videos of their hikes. “Deep love of nature,” they replied.

Taylor Lorenz has reported on the content creator industry for 15 years. She has covered TikTok for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She has also amassed over 542,000 followers on the app.

The post What the TikTok Ban Means for Outdoor Communities and Creators appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

A 21-year-old woman living alone with her pet snake in a van听traveling around the state of California听might not sound like a recipe for viral fame, but since she uploaded her first video barely two months ago, has become a YouTube sensation.

Eliana is the closest anyone has come to becoming an overnight star on YouTube. She garnered听more than 1.3 million subscribers in her first three weeks and is projected to hit 2 million in the coming month. Though she鈥檇听posted just three videos听by the end of July, hers was the most subscribed-to YouTube channel in America that month. 鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 heard of Jennelle Eliana, you might want to open your ears, because she鈥檚 just about everywhere right now,鈥澨鼶an Courrier, host of Creator Fundamentals, a YouTube channel that provides tips on audience听growth, .

Part of what makes Eliana鈥檚 success so fascinating is that she essentially came out of nowhere. It takes most YouTube vloggers years to gain an audience, but Eliana, a seemingly average girl living in a beat-up van, did it in a matter of weeks. Other YouTubers have produced videos on the phenomenon, and have devised elaborate (and false) But in reality, there鈥檚 nothing nefarious about Eliana鈥檚 meteoric rise.

Eliana never even started out looking for fame. As a teenager growing up in Sacramento, California, she became interested in sustainable living and spent hours watching other vanlife YouTubers. After graduating high school in the summer of 2016, she got a job working for a sporting goods company in Silicon Valley (she prefers not to name the company over ) and enrolled in community college part-time to study marine biology. She moved into an apartment with a roommate, and was stuck paying $900 per month for a home she really only used for sleep. After seeing others live out of their vans, she was interested in living more sustainably herself.

So, in July 2017, she pulled together $2,500 and purchased a 1995 GMC Vandura Explorer. She spent a month refurbishing it, borrowing tools from her former employer to get the job done. She , including a hammock to sleep in while she was finishing the conversion. By January 2018, she鈥檇听constructed a proper bed. The transformation from van to home included ripping out the van鈥檚 original carpet and adding three types of insulation (Great Stuff home spray, a layer of Reflectix, and Polyiso foam board), a steel bar sink, and storage. Because Eliana only uses her sink for brushing her teeth and washing her face, the Valterra manual hand pump attached to her faucet is connected to a 64-ounce听Hydroflask, as opposed to a bigger water tank. For the majority of her water needs she relies on a seven-gallon plastic tank that she fills up with purified drinking water.

Eliana forwent a stove buildout in favor of a Dometic CFX 28-inch compressor fridge refrigerator, where she keeps snacks. For 99 percent听of her meals, she eats out. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a luxury I can afford now that I don鈥檛 pay rent,鈥澨齭he . She added Velcro dots around her front windows to attach felt-covered pads to keep out the sun and stay warm while she鈥檚 sleeping. She keeps her shoes in a basket, her clothes in trunks, and a pop-up 鈥渄ining room table鈥� in a pouch behind the van鈥檚 passenger seat.

The most unique thing about Eliana鈥檚 van build, though, is her custom snake terrarium. She added sliding glass doors to a kitchen shelving unit, and uses an eraser wedge to keep them closed. Because her pet snake, a ball python named Alfredo, needs to keep warm, Eliana installed a heating pad below the makeshift tank connected to a thermostat that runs off the main car battery.

For two years after Eliana moved into her van, she remained in Silicon Valley and still worked her 9-to-5 hourly听job at the sporting goods company. She documented some of her local travels around California on Instagram, but it wasn鈥檛 until June 26 of this year that she finally launched a YouTube channel.

鈥淪up dudes and dudettes, this is my crib,鈥澨齭he at the time. 鈥淚鈥檓 20 years old and I鈥檝e been living in this self-converted 1995 GMC Vandura Explorer for sometime now. I鈥檓 so stoked to finally be here on YouTube. Stay tuned for some wild and not so wild adventures.鈥澨鼿er , 鈥淰AN TOUR | SOLO FEMALE TRAVELER lives VANLIFE with PET SNAKE!鈥� took off almost immediately.

Within her first month she had crossed one million followers and has since uploaded four more videos, mostly answering common questions about how 听(she eats out), (at a local gym), and (she didn鈥檛 want to spend half her income on rent). Eliana explains that she does, in fact, live in the van and has for a while, despite the conspiracies calling her a fake. 鈥淚 have been through a lot to make this my reality and I find it so ridiculous that people are accusing me of not living in my van because I鈥檓 too pretty or my van is too clean,鈥澨齭he says in . 鈥淭hank you! I work really hard to keep myself and my van clean and I鈥檓 glad someone noticed.鈥澨齏ith every upload, Eliana鈥檚 fan base grows.

YouTube鈥檚 recommendation algorithm is powerful, and Eliana has grown so fast mainly听because her videos are a confluence of everything YouTube viewers seem to be loving right now, which almost guarantees her a certain level of distribution. As more people watch and respond positively with likes and comments, YouTube spreads her content even further.

One of Eliana鈥檚 biggest draws is that she鈥檚 a solo female traveler, a category that is exploding on YouTube this year. Since 2016, uploads with 鈥渟olo travel鈥� in the title have risen 80 percent, year over year, with 2019 being the largest year yet, according to YouTube. And of the top 100 most viewed videos with 鈥渟olo travel鈥� in the title, over听70 percent were uploaded by women. There鈥檚 a growing interest from YouTube鈥檚 wide community in not just what it鈥檚 like to travel alone as a woman, but also as a woman of color. Black women are creating travel guides and听trip diaries, and providing helpful information for those seeking to replicate their lifestyle. The majority of the top solo female travel content on YouTube is from the vanlife community, with videos related to vanlife having increased听more than 4.5 times since 2017.

Eliana鈥檚 videos are lighthearted, lo-fi, and, though they fall into the broader vanlife and travel vlogger categories, they鈥檙e also a reaction against the content many travel influencers trade in. Eliana doesn鈥檛 own any fancy equipment; she . Because her van doesn鈥檛 have Wi-Fi, she is often slow to upload. Her content is relatable to hoards of her Generation Z peers. 鈥淚f you look at other videos of vanlife they鈥檙e all very similar, cinemagraphic shots of places they鈥檝e traveled. They have expensive build outs and vans, the destinations they go to are luxurious,鈥澨鼸liana says. 鈥淚 try to be as realistic as I can be and very candid about my life. I don鈥檛 travel to all these amazing crazy destinations….听I have a cheap, beat-up van that I tried to make as cozy as possible.鈥� Her pet snake also sets her apart. 鈥淓veryone else has dogs,鈥澨齭he says.

Eliana stressed that she鈥檚 a huge fan of the vanlife community, but many of the channels she grew up watching featured millennial couples who had burned out of the corporate world and wanted to uproot their lives to travel. Eliana says that for her, the lifestyle isn鈥檛 as much about travel as it is just not having to pay rent or buy into some corporate hierarchy right out of school. Eighty percent of Eliana鈥檚 subscribers are women aged 18 to 24, and her channel provides them with an alternative path that鈥檚 more realistic to what they might be able to achieve.

Her interest in sustainability has also helped her grow. Eliana thrifts much of her clothing and resells it on , a popular clothing resale app, under the handle @ElianasGasMoney. 鈥淚 try my hardest to cut down on waste and single-use products,鈥澨齭he says. 鈥淚 use reusable bags and cups.鈥� These interests play well into YouTube鈥檚 algorithm. Videos on sustainable living have doubled this year, according to YouTube. 鈥淚 feel like now, we鈥檙e starting to be exposed to more content about what our world is going through with pollution, climate change,鈥澨鼸liana says. 鈥淚 feel like the younger generation is putting a foot down and making changes to their lifestyle so that we can all collectively make the world a better place, which is awesome.鈥�

Last month, Eliana finally quit her day job at the sporting goods company and decided to go all in on YouTube. According to , a YouTube analytics platform, she could be making as much as $27,700 per month on ads. Eliana says she鈥檇 also love to partner with like-minded brands on sponsored content in the future. She never anticipated becoming a YouTube star, but now sees it as a huge opportunity. She is on an indefinite break from school and already planning her first big trip to several national parks this fall, all the while adjusting to her newfound fame. 鈥淚 honestly have no words, I still don鈥檛 think I understand how crazy this is,鈥澨齭he says. 鈥淧eople recognize me in every city I鈥檝e been going to.鈥�

As her fan base grows, she鈥檚 also managed to win over many old-timers in the vanlife and travel community on YouTube. They see Eliana鈥檚 videos as further validation that their alternative way of living is gaining mass appeal. Jordan and Kaylee, a YouTuber vlogger couple who run a vanlife channel called , commented on Eliana鈥檚 success in a . 鈥淜nowing that one of her videos has more views than our entire channel, we want to tell you how that makes us feel,鈥澨齁ordan said. 鈥淭o be honest guys, it鈥檚 freaking awesome.鈥�

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