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The publisher has 17.6 million followers on TikTok, making it the largest news organization on the app. And because of its roots in the United Kingdom, the publisher will still be able to use TikTok to reach audiences outside the United States, further avoiding the potential ban.
Despite those safety nets, it has worked similarly to build its audience on other platforms where users flock to find vertical video, according to global head of video Tony Manfred.
“We are well positioned in the event that TikTok is banned, as we already excel on platforms willing to profit from such a transformation,” said Manfred.
Migration of the public elsewhere
In addition to building audiences on other platforms, news publishers have worked to make their viewers aware of those other outlets and help drive them there.
At The Post, the publisher released videos specifically to highlight its presence on apps like YouTube Shorts, Reels and Snap, according to Gelman.
“While we covered the Supreme Court hearing on TikTok, we sent the audience the other places where they can find us,” Gelman said. “We became more explicit as the deadline approached.”
To emphasize that The Post is a multi-platform creator, it changed its TikTok team last April, changing its title to The Washington Post Universe. The editor unveiled the new name with a special video shot during last year’s eclipse.
“Regardless of any potential ban on TikTok, we will continue to engage audiences and build communities with the content they want, where they want,” said Gannett vice president of audience experience Annemarie Dooling.
Embrace YouTube shorts
The disappearance of TikTok presents the opportunity for its competitors to win the new share of the available audience, but no app is ready to win that audience.
However, while Snap and Instagram Reels are both compelling alternatives, YouTube Shorts could be an underestimated threat, according to Gelman.
In fact, according to a source from the agency, the recent social listening found that YouTube Shorts is the most mentioned platform in terms of where the creators will try to post and consume TikTok-type content if the ban is implemented.
YouTube has a bigger audience than Instagram or Snap, and it’s easier to monetize directly. His viewership is also just that – a viewership. People come to YouTube expecting to watch videos, which makes it a high-intent, and therefore valuable, audience.
YouTube also attracts a particularly young audience, especially as it grows in prominence as a source of children’s programming, according to Wyar. Efforts to ban social media for children under 16, such as those underway in Australia, also tend to exclude YouTube.
