Local influencer reacts to potential TikTok ban

TikTok is more than just a place to dance, learn something new or just scroll.

For the Manella family, the app is a place where they can be themselves.

“For us, it’s just been authenticity, honestly, the cameras, we’re just videoing each other all the time,” said Frankie Manella. “They were like, ‘Oh, and let’s just post that,’ because that’s just who we are.'”

It all started with a video of “Dad-O-Saur”.

“I posted a video. It was him… acting like a dinosaur,” said Olive Manella. “Never acts like a dinosaur – [he] becomes a dinosaur.”

Now they have thousands of followers and get millions of likes and a blue verified check.

That means money is made with these videos.

“It’s a career for her,” said Frankie.

“It’s something that sustains my lifestyle as a 25-year-old, which is great,” said Olive.

If this ban goes through, the Manella’s say it goes beyond losing their career.

“You build this community of people that know you almost intimately,” said Olive. “My dad was is in the hospital this summer, and the amount of like people, even after the hurricane, we had actual people in our DMs being like, ‘Hey, you can come stay at my house,’ or, ‘Hey, I have this place down here. You can go stay there.'”

“These are real people that that we’ve grown, that have grown with us almost over the last five years,” said Olive.

If the ban goes into effect the TikTok app would disappear from all app stores in the United States.

The app would be inaccessible, unless you already have it downloaded.

TikTok users would likely be able to get around the ban through a virtual private network (VPN) but that can be risky.

Cyber security experts warn that many free VPN services make money by selling user data.