‘It’s helped people pay their bills’: Alabama influencers on TikTok’s potential shutdown

Emmanuella “Funmi” Ford is a lifestyle and fashion blogger whose TikTok following is over 251,000, and she has her two sons to thank for it.

In 2023, her sons – then 3 and 6 years old – cut their hair so they could look like their dad, who is balding.

“I’m laughing but I’m not laughing,” Ford said in the TikTok video that has been viewed over 10.7 million times and has 13,181 comments.

It’s a touching moment between mother and two sons busted for doing something mischievous. It’s not hard-hitting stuff, but it’s type of moment TikTok influencers like Ford have counted on to generate an audience.

Soon, it could be no more. The U.S. Supreme Court Friday hinted it would uphold a federal law requiring TikTok be sold or otherwise banned in the U.S. The law requires TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, to sell to a U.S. company by Jan. 19 or be banned nationwide.

The legal battle pitting TikTok’s arguments of First Amendment rights against national security concerns has upended the enormously popular social media site utilized by more than 17 million Americans.

Related: TikTok ban: Alabama TikTok content creators on uncertain future of ‘town square of our generation’

“There is no doubt that the current ownership of TikTok presents a risk to our national security and the privacy of American citizens,” Republican U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama said on Friday. “I believe the most immediate problem with TikTok is effective control of the application and its data by the Chinese Communist Party, which is no friend to America. In my view, we shouldn’t allow the CCP to have such easy access into the lives of Americans via TikTok.”

The end of TikTok is likely to have an impact for the many Alabama influencers who have used the site to create or heighten their brands. Here are three of their stories:

‘Important for small businesses’

Ford, 39, of Birmingham was a content creator at the time she joined TikTok in 2022. The site, she said, allowed her to “express myself more creatively.”

“It’s helped influencers build a platform easily,” she said. “It’s helped business owners get their products in front an audience easier. It’s helped a lot of people. What is going on now with it possibly banned in the U.S. is sad, not just because we get on there and scroll all night and laugh. But it’s helped people pay their bills, feed their kids and bring artistic works before an audience.”

Ford’s focus is on lifestyle and fashion, though TikTok has allowed her to put a personal spin on her appeal. Her hair-cutting children were included in her most popular TikTok video, and the diverse range of videos has helped her draw an audience since.

Born in Nigeria, Ford grew up in Montgomery where she went to high school and college before moving to Birmingham, where her husband practices law. Before her influencer career, Ford worked for Allstate, the insurance company, and was a videographer at her church.

“Since I’m a full-time creator now, I show up every day and it’s my job,” Ford said. “I’ll take maybe one day off a week. But I work this like it’s a 9 to 5 job. If I’m not doing a brand deal, I’m posting content that is relatable and insightful for an audience.”

Ford’s audience is also diverse. She estimates her TikTok following is comprised of about 70% from the U.S., with a large base of followers in Birmingham, New York City and in Georgia. She also has an international following in Africa and Europe.

“What we influencers do, and I won’t say we’re doctors out there doing heart surgery, but what we do is important for small businesses, the economy and for ourselves,” Ford said. “We are, ourselves, small businesses.”

Ford said her influence has helped take obscure, small brands and heighten their popularity. A purse she purchased from a small business owner in Georgia was included in a TikTok video she did last year, helping to elevate its profile.

“Because of the work I did for her, free of charge, Bloomingdales called her in the Atlanta store (and offered to sell the purse at its store),” Ford said. “People think, ‘oh, you take pictures and don’t do anything.’ But they forget it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. People buy from influencers. It creates jobs for women who want to be entrepreneurs … who otherwise would not have a budget for TV (commercials) or to put a billboard out.”

Ford said she is confident her brand will be healthy if TikTok shuts down soon. She is on Instagram with approximately 138,000 followers and has a following of more than 17,000 people on YouTube.

“I advise other influencers to get on other platforms,” Ford said. “You don’t own these platforms. None of us owns them. We are renting real estate in someone else’s land. We have to make sure you have other coals in the (fire), so to speak.”

Maintaining a list of old-school electronic mail addresses is also vital at this time, Ford said.

“Having an email list is No. 1,” she said. “You can always still contact your audience directly.”

‘Impactful’

LaDarrius Hutcherson also had that singular viral moment on TikTok that has since helped create a brand that includes highlighting small restaurants throughout Central Alabama.

On Aug. 15, 2022, a video he filmed inside Ruth’s Place in Irondale went viral. Since then, under the handle LHut, he has built a following of nearly 60,000 on TikTok, using the platform to spotlight small, minority-owned and unheralded restaurants in Central Alabama.

Other restaurants are drawing attention from LHut. A video about his 2023 visit to Yo Mama’s on 2nd Avenue in Birmingham drew over 337,000 views. A visit to Urban Parc that same year has amassed over 180,000 views.

Hutcherson refers to his followers as “cousins,” and the 33-year-old Birmingham resident has hopes of someday taking his TikTok experience to greater fame with a show on The Food Network or writing restaurant reviews.

Hutcherson, who is currently working on a doctorate in business administration with a focus on rural business innovation at the University of West Alabama, is a 2010 graduate of GW Carver High School and a 2014 graduate from Jacksonville State University.

“My goal is that I wanted to start a marketing firm, and I also want to do more independent teaching, not necessarily at a college, but more of doing workshops for new and up and coming business owners,” Hutcherson said. “There are so many things that people don’t know about businesses.”

Hutcherson’s work on TikTok has already helped out businesses in Birmingham, and he’s been compared to TikTok food review sensation Keith Lee, who has an astonishing 16.8 million TikTok followers.

“I try not to get caught up in that,” Hutcherson said about the comparisons. “He’s internationally known.”

For now, Hutcherson said he’s heartened with stories about the impact his TikTok handle has had on Birmingham and its foodie scene. He said there have been small businesses that have reached out to him before with appreciation for his videos, saying they help increase foot traffic and their bottom lines.

“I’ve helped businesses in the process of closing to stay open,” Hutcherson said. “Small mom and pop shops. The business owners (that I profile) … they are truly thankful for what I do and they support me and I, of course, support them and it’s been impactful.”

Hutcherson said his food reviews are positive. He said that if a restaurant isn’t worth the praise, he will simply move on and not post a review on TikTok.

“I understand my influence, and I’m not in the business of taking people out of business,” he said. “That’s not my thing. I’m practical in understanding the impact and the influence I have.”

Hutcherson said that without TikTok, that influence will have to come from elsewhere. He said he has been working to build up his other social media channels in order to continue with his work.

“If you asked me that question a year ago, I might’ve been frightened,” Hutcherson said about the prospects of TikTok vanishing. “But on Facebook, my videos do exceptionally well. I’m not necessarily concerned about it, but I do love TikTok.”

‘Drastically change’

For 21-year-old Jackson Dean, a Los Angeles influencer who grew up in Madison, TikTok has “consumed” his young influencer career.

Dean, whose TikTok following is over a whopping 5.7 million people, got his start during the pandemic while he was in high school.

“When COVID happened, I was really bored and out of school with nothing to do,” he said. “I saw a bunch of people on TikTok getting thousands of followers and likes. I thought, ‘let me give this a try.’ I did and saw some success right away. I kept going until now, it’s my whole life.”

Dean moved to Los Angeles when he was 17, when his manager at the time persuaded him to move into a house with other influencers. Now, Dean lives with his girlfriend, fellow TikTok influencer Paige Taylor, and his TikTok videos are mostly focused on their day-to-day lives together.

They are also extremely popular. A video of his girlfriend styling Dean’s hair drew 4.4 million viewers.

And then there is the cucumber video where Dean cuts himself while slicing the vegetable. The entire segment went viral and generated national interest.

TikTok fame aside, Dean said he loves Alabama, is “not a huge fan of L.A.,” though he says, “it’s a nice place.” He said his parents have been supportive of his work.

As far as the TikTok lawsuit, Dean said he is concerned about people who have gained attention on the site but who “will lose everything” if it shuts down. He is not worried about his own brand, as he anticipates his massive audience following him to YouTube or other sites.

By TikTok’s own estimate, around 2 million creators would suffer $300 million in lost earnings in just one month if the app is banned.

“I think if everyone is going to ban TikTok for national security (reasons), then they should look at the other big players of social media as well in the U.S.,” Dean said. “If this app does get banned … some people’s lives will drastically change.”