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Performance review season is underway for U.S. staff at TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance , with low-scoring employees being forced into a performance-improvement plan (PIP) or offered severance. TikTok conducts employee reviews twice a year, and last year, the company instructed managers to assign more low scores during the review cycles, according to Business Insider. Three current employees told the outlet that accepting a PIP instead of severance is uncommon because it is tough to succeed under a PIP. “They’ll PIP people, and then they’ll hire new people, and then they’ll continue this meat grinder of performance reviews,” one staffer said. The employees reported that the value of the offers varied, with one including a month of “garden leave,” where the employee remains on payroll without needing to work, and an additional one-month severance payout as part of a mutual separation agreement. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed that the company is implementing PIPs but...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™ and will not impact the outcome of the events. TikTok has been the center of controversy, due to national security concerns, since 2020, when President Donald Trump first attempted to ban the app in the U.S. Former President Joe Biden continued to push forward with a ban, passing a mandate with overwhelming congressional support to force TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, to sell to a U.S. company or be banned in the U.S. After several lawsuits and attempts to reverse the decision, the app chose to go dark right before Trump was inaugurated. Since then, Trump has signed an executive order to delay the ban by 75 days , providing a reprieve for TikTok and millions of its U.S. users and more time to sell the app to an American company. Now, time is almost up as the app is at risk again of being banned on April 5 . The Trump administration has stated that it is in talks with several...
TikTok creator Anayka She was once severely underpaid by her agency. The beauty creator and artist from Brooklyn, NY, who has amassed 1.7 million followers on TikTok, took to the platform to discuss compensation in comparison to white counterparts such as Bran Flakezz, born Brandon Edelman. He shared that he earned $768,000 in 2024 as a content creator. He currently has 1.1 million followers on TikTok. It is widely known that Black individuals have to work ten times harder just to see half the success of their white counterparts. She reveals that while being managed at Carter Agency, which is led by Josh Popkin, she was misled about her earnings from brand deals. “The head of Carter Agency, Josh Popkin, this is what he would do. He would tell you that the brand deal was $2,000. It was actually $10,000,” she explained in a TikTok video. “He would take that $8,000, then take the 20% fee off of the $2,000. And guess what? He was targeting Black women mainly. When we all found out and...
TikTok still doesn’t appear interested in selling its app. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the app was temporarily banned in the U.S. due to a mandate requiring TikTok — owned by China-based company ByteDance — to sell to a U.S.-based company. The ban, established by former President Joe Biden, was initially set to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025, but TikTok went offline 12 hours early after the Supreme Court moved to uphold the ban, Forbes reports. President Donald Trump announced at the time he intended to save the app once he assumed office. Users received a message on the app from TikTok that read, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Donald Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” Following his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order granting a 75-day...
Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian Sr. has his eyes on a new application. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, TikTok had been temporarily banned as a result of not adhering to a U.S. mandate requiring the China-based app to be sold to a U.S. company. On April 24, 2024, former President Joe Biden had signed a law mandating the sale due to concerns about national security and data safety for U.S. citizens . Owned by ByteDance, TikTok was offline just hours before the ban was to go into effect on Jan. 19, 2025. However, users were able to access the app shortly because President Donald Trump affirmed he was looking to save it. Trump took office on Jan. 20 and extended the ban by 75 days allowing more time for a deal to be made. Since then, many individuals have stepped forward to express their interest in buying TikTok. This includes content creator MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, who has more than 115 million followers on the platform (at the time of this writing). @mrbeast TikTok check your...
If you’ve grown up in the digital age , you likely have some understanding of how unreliable information spreads across the net. Millennials far and wide have been inundated with enough YouTube troll comments, Nigerian prince emails and “free iPhone” pop-ups to build a healthy skepticism of internet browsing. Now, it seems that this learning curve has become a perennial part of growing up, as Gen Z and Gen Alpha are surmising that social media apps like TikTok are rife with terrible financial advice. New studies from researchers at Intuit Credit Karma estimate that over 77 percent of Gen Z kids are looking to influencers on the short-form video app for money management, while roughly 61 percent of millennials are doing the same on YouTube and Facebook . In order to understand just how damaging these financial words of wisdom can be to a growing audience of youngsters, lets take a moment to briefly run through the data, and see exactly where young people are being led astray. After...
Welcome to HillmanTok University, where everyone is accepted, and TikTok is your classroom. Thousands of professors have taken their talents to TikTok, documenting their course offerings and allowing students, or users, outside the typical classroom setting to participate in the curriculum. The trend, known as “HillmanTok,” started with Dr. Barlow, an African American Studies professor, who utilized the social media platform to engage with her actual students. As her videos gained more traction, other minority professors followed suit. Now, teachers worldwide are helping students merge their love for TikTok with their desire to learn. TikToker @djneurospicy explained that the outpouring of support for Barlow’s efforts follows the decision of 92% of Black women who voted for Kamala Harris in the Nov. 4, 2025, election to not focus on Donald Trump’s second presidency. “Here’s how it goes: Trump becomes president, the 92% say they are minding their own business,” the TikToker said....
Microsoft reportedly has an interest in acquiring TikTok. According to BBC, President Donald Trump has revealed the tech company would like to purchase the platform and adds that there is “great interest in TikTok” from several companies.” At the time of this writing, Microsoft nor TikTok have confirmed or denied the matter. The update comes after 170 million users in the United States were temporarily left in the dark on Jan. 18, 2025, a day ahead of the app’s mandated ban by the U.S. government. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, last year former President Joe Biden signed a law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to a U.S.-based company or it would be banned on Jan. 19 due to national security concerns. The Supreme Court unanimously voted to uphold the ban. Despite this, TikTok maintained its position on not selling to a U.S. company and took TikTok and its other applications — such as Marvel Snap, Lemon8, Hypic, and CapCut — offline in the U.S. The apps...
TikTok is a home for brands to thrive. The platform, which is home to 170 million active users in the United States alone, is becoming a trusted destination. According to TikTok’s 2025 What’s Next report, 81% of users were exposed to new topics and trends that they were not aware were initially of interest to them. It’s for these reasons that the term “demure” took off in 2024. It was popularized by TikTok creator Jools Lebron through a series of witty videos and was named Dictionary.com’s 2024 Word of the Year. “It’s changed the way we shop. It’s changed the way we travel. It’s changed the way we search. It’s even changed the way we speak,” said Head of North America Business Marketing TikTok Rema Vasan during CES 2025. The Power Of Tuning Into The Comment Section Through TikTok, brands have the ability to strengthen their connection with consumers. In fact, users are primed to see their favorite brands on TikTok, with 68% affirming the importance of brands engaging in their...
Everyone loves a good story about a career “come-up,” and Shou Zi Chew has one that includes an unexpected stop: a brief internship at Meta (then called Facebook). While most know Chew as the CEO of TikTok, his career path holds some interesting twists that shaped the leader he is today. According to Fortune magazine, Chew spent a short stint at Meta in 2009 while at Harvard Business School. This was during a time of rapid growth for the company under founder Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership. For Chew, the experience offered a firsthand look at the challenges of scaling a tech platform globally. Immersed in the fast-paced environment, he gained valuable insights that would later influence his leadership approach. From Meta Intern To TikTok CEO Chew’s time at Meta may have been short, but it was an important stepping stone in his career. After completing his MBA at Harvard Business School, he went on to work at Goldman Sachs and later DST Global, where he contributed to securing...
Meta has released an alternative to CapCut. The popular video-editing app was temporarily shut down the night of Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, following a TikTok ban. As AFROTECH™ previously reported TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, had been mandated to sell its app to a company based in the United States or it would be banned. The U.S. had concerns over the spreading of misinformation and China’s possible access to user data . ByteDance has maintained a stance that it will not sell TikTok, and hours before the ban was to become active, several of its apps were removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The ban officially went into effect on Jan. 19 and impacted ByteDance’s subsidiaries such as TikTok, Lemon8, Marvel Snap, Lark, Hypic, and CapCut, USA Today notes. Apple shared in a statement on its website: “Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd . and its subsidiaries — including TikTok,...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Last week, the Chinese social app RedNote grew in popularity as a potential TikTok replacement . As TikTok users waited for the Supreme Court to rule on the ban, they quickly migrated to the platform. The app became number one in the Apple App Store, with thousands of American users joining. Users have mistakenly referred to RedNote as the Chinese version of TikTok, but the platform is more akin to Instagram. RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu in China, launched in 2013 as a shopping platform. Like many apps, it serves as a default search engine for content on makeup, fashion, travel, and lifestyle tips. Users can post photos and videos in a similar fashion to Instagram Reels and TikTok. The migration from TikTok to RedNote has become a protest statement in the wake of the U.S. government’s ban on TikTok. Initially, calls to ban the app began with President Donald Trump in 2020 before being passed...
Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, is at the center of one of the most debated tech platforms in the world. Born and raised in Singapore, Chew’s career spans finance and tech leadership, bringing a mix of expertise and experience to the table as TikTok faces significant global challenges. From Singapore to Global Business According to Business Insider, Chew earned a degree in economics from University College London and later completed his MBA at Harvard Business School — he also interned at Facebook his first year at Harvard. He began his career at Goldman Sachs in investment banking before transitioning to DST Global, where he worked on major investments, including one in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. Chew later served as chief financial officer of Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics company known for its affordable smartphone devices. During his tenure, Xiaomi expanded its global footprint and went public in 2018. His experience in managing high-growth companies positioned him for...
TikTok will remain operational for at least another 75 days following an order from President Donald Trump. On Monday, Jan. 19, 2025, during his first day in office , Trump — who has the authority to delay the ban for up to 90 days — ordered the federal government to pause enforcing the law that would ban TikTok nationwide, according to Forbes. The move gives ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, more time to sell a stake in the platform or reach a deal with Trump. After signing the executive order, Trump said he believes the U.S. is entitled to 50% of TikTok and warned China that blocking any deal he may make would be considered an act of “hostility” and lead him to impose tariffs ranging from 25% to 100%, per Forbes. On Sunday, Jan. 20, Trump had promised to sign an executive order on Monday rescinding the ban, prompting TikTok to restore service for its more than 170 million American users after it initially took the app dark the night before. STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK: In...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. TikTok may go dark in the United States. As a former TikTok employee, the way the ban will work here in the United States will be different than the one in India in 2020. The first difference is the politics surrounding why the bans are happening in the two countries in the first place. In India, the ban was less about TikTok and more so about the strained relationship between India and China. The root of their strain comes from the dispute that China and India have related to who owns Aksai Chin, which India claims to be part of its Ladakh region. China has claimed the land since 1962 and the Sino-Indian War. Due to the longstanding tensions between the two countries since, India opted to use economic tools against China, which in this case meant banning Chinese companies from doing business in India. When TikTok was banned from India so were WeChat, Alibaba, and Xiaomi. In the United States,...