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DeMarcus Shawn has the formula for building a strong following across social platforms. Shawn is an online creator known for sharing humorous skits on TikTok and Instagram. His sense of humor has always been evident among his family since growing up on the outskirts of Chicago, IL. He also draws inspiration from them still today. “I was able to experience all different facets of life growing up through school, through family and just everyday nuances,” he mentioned on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast. Today, Shawn is a full-time content creator, but his journey began in 2017 with a 9-to-5 role as a Starbucks barista. While there he decided to turn more of his attention towards content creation in 2021. It was then that he was able to sustain himself through earnings via TikTok and his photography business, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “When I quit Starbucks, I already had money saved up,” he said, per the “Black Tech Green Money podcast.” “It was 2021, so I had money saved...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. “In the Club, we are all family” — does that ring a bell? TikTok has taken the world by storm since its transition from Musical.ly to TikTok following its acquisition by China-based Bytedance in 2017. Whether for dances, skits, or news, TikTok has become the destination for people worldwide to discover content that resonates with them. Although it serves as a platform for entertainment, learning, and creativity, TikTok has also been regarded as a national security risk by governments around the world, including those in India, Europe, and the United States. In India, TikTok and other Chinese-owned companies were banned in 2020. I was working as a team lead on TikTok’s global product operations team during its rise and subsequent ban in India. The ban restricted new downloads of the app, but employees in our India office were free to work on other projects with colleagues who needed extra support...
When considering the “It Girl”, Kirah Ominique is top of mind. She had no intentions of being a full-time content creator. In fact, she had first envisioned attending an Historically Black College and University, potentially Howard University or Texas Southern University, to obtain a pharmaceutical degree. Although that did not become a reality, her Plan B was to always be involved in the beauty field. “I was supposed to come become a pharmacy tech first. Girl, I failed pharmacy math like, ‘Yeah no let’s go to P lan B.’ Now Plan B is Plan A, doing something in like the beauty field but a mix with the medical. Or maybe a traveling nurse wouldn’t sound too bad either,” she explained in a YouTube video posted in May 2024. Ominique has stayed true to her interests in diving into the beauty world through content creation, which also encompasses fashion and lifestyle and has led to a strong social media presence. @kirahominique Get Ready With Me For Dinner In Thailand , Its Giving...
TikTok may be hindering its own future as it faces significant challenges that could lead to a ban in the United States . According to Fortune, a recent court hearing highlighted the app’s legal battle against a law requiring the China-based platform to be sold to a non-Chinese entity by Jan. 19, 2025, or risk being banned in America. The U.S. government’s worries center on the possibility of the Chinese government influencing content and accessing user data. During the hearings on Sept. 16, 2024, at the U.S. Court of Appeals, TikTok’s lawyers reasserted that such a sale would be impractical and infringed on the U.S. right to free speech . As AFROTECH™ previously reported, t he Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — which TikTok is the subject of — is advancing in Congress, which could enforce parent company ByteDance’s sale of the app and restrict TikTok’s operations further in the U.S. A modified version of the bill, which was proposed to “...
Clarke Peoples had a “formulaic” road map that was disrupted by content creation. Columbia University Student Peoples was a student at Columbia University in New York, NY. It had been the only school she applied to, and she placed all her energy into perfecting her application, she shared with Business Insider. “I put in a lot of work to earn enough scholarships to get into Columbia. I spent months writing my application essay and did whatever I could to make myself a more competitive applicant. It was the only school I applied to, and soon I was in New York living out my dreams,” she said. Putting all her eggs in one basket ultimately paid off as she would be admitted into the school. She proved herself to be ambitious — pursuing an American studies degree — with an overarching goal of becoming a lawyer and launching a startup company. Peoples also had other backup plans including becoming a finance intern for a wealth management asset firm. Early Career Opportunities By her...
By capitalizing on her status as a leading beauty influencer, Jackie Aina has built the foundation for a prosperous business empire. How It Started Aina, a Nigerian-American born in California’s San Gabriel Valley, came from humbling beginnings. BuzzFeed News mentions she has six siblings, with an even split between brothers and sisters. She recalls “growing up with nothing” at times, bouncing around shelters with her mother and siblings. “Growing up, I had no leverage, I had no rich uncle,” she said, per the outlet. “We got kicked out of a shelter, we couldn’t get to another one quick enough. And when you’re a mom of seven, It’s not easy.” To change her outcome, Aina studied medicine at the California State University, Business Insider reported. That route did not pan out for Aina, and she made the decision to serve in the Army in 2008, after being convinced by her then-boyfriend. They would marry — although they later divorce — and she moved to Hawaii to live with him where she...
Being funny pays. Just look to TikToker DeMarcus Shawn as confirmation. Beginnings Growing up on the outskirts of Chicago, IL, he recalls always being funny, often creating skits or playfully imitating his family members. His humor translated well to the camera, and he would toss around various skit ideas with his two older brothers. With the rise of social media, leaning into it was natural for Shawn. Ultimately, he landed on TikTok as his breeding ground for content though initially his Instagram was geared towards his creative interests. @artbydemarcusshawn #fyp ♬ original sound – DemarcusShawn “I grew up doing music and learning how to sing and photography. I’m a guy that’s heavy on drawing and painting,” he told AFROTECH™. “ Those are my hobbies that I like to do. Outside of that, when I came into TikTok, it was more of what I’ve been doing with my siblings, but on a larger front.” Full-Time Content Creation Shawn was working on building his online presence while also employed...
Keith Lee is back with another food review, but this one is special because it hits home. According to Dexerto, the beloved TikTok food reviewer left fans stunned after sharing a video of him testing out his brother’s new restaurant, Braised by Kevin Lee, located in Florida. “Me and my family are in Hollywood, Florida and the food in this bag is from my brother’s restaurant,” Keith said in the May 27 video. “When I say my brother, I mean the same mom and dad. But I didn’t order it and he doesn’t know we’re here.” @keith_lee125 Braised By Kevin Lee taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic @Kevin Lee ♬ original sound – Keith Lee What’s more, before their foray into the food business, both of the Lee brothers were heavy in the competitive martial arts world. Keith spent a good amount of his life as a Bellator MMA fighter, and Kevin gained a lot of attention in the UFC before retiring in July 2023. “We all lived in [Las Vegas, NV] but he moved to Miami and opened his own pop-up,”...
TikTok has been at the center of many recent conversations. Despite its battles at Capitol Hill, the social media app is still one of the primary places Gen Z and others go for entertainment, recommendations, and news. Disney star Skai Jackson is among the people who have tapped into TikTok’s ubiquity. Jackson has been vocal about using TikTok and how it has impacted her personal life. According to a report from Blavity, the 22-year-old has a partnership with hair brand Cantu Beauty. However, her searches on TikTok taught her hairstyling techniques that would allow her to maximize the use of the products she promoted. View this post on Instagram A post shared by S K A I (@skaijackson) “I really feel like these products [Cantu] are so special because they took the time to answer everybody’s needs and deliver and put them into the product,” she told Blavity. She continued, “It’s just so amazing to see that there are millions of people in the world dealing with the same issues as me...
It looks like TikTok is standing firm on not going down without a fight. In April 2024, AFROTECH™ previously reported that President Joe Biden signed a law to ban TikTok if its owner, ByteDance, didn’t sell it within a year. The bill followed the House of Representatives’ introduction in March of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act , which aims to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications.” A main allegation that has come from U.S. government officials is that TikTok puts Americans’ personal data in danger of being exposed to the Chinese government, which catalyzed Biden’s law. However, TikTok has doubled down on stating the claim is false, saying it hosts data on U.S.-owned Oracle servers, according to CNN . “We will not stop fighting and advocating for you,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew shared in a previous statement on its platform, per AP News. “We will continue to do...
TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) have agreed on new licensing conditions to bring the group’s tunes back to the social media platform. According to the TikTok newsroom, the joint agreement between the two entities “marks a new era of strategic collaboration.” “By harnessing TikTok’s best-in-class technology, marketing, and promotional capabilities, UMG and TikTok will deliver improved remuneration for UMG’s songwriters and artists, new promotional and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs, and industry-leading protections with respect to generative AI,” read the report. What’s more, fans will see a return of UMG’s recorded music and publishing catalogs on TikTok, thus allowing users to go back to creating content with sounds from some of the culture’s biggest musicians. “Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group,” TikTok CEO Shou Chew said. “We are committed to working together...
TikTok is a social media app that truly requires no introduction. Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last 5+ years, you’ve either used the app yourself, or had extensive exposure to it from friends, family members or reposts on other websites. Now that the United States government is mounting a full-scale attack on the Chinese app, more members of the public are looking into TikTok’s background and earnings than ever before. TikTok has an estimated worth of anywhere from $20 billion to $100 billion in 2024, according to the Wall Street Journal , making it the biggest social media app on the market by a wide margin. Given that TikTok is worth such a staggering amount, it only seems fair that we examine and investigate the source of this income. The app has seen over 3 billion downloads since hitting the international market in 2018, and maintains an estimated 1 billion daily active users, meaning TikTok has access to one of the largest audiences in the history of web development....
T he Biden administration has taken a ction against TikTok. On April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed a law to ban the China-based social media app under parent company ByteDance in the U.S. if it’s not sold within a year, NPR reports. The move comes after the House of Representatives introduced in March the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act , which aims to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications,” as previously shared by AFROTECH™. Under President Biden’s new law, if TikTok fails to be sold in 12 months, it would become illegal for web-hosting providers to host the platform. What’s more, Google and Apple would have to pull the popular app from its app stores. According to NPR, this is the first time that a law has been passed that could result in banning a social media platform in the U.S. What has led to this timeline of events is U.S. government officials have...
Rejection is simply redirection, and this was the case for TikTok creator MiriTheSiren. The Chick-fil-A employee is known for her countless reviews of the restaurant’s food, which have helped her garner thousands of loyal followers since January 2024. Her most recent video filming the fast food chain’s Cherry Berry drink gained 323,400 likes and 3.4 million views since sharing it on April 8, 2024. In total, she has gained 3.7 million likes for her various Chick-fil-A food combinations using her employee meal. “Since January, every day, I went to work at Chick-fil-A. I have been reviewing my employee meal since I started in January. I have garnered tens of millions of views, some of my individual videos, getting up to 3.4 million in just a few days,” MiriTheSiren expressed in a video. “And it’s been a beautiful experience. It’s been so great. I’ve inspired people to try new things at Chick-fil-A. I’ve been able to connect more with my community and the people that I serve because...
TikTok’s future in the United States gets closer to being decided. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, a 12-page bill had been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2024 to eradicate the platform’s use in the United States. The bill was created to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications,” per CBS News. If passed, ByteDance, the owner of the China-based platform, would have 180 days to sell TikTok for the app to remain accessible to U.S. users. If the company chooses to maintain ownership, the app and all other applications associated with ByteDance would be banned in the United States. At the time, per AP News, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew shared in a statement, “We will not stop fighting and advocating for you. We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.” On Saturday, April 20, 2024, a modified version of...