GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — As talks to ban the social media app TikTok in the U.S. continue in Congress, it could impact thousands of content creators who use the platform. One local TikTok star says he’s not so worried about the app’s future.
Two years ago, Grand Rapids native Frankie LaPenna began posting videos to social media in his spare time for fun but never imagined what was next.
“They started just going viral. It was never a plan, it was never an intent, it just started happening. People really responded well and I guess I’m known as the Grand Rapids social media creator guy,” LaPenna said.
LaPenna’s funny videos, many of which are shot in downtown Grand Rapids, have earned him millions of followers on social media and billions of views.
He’s also worked with celebrities like singer Jason Derulo and landed a number of brand deals with well-known companies.
“Xfinity, Cash App, Old Spice, GIGABYTE … so some crazy big brands,” LaPenna said.
You can find his content on apps like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. On TikTok, he has more than 6.5 million followers and over 213 million likes.
“TikTok was definitely superior than Instagram and YouTube in terms of analytics, views, likes, shares, comments, everything,” LaPenna said.
Last week, members of the House questioned TikTok’s CEO as efforts to ban the China-owned app in the U.S. are ramping up over data security risks.
LaPenna said the concerns are real but they aren’t limited to TikTok.
“If you’ve ever read the terms and conditions on TikTok, they are very concerning,” LaPenna said. “But so are the American apps on Instagram, and Meta and Facebook, everyone’s collecting the data, all the apps are collecting people’s data.”
If the app is forced to go away, LaPenna said it won’t have an impact on his ability to reach people with his content.
“To be honest, I’m not concerned at all. I have over a million followers on Instagram and right around 3 million followers on YouTube. So, if they did shut down TikTok, I still have a large following elsewhere,” LaPenna said.
He said there’s also the possibility of new platforms coming online, and as social media apps come and go, LaPenna said he cares about having the opportunity to do what he enjoys.
“If there is a new app that comes along, great, awesome, I’m all about it. I don’t care which app it is, I just want to keep creating videos,” LaPenna said.
The federal government has told its workforce to delete TikTok from their work devices. A number of states have also banned the app on state-owned devices.
