Tiktok is Gone, Now What?

I don't have all the answers but I do have some when it comes to me, my content and where I will be putting my energy moving forward.

I was on TikTok until I couldn’t be anymore. I noticed the first signs of trouble when my feed started glitching, my notifications weren’t showing up. I was in the process of uploading my goodbye video when it froze (potentially forever) at 96% and then, the app went dark. The dumb, Trump schmoozing message taking the place of all the friends and memories I’ve made over the years and leaving me with nothing. Giving me nothing.

I have tried to name this feeling to no avail. Upon talking it out in the group chats, I’ve decided it feels like a mixture of 3 things:

1. A punishment. Even though I am an entire adult and I didn’t do anything wrong, the government grounded me.

2. Y2K, the panic that swept everyone on New Years Eve, 1999. For those of you who were too young to remember, everyone thought that when the clock struck midnight, the computers would explode and we would all die. Clearly, we’ve always been rational when it comes to technology.

3. A strange loss, like the feelings carried around on the last day of high school, saying bye, knowing that you’re losing something but trying to be optimistic about staying in touch with friends you’ve grown up with.

Blend all that together and add in a dash of having to make the decision to leave Fable behind as well, I am feeling a lot right now. I am trying to be optimistic, I am trying to sort out what platforms will get most of my energy and I am thinking very deeply about what platforms will not being getting any more from me and yes, I am talking about Meta. More on that in a bit.

First, I want to tell you the main places you can find me:

1. Bindery - this will grant access to our Discord and operate as a newsletter for anyone who signs up. Those of you who want to sign up for a paid membership will get to support me, the work that I do and get early and exclusive content from me on top of everything else!

2. YouTube - I have been putting a lot of energy into this for a while so this will be business as usual. I have plans for more positive reviews this year, lots of bonus content for channel members and a few other things too!

3. NatalieMeagan.com - I have had a personal website for as long as I’ve been making content online but over the past few weeks, I’ve repurposed it into a resource all its own. If you want to see what I’m up to, head over to the website.

4. Book Club - on the heels of the racist AI bullshit, we cut ties with Fable and have officially relocated to Discord where we share news/updates, chat with each other, choose books, discuss them as we read, etc.

5. Patreon - I’ve run this space since 2019 and it offers perks and updates for free and paying members alike. There is a back catalog of my artwork too, remnants of a past life :P

Next, let’s discuss other random places I will be:

1. Tumblr - I know myself and I know that I will need fan edits, shitposting and a fun, cute way of expressing myself. Tumblr seemed like the obvious choice. Will I use this often? I’m not sure but it is there and it will be fun.

2. Bluesky - with a similar look and feel to OG Twitter (being made by the same people will have that effect) I plan to use this pretty liberally as a way of connecting with and updating people in the place of platforms like Tiktok/IG/Threads etc.

3. Podcast - for audio versions of my YT rants, casual bookish chats, recordings of past book club meetings, etc. you can listen to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

I am in the process of deleting all Meta owned accounts. This includes Threads (already gone), Facebook (already gone) and all of my Instagram accounts (in the process of saving data, deletion to follow) I have not been happy with these platforms for a while and knowing the involvement the CEO had with this ban, it feels like a great time to leave. I have had one foot out the door since the Meta rebrand anyway so off I go into my Meta free sunset.

I am under no impression that the internet or the platforms I’ve chosen to stick with are all good, all the time but they feel like the best places for me to be so I can continue doing the stuff I do. I’m insanely proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish with you over the last few years. We have a great little community here, there and everywhere and that makes all of this a little more bearable because I don’t feel like we’re tackling it alone.