Open Source: RedNote? VPNs? Triangle creators talk (And sing) about life after TikTok
I’m Brian Gordon, tech reporter for The News & Observer, and this is Open Source, a weekly newsletter on business, labor and technology in North Carolina.
“And if TikTok
Gets banned forever
We’ll go to, what is it RedNote?
Or whatever”
Sung to the tune of Victim C’s “Graduation (Friends Forever),” these lyrics are part of the latest parody video on The Holderness Family’s TikTok account. With more than 1.4 million followers, Penn and Kim Holderness of Raleigh have amassed a wide audience on the short-form video platform since they competed in Season 33 of “The Amazing Race” (The husband and wife were the oldest pair to win the reality competition.) Their viral content (which began well before TikTok) blends music, pop culture, and parenting into observational comedy.
But come Sunday, TikTok faces a national ban if its China-based owner ByteDance doesn’t divest its U.S. operations. And that means more creators may start using RedNote, or whatever.
Currently the most downloaded free application on the Apple App Store, RedNote is a buzzy TikTok substitute that’s also owned by a Chinese company. TikTok’s sister app called Lemon8, owned by ByteDance as well, has pulled in users, too.
The Holdernesses say for now they’ll continue posting videos to YouTube, Instagram (where they also have 1.4 million followers), and Facebook — plus build up a Substack. But Penn’s cheeky TikTok farewell tune shouldn’t belie that he and Kim are seriously opposed to the looming ban.
“For some creators, TikTok is by far their biggest audience, and the TikTok shop is their primary source of revenue,” he said in an email. “And for them, we really hope the platform doesn’t go away.”
Penn Holderness acknowledged the value of keeping a foreign government from accessing Americans’ information but found it hypocritical that other companies have greater latitude to access our data without controversy (Another argument made for banning TikTok is that the Chinese government could influence what U.S. users see on the platform.)
“I wish our Congress was this motivated about gun control or climate change,” Penn said.
One potential savior of TikTok is Greenville, North Carolina’s own MrBeast. On Monday, the biggest YouTube star in the world indicated he’d purchase the platform to keep it alive in the United States.
What will Raleigh’s 81-year-old TikTok star do?
Around the Triangle, content creators have prepared for life without the platform.
“As of last week, we started putting at the end of our (TikTok) videos: ‘Please follow us on Instagram,’” said Roger Kornegay, who is one half of Raleigh FoodTrap, a media company with 174,000 TikTok followers that promotes places to eat, stay, and play in North Carolina.
Carol Chapman, an 81-year-old Raleigh grandmother who reviews fun food and drinks for her 34,000 TikTok followers under the nickname Grandma C, said she recently made her Instagram public as a landing spot for future videos.
“My followers have been asking me (what I’ll do),” she said. “Now I am not a technology person, per se, but everybody keeps saying I need a VPN. Not sure what that is, but I can certainly ask my children, because my son is a software programmer.”
Marche Robinson, an attorney in Raleigh who muses on fashion, beauty, travel and interior design, said she has been posting on other platforms, including her personal blog, well before she started TikTok (where she has 95,000 followers).
“I always heard that we shouldn’t rely heavily on just one platform,” she said.
So, what is lost if TikTok goes away?
The highway cookie shop in Clayton
On Jan. 6, Kornegay and his wife/content creation partner, Briana Kornegay, published a glowing food review on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. With a screen caption reading “North Carolina’s Best Cookies?” the Kornegays gushed over the gooey delights of Lil Reggie’s Cookies, a year-old storefront off U.S. 70 in Clayton.
“I would skate from Raleigh to get one of these,” Roger said. That trip would be 17 miles.
Among all the platforms where this review appeared, TikTok got the most traction. And the effect was immediately clear at Lil Reggie’s.
“We’ve been having lines around our building like before we even open,” said Reggie Sanders, the shop owner. “People waiting in cars because it’s cold. But man, my sales increased by at least 200-300%. Just as they’re speaking about banning TikTok, they release this video that hits about 600,000 views.”
Kornegay said the platform is distinctly suited for local discovery. TikTok has a personalized “For You Page,” which shows users videos based on their likes. While Instagram and YouTube have similar features, Kornegay said neither offers the same local connection.
“I can post something if I use the correct subset of hashtags,” he said. “And let’s say I’m here in Raleigh. You live here in Raleigh. It’s going to reach you.”
P.S. – TikTok has employed three lobbyists in North Carolina since last year, state records show. What for? TikTok didn’t respond, but in January 2023, Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order that banned the app from state government devices. A few months later, three Republican state senators sponsored a bill to bar TikTok on government devices and its use during state-funded programs.
Clearing my cache
- Durham is home to one of the most shorted stocks. The semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed has had a rough two years, both internally and on the market. Here’s why it’s been a short target. And why it’s inspired a Reddit group dedicated to see it rally.
Then on Wednesday, Wolfspeed announced it had completed a $200 million at-the-market equity offering, a step the company needed to receive its first federal CHIPS Act payment.
- Tune Therapeutics shared a major milestone this week as the Durham startup raised $175 million to fund its first clinical trial. Born at Duke University, Tune has developed a new epigenome editor it says can turn off or “silence” genes that cause diseases.
- Duke Energy is hiring a new CEO.
- Alcami, a contract development and manufacturing organization in Durham, is also getting a new CEO.
- A clinical trial software company has left its state agreement to create 250 jobs in the Triangle. Called Science 37, the Morrisville firm blamed interest rates, inflation, layoffs, and an ownership change for not fulfilling its commitment.
- More CHIPS news. With days left in office, the Biden administration signed a $70 million CHIPS grant deal to help the semiconductor company MACOM expand its Triangle production. And earlier this month, the Commerce Department finalized its $285 million payment to help fund a new semiconductor research center in Durham.
- The Morrisville-based workforce training company Relias has acquired Feedtrail, a management platform in Raleigh.
- NCInnovation reports its endowment is around $512 million after accruing interest on its initial $500 million in state funding — minus the more than $4 million the new nonprofit has dispersed so far in research grants.
As mentioned above, Raleigh’s newest TikTok star is 81-year-old grandmother Carol Chapman, aka Grandma C, who gives enthusiastic assessments of some pretty zany snacks: Sour Patch Oreos, Coca-Cola Oreos, Sonic’s red velvet shake, Starbucks’ pistachio latte, Hershey’s cotton candy chocolate bar, Dr. Pepper cotton candy. Chapman this month reached a new level of fame and followers after her Dunkin’ review went viral.
- How does an octogenarian go viral on TikTok? And what does pop star Sabrina Carpenter have to do with it?
National Tech Happenings
- The Food and Drug Administration has banned Red Dye 3, an artificial coloring in certain food, drinks, and medicines, due to its links to cancer.
- Meta, the Facebook and Instagram parent company, plans to lay off 5% of its total workforce. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the cuts will be made based on performance scores.
- Starting with TikTok, ending with TikTok. The incoming national security adviser for President-elect Donald Trump says the new administration will try “to keep TikTok from going dark,” if there’s a viable deal for ByteDance to divest.
This story was originally published January 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Open Source: RedNote? VPNs? Triangle creators talk (And sing) about life after TikTok."
