VOA慢速英语--美国人正在为没有tiktok的日子做准备

American users of the popular video sharing service TikTok are preparing for a possible ban of the app by the U.S. government. U.S. lawmakers have warned the Chinese-owned TikTok could be misusing¹ private user information.

China's ByteDance owns TikTok. The app is hugely popular in the United States and many other countries, especially among young people. TikTok only operates outside of mainland China and ByteDance runs a similar video-sharing service for inside China.

The service lets users create and share very short videos and provides helpful tools to do so. Videos often include popular songs from well-known artists and TikTok has helped launch the careers of new internet and music stars.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said officials were looking at banning TikTok. News of the warning spread quickly among TikTok users.

One of those users is 20-year-old Ty Gibson of Greensboro, North Carolina. Gibson said at first, he dismissed the reports suggesting the app might be banned. But then, a technical problem led him to believe a ban might be beginning. The problem, which was later fixed³, made a video counting tool disappear.

"I thought it was the end," Gibson told Reuters news agency. "I didn't even have time to think things through." Gibson said he recorded a personal goodbye video for his 4.6 million fans, asking them to follow him on YouTube and Facebook's Instagram.

Another well-known TikTok user is professional gaming star Tyler Blevins, more widely known as Ninja. He has 4 million followers⁴ on TikTok. After recent reports about a possible ban, Blevins told his 6 million Twitter followers he had already removed TikTok from his phone.

Other TikTok fans are staying with the service for now. But some have expressed sadness through videos of themselves crying and dancing, while including hashtags about a possible ban. #TikTokBan has received more than 212 million views on the app, while #SaveTikTok got over 315 million.

Competing video sharing services like Triller, Byte² and Dubsmash have watched downloads of their apps rise after Pompeo's comments. Some are now directly targeting TikTok users.

Triller, which became known for its heavy use of hip-hop music, is seeking to sign up top TikTok stars to join, said Ryan Kavanaugh, founder⁵ of Triller operator Proxima Media.

Taylor Cassidy, a TikTok influencer with 1.7 million followers, told Reuters some TikTok competitors had already contacted her and suggested she build up her presence on their apps.

Dylan Tate is an 18-year-old TikTok user from Greenville, South Carolina with 1.2 million followers. He has been urging other TikTok users to move to the Byte app in his recent videos. Tate says one big reason to move is that Byte gives 100 percent of ad earnings⁶ to video creators.

"I've been commenting on people's TikToks to tell them to go to Byte. Now people are doing it themselves," he told Reuters.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

hashtag – n. used on social media to describe the general subject of a tweet or other posted message

view – n. to see something from a particular place

1 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

2 byte   

n.[计]字节，比特

参考例句：

• A byte composed of three binary element.一个字节由三个二进制位组成。
• Eight bits make a byte.八比特构成一字节。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。