Australian Content Creators Lost Young Fans After The Prohibition Of Youth Social Media Applicable

Illustration of content creators of social media (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - Australian content creators are starting to feel the real impact of social media bans on users under 16 years old. Just a day after the controversial rule came into effect, many of them reported a decline in the number of followers and a sharp decline in the number of shows. This, sparked concerns about future content revenues and strategies.

Josh Partington, 29, who usually earns around 100 thousand shows for comedy videos about everyday life in Australia, said his first post since the ban reached less than 10 thousand views on TikTok and Instagram. He called the performance something very unusual.

Australia has ordered 10 large platforms ranging from TikTok, Instagram to YouTube to block about one million users under the age of 16 or face a huge fine. The impact is immediate: creators who have been relying on teenagers as the most active audience now see their metric plummet.

A number of creators say the number of followers, especially on Instagram, is down significantly. Engagement patterns such as likes, comments, and views have also changed. If this trend continues, the content creator industry could be shaken, given that cooperation with brands is largely determined by the power of these figures.

Some creators are starting to experiment with alternative platforms that have not been included in the list of bans, while others are building rolling lists to stay connected to their young fans.

Partington, which has a total of 100,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, lost about 1,500 Instagram followers in a day. He said he was worried that TikTok would follow a similar pattern. Audiences under 16 years old are very active and they're the reason why my video could explode," he said.

Another comedian, Mitch Dale, 30, said that although the majority of his followers were adults, losing young fans meant a decrease in initial engagement that usually served as a driver of the algorithm. He even reconsidered the upload schedule that used to be adjusted to school hours.

Indie musician Harry Kirby, 18, who has more than 180,000 followers, has said he has lost about a thousand Instagram followers since the ban took effect. They really just disappeared," he said. It feels annoying to lose a direct connection with fans.

The Australian government said about 200 thousand TikTok accounts had been deactivated since the regulation was implemented. The country's internet regulator is now asking all platforms to report accounts under 16 that are still active as part of the evaluation of policy implementation.