Will a US-only version of TikTok look the same? Kelley Cotter weighs in

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The preliminary TikTok deal announced by President Trump in recent days would create a U.S.-only version of the app and license the algorithm from ByteDance. IST Assistant Professor Kelley Cotter shared some thoughts on what could happen in an article published in The Conversation U.S.

Cotter highlighted three key reasons to expect change:

1. The new app will definitionally have a narrower slice of the TikTok user population and, consequently,
2. A more insular dataset for the algorithm to learn from, and
3. The new owners may choose to adjust the algorithm for the new app.

Read "TikTok Sale Puts App's Algorithm in the Spotlight — A Social Media Expert Explains How the For You Page Works and What Changes Are in Store"