NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Disappointment, denial and

confusion flooded U.S. TikTok on Wednesday upon hearing the news

that Chinese owner ByteDance planned to shut off the app for its

170 million U.S. users by Sunday, seemingly throwing in the

towel on efforts to keep the popular video-sharing platform

going.

Users who have amassed followings and careers on the app

hoped for months that TikTok would find a way to avoid a U.S.

ban passed into law in 2023. But resignation and anger have

begun to set in, with Jan. 19 just a few days away.

"TikTok signaling that white flag is very discouraging and

very sad," said Joonsuk Shin, 28, a research manager and content

creator based in New York.

Some users called for a boycott of apps like Instagram and

Facebook, owned by Meta Platforms ( META ) and X, owned by Elon

Musk, which are expected to pull in advertisers who used TikTok

frequently.

"We all need to delete our Facebook, X and Instagram

accounts that same day," one user said.

ByteDance was given until Jan. 19 to sell the U.S. assets of

TikTok or face a U.S. ban, following lawmakers' concerns that

the app poses national security risks because China could compel

the company to share the data of its U.S. users. TikTok has

denied that it has or ever would share U.S. user data.

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have sought to delay

the law's implementation, which they say violates the U.S.

Constitution's First Amendment protection against government

abridgment of free speech.

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court decides to halt the ban,

people attempting to open the app on Sunday will see a pop-up

message directing them to a website with information about the

shutdown.

TikTok user Amber Goode, 28, a true crime content creator

from Colorado Springs, Colorado, complained about waiting for

the Supreme Court to make a decision on the fate of the beloved

app.

"Why are they playing with us?" Goode said. "I feel like the

government is avoiding giving us the answer they already know."

The Washington Post on Wednesday reported President-elect

Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order hoping to

"save TikTok," but it is unclear if such an order would

circumvent the ban.

Other users started bidding farewell this week, sharing

information on where their followers can find them. Many have

already decamped to China-based apps like RedNote - using

translation services to decipher instructions to sign up, which

are in Mandarin.

On Tuesday, users were still hoping for the prospect of a

270-day extension of the Sunday deadline, while some jokingly

parroted simple Chinese phrases they picked up on RedNote,

leaving TikTokers wondering: "How did everyone learn Chinese in

24-hours?"

Some are scrambling to save their content.

"My daughter passed away in 2023. I've been saving all her

videos to my phone. I can't lose those," one user commented.

Other users thanked ByteDance for "not giving into the

bullies" by not waiting for a ruling, while others criticized

them for doing exactly that.

"It's pretty sad because I thought we were making

progress," said former attorney and full-time creator Ishpal

Sidhu, 32, who stands to lose close to 400,000 followers and her

income on Sunday. She wondered if she would still be paid for

her content in January.

Some users outside of the United States were more blunt -

celebrating how their algorithms would no longer be dominated by

American social media woes.

"Say goodbye to the Americans," said New Zealand content

creator Luke Hopewell.