Users who have the TikTok app on their phone will still be able to access it after Jan. 19. However, because the ban would prevent Apple and Google from providing the app with necessary updates, TikTok would quickly break down and become unusable, leading Americans to look for an alternative app.

With five days left until the date by which TikTok is to be either sold or banned in the United States, millions of users are reckoning with what happens when one of the internet’s most important media platforms just up and disappears.

TikTok has provided creators, small businesses, and everyday people with a space where they have been able to share their passions with the world — and make a livable wage while they do so. Without it,