(ABC 6 News) – As a former member of the Amish community, Eddie Swartzentruber first took to TikTok in order to learn about the wider world in a way he never could growing up.

“It is kind of ironic when I think about it because I, in large part, left the community because I wasn’t allowed to speak my mind,” said Swartzentruber.

Even with talks surrounding a TikTok ban in recent years, Swartzentruber never thought the freedom he found on the app would be taken away.

“I do see it as a first amendment issue, which is why I was fairly surprised that there was a unanimous decision at the Supreme Court,” said Swartzentruber.

Joining TikTok started as a way for Swartzentruber to share his story with new friends around the world.

“What Tiktok does is it’s so easy to connect with other people who are in similar situations and now all of a sudden you feel like you have community,” said Swartzentruber.

 As Swartzentruber grew a following on the app, eventually he met people who would help him write a book about his experiences living as Amish.

“It’s really easy for me cause I can put it in the shop and then it also encourages other creators to sell it cause they get an incentive,” said Swartzentruber.

 To Swartzentruber, losing TikTok isn’t just a loss of community, for him and millions of other small business owners, it’s a loss of revenue and exposure.

“TikTok’s really what ended up putting us on the map, I feel like both nationally and internationally, as an expert in social media braces orthodontics,” said Dr. Grant Collins, an orthodontist in Rochester.

As someone who perfects smiles for a living, Collins uses the app to bring smiles to faces in a different way.

“I feel like we’re just here to spread kindness and help people on their journey and hopefully make them smile too,” said Collins.

Collins is confident his business will keep thriving after the ban, but he’s still going to miss being creative and connecting with new people worldwide.

“TikTok has it’s a fun flavor to it, I’ll miss that, the vibe of TikTok,” said Collins.

Collins can still be found on Instagram reels and YouTube shorts, while Swartzentruber says he’ll mostly be using YouTube shorts. However, even with these other platforms out there, Collins and Swartzentruber agree the magic of TikTok can’t be recreated.