There is nothing more devastating to a relationship than losing trust. And there were many of us who watched the TikTok debacle go down and realized we fully cannot trust anyone who runs a social media network anymore. Of course the big problem is that so many of us work in social media with zero trust for these network heads now.

So that means we have to figure out how to move on, despite the lack of trust.

How do you do that? And how do you get over the hard feelings?

Recognize your feelings

Trying to move on without recognizing your feelings is only going to make it worse. And in this particular case, it’s a very valid and healthy feeling.

So before you do anything, recognize what you’re feeling. Is it betrayed? Is it sluggish? Whatever it is, give it a name and then tell yourself that it is okay to feel this way.

Once I recognize a feeling, I then work with it in some way. Something that I rely on is the idea of opposites. So if I’m feeling betrayed, I think of things that make me feel safe and supported. I spend some time there before I explore that feeling of betrayal again. Many times, I feel less of the feeling that’s getting in the way if I spend some time with its opposite, and then the feeling I’m actually dealing with becomes more manageable.

Don’t rush in

Look, no one would blame you if you didn’t want to create content for TikTok at the same pace and effort as you have in the past. You’re going to have to build up to that level of trust again.

But you’ll probably get in trouble if you don’t produce the same kind of results you have gotten in past months. So not dealing with TikTok at all is not an option. That doesn’t mean you have to go full force though.

Take a look at your past high engaging content. You may want to repost as-is or you may want to make some changes before you repost. You may even want to take pieces of several and put them together. That way, you’re not putting in as much effort but you should be able to get similar results.

And if anyone asks why you’re posting like that, you have a very good reason: With how everything went down, you want to give it some time to see how it shakes out and instead focus on other social media networks. No one can fault you for that. It’s honestly the smartest move you can make as a marketer.

Start building the trust again

You can’t live in total fear of the social media networks just dropping you again, so you have to start building that trust.

For me, the easiest way to get my trust back with a social media network is to show me that it can deliver. What is the reach? How is the engagement? Is it supporting business goals? And is it stable?

That last one is going to be harder for TikTok to prove, but it’s likely it will pick up right where it left off. And if it does, focus on that. Focus on what it’s bringing to you and your organization rather than what just happened.

Am I saying what just happened is right? No. It was wrong on so many levels. But if you are in social media, I think you’re going to have to deal with a lot more of this kind of stuff for awhile or at least until someone finally stands up to it. You’ve got two choices: You can ignore most of it and move forward or you can switch careers. Personally, I love the communities I have built too much to let them go. So I’ll focus on the good and hope we’ll overcome the bad.

How are you getting over TikTok’s stunt?