tiktok research

MINI REVIEW article

On the psychology of tiktok use: a first glimpse from empirical findings.

• 1 Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
• 2 The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
• 3 Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin, China
• 4 Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States
• 5 Department of Psychiatry, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States

TikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its founding in September 2016, TikTok has seen widespread distribution, in particular, attracting young users to engage in viewing, creating, and commenting on “LipSync-Videos” on the app. Despite its success in terms of user numbers, psychological studies aiming at an understanding of TikTok use are scarce. This narrative review provides a comprehensive overview on the small empirical literature available thus far. In particular, insights from uses and gratification theory in the realm of TikTok are highlighted, and we also discuss aspects of the TikTok platform design. Given the many unexplored research questions related to TikTok use, it is high time to strengthen research efforts to better understand TikTok use and whether certain aspects of its use result in detrimental behavioral effects. In light of user characteristics of the TikTok platform, this research is highly relevant because TikTok users are often adolescents and therefore from a group of potentially vulnerable individuals.

Musical.ly was founded in September 2016 by Zhang Yiming. Beijing Bytedance Technology acquired the application musical.ly in November 2017 and renamed the app to TikTok. In a short time period, this application became the most successful app from Chinese origin in terms of global distribution ( 1 ). As of November 2020, 800 million monthly users have been reported 1 , and 738 million first-time installs in 2019 have been estimated 2 . TikTok use is allowed for those 13 years or older, but direct messaging between users is allowed only for those 16 or older (in order to protect young users from grooming) 3 . In China, the main users of TikTok are under 35 years old (81.68% (2)). Meanwhile, to protect children and adolescents from unsuitable content (such as smoking, drinking, or rude language), TikTok's engineers also developed a version of the app, which filters inappropriate content for young users ( 2 ). Of note, at the moment of writing, the app operates as TikTok on the global market and as DouYin on the Chinese market ( 3 ). Similarities and differences of the twin apps are further described with a content analysis by Sun et al. ( 4 ).

The TikTok application available for Android and Apple smartphones enables creation of short videos where users can perform playback-videos to diverse pop-songs, to name one very prominent feature of the platform. These so-called “LipSync-Videos” can be shared with other users, downloaded for non-commercial purposes, commented upon and of course attached with a “Like.” Not only are playback-videos uploaded on TikTok but also users view a large amount of video content. Users can also call out for “challenges,” where they define which performance should be created by many users. As a consequence, TikTok users imitate the content or interact with the original video.

As the large user numbers in a very short time-window demonstrate, TikTok not only represents a global phenomenon but also has been criticized with respect to data protection issues/privacy ( 5 , 6 ), spreading hate ( 7 ) and might serve as a platform engendering cyberbullying ( 8 , 9 ). Given the many young users of this platform (e.g., 81.68% of China users of Tiktok are under 35 years old—see above, and 32.5% of the US users are 19 years old and younger) 4 , it is of particular relevance to better understand the motivation to use TikTok, alongside related topics. Such an understanding might also be relevant because recent research suggests that TikTok can be a potent channel to inform young persons on health-relevant information ( 10 – 12 ), on official information release from the government ( 13 ), political discussions ( 14 ), tourism content ( 15 ), live online sales ( 16 ), and even educational content ( 17 ). There even have been video-posts analyzed in a scientific paper related to radiology ( 18 ). Clearly, young TikTok users are also confronted with harmful health content, including smoking of e-cigarettes ( 19 ). Moreover, the health information learned from TikTok videos often does not meet necessary standards—as is discussed in a paper on acne ( 20 ). Finally, there arises the problem that while creating content, children's/adolescent's private home bedrooms from which they create TikTok videos become visible to the world, posing privacy intrusions ( 21 ). The many obviously negative aspects of TikTok use are in itself important further research leads. From a psychological perspective, we take a different path with the present review and try to better understand why people use TikTok, who uses the platform, and also how people use TikTok.

Why do People Use TikTok?

This question can be answered from different perspectives. One perspective providing an initial answer and—likely being true for most social media services—has been put forward by Montag and Hegelich ( 22 ). Social media companies have created services being highly immersive, aiming to capture the attention of users as long as possible ( 23 ). As a result of a prolonged user stay, social media companies obtain deep insights into psychological features of their users ( 24 ), which can be used for microtargeting purposes ( 25 ). Such immersive platform design also likely drives users with certain characteristics into problematic social media use ( 26 ) or problematic TikTok use (addictive-like behavior), but this aspect relating to TikTok use is understudied. Nevertheless, reinforcement of TikTok usage is also very likely reached by design-elements such as “Likes” ( 27 ), personalized and endless content available ( 23 ). TikTok's “For You”-Page (the landing page) learns quickly via artificial intelligence what users like, which likely results in longer TikTok use than a user intended, which may cause smartphone TikTok-related addictive behavior ( 2 ). This said, these ideas put forward still need to be confirmed by empirical studies dealing exclusively with TikTok. In this realm, an interesting research piece recently investigated less studied variables such as first-person camera views, but also humor on key variables such as immersion and entertainment on the TikTok platform ( 28 ), again all of relevance to prolong user stay.

The other perspective one could choose to address why people use TikTok stems from uses and gratification theory ( 29 , 30 ). The simple idea of this highly influential theory is that use of certain media can result in gratification of a person's needs ( 30 ), and only if relevant needs of a person are gratified by particular media, users will continue media use—here digital platform or social media use.

A recent paper by Bucknell Bossen and Kottasz ( 31 ) provided insight that, in particular, gratification of entertainment/affective needs was the most relevant driver to understand a range of behaviors on TikTok, including passive consumption of content, but also creating content and interacting with others. In particular, the authors summarized that TikTok participation was motivated by needs to expand one's social network, seek fame, and express oneself creatively. Recent work by Omar and Dequan ( 32 ) also applied uses and gratification theory to better understand TikTok use. In their work, especially the need for escapism predicted TikTok content consumption, whereas self-expression was linked to both participating and producing behavior. A study by Shao and Lee ( 33 ) not only applied uses and gratification theory to understand TikTok use but also shed light on TikTok use satisfaction and the intention to further use TikTok. In line with findings from the already mentioned works, entertainment/information alongside communication and self-expression were discussed as relevant use motives (needs to be satisfied by TikTok use). Satisfaction with TikTok was investigated as a mediator between different motives to use TikTok and to continue TikTok use. We also mention recent work being unable to link TikTok use to well-being, whether in a positive or negative way ( 34 ). Finally, Wang et al. ( 35 ) underlined the overall relevance of uses and gratification theory to understand TikTok use and presented need variables in cognitive and affective domains as relevant to study, but also personal/social integration and relief of pressure. In this context, we also mention the view of Shao ( 2 ) who put forward that, in particular, young people use TikTok for positioning oneself in their peer group and to understand where he/she stands in the peer group. Thus, TikTok is also relevant for identity formation of young persons and obtaining feedback to oneself.

Further theories need to be mentioned, which can explain why people are using the TikTok platform: Social Impact Theory and Self-Determination Theory. To our knowledge, these theories have not been sufficiently addressed empirically so far with respect to TikTok use, but are well known to be of relevance to understand social media use in general and are therefore mentioned.

Clearly, an important driver of social media use can be power, hence, reaching out to many and influencing other persons ( 36 ). Here, the classic Social Impact Theory (SIT) by Latané ( 37 ) tries to understand how to best measure the impact of people on a single individual/individuals. This theory—originating in the pre-social-media-age—gained a lot of visibility with the rise of social media services because, in particular, in the age of filter bubbles, fake news, and misinformation campaigns ( 38 , 39 ), it is interesting to understand how individual users on social media are socially influenced by others, for instance, in the area of their (political) attitudes. The SIT postulates three highly relevant factors called strength, immediacy, and number (of sources) to predict such a social impact. Ultimately, applying this theory to better understand TikTok use also needs to take into account that users differ in terms of their active and passive use.

The Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has been proposed by Ryan and Deci ( 40 ) and belongs to the most influential motivation theories of human behavior. Hence, it clearly can also be used to explain why people are motivated to use a social media service ( 41 , 42 ). According to SDT, motivated behavior (here using TikTok) should be high, when such a platform enables users to feel competence, autonomy, and being connected with others. Design of the platform can help to trigger related psychological states (e.g., push notifications can trigger fear of missing out, hence, not being connected to significant others) ( 43 ); but clearly also, individual differences play a relevant role, and this should be discussed as the next important area in this work. As with the SIT, applying SDT to better understand TikTok use will also need to take into account different kinds of TikTok use. A sense of self-determination might rise to different levels, when users are actively or passively using TikTok—and this also represents an interesting research question.

Who Uses TikTok and Who Does Not?

The aforementioned statistics show that TikTok users are often young. Bucknell Bossen and Kottasz ( 31 ) illustrated that, in particular, young users are also those who seem to be particularly active on the platform, and thus share much information. Given that, in particular, young users often do not foresee consequences of self-disclosure, it is of high importance to better protect this vulnerable group from detrimental aspects of social media use. Beyond age, statistics suggest that more females than males use the platform 5 , something also observed with other platforms ( 44 – 46 ). First, insights from personality psychology provided further information on associations between characteristics of TikTok users and how they use it (see also the next How Do People Use TikTok? section): The widely applied Big Five Personality traits called openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (acronym OCEAN) were all robustly linked to producing, participating, and consuming behavior on TikTok, with the exception of agreeableness only being linked to consuming behavior ( 32 ). Using a hierarchical regression model inserting both personality variables and motives from uses and gratification theory, it became apparent that the latter variables seemed to outweigh the personality variables in their importance to predict TikTok usage. Lu et al. ( 47 ) used data from China to investigate individual differences in DouYin (again the Chinese version of TikTok) use. Among others, they observed that people refraining from using DouYin did so out of fear of getting “addicted” to the application [see also ( 48 )]. This needs to be further systematically explored with the Big Five model of personality (or HEXACO, as the personality models dominating modern personality psychology at the moment). Without doubt, it will be also highly important to better understand how the variables of socio-demographics and personality interact on TikTok use, also in the realm of active/passive use of the platform. Active use would describe a high engagement toward the platform including commenting and uploading videos. Passive usage would reflect in browsing and simply consuming videos. The need to distinguish between active and passive use of social media has been also recently empirically supported by Peterka-Bonetta et al. ( 49 ).

How do People Use TikTok?

In the Why Do People Use TikTok? section, we already mentioned that users can passively view content, but also create content or interact with others. Studies comprehensively showing how many and which types of people use TikTok with respect to these behavioral categories are lacking (but TikTok likely has at least some of these insights). A recent review by Kross et al. ( 50 ) on “social media (use) and well-being” summarized that several psychological processes such as upward social comparison (perhaps also happening in so-called “challenges” on TikTok) or fear of missing out ( 43 ) are related to negative affect and might have detrimental effects on the usage experience and/or TikTok users' lives in general. Overall, the psychological impact of the TikTok platform might also be very likely, in particular, when adolescents often imitate their idols in “LipSync-Videos” ( 51 ). The kind of influence of such behavior on the development of one's own identity and self-esteem (self-confidence) ( 52 ) will be a matter of important psychological discussion, but it is too early to speculate further on potential psychological effects here, both in the positive or negative direction ( 53 ). Moreover, whether such effects will be of positive or negative nature, we mention the importance to not overpathologize everyday life behavior ( 54 ).

In sum, much of what we know with respect to platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, or even WeChat ( 56 ) needs to still be investigated in the context of TikTok, to understand if psychological observations made for other social media channels can be transferred “one-on-one” to TikTok. For instance, illustrating differences between social media platforms, Bhandari and Bimo ( 57 ) suggested in their analysis of TikTok that in contrast to other platforms, “the crux of interaction is not between users and their social network, but between a user and what we call an ‘algorithmized’ version of self.” Opening TikTok immediately results in being captured by a personalized stream of videos. Therefore, we believe it to be unlikely that all insights from social media research can be easily transferred to TikTok because it is well-known that each social media platform has a unique design also attracting different user groups ( 45 ), and they elicit different immersive or “addictive” potential ( 58 ). Please note that we use the term “addictive” only in quotation marks, given the ongoing debate on the actual nature of excessive social media use ( 59 , 60 ). This said, we explicitly mention that the study of problematic social media use represents a very important topic ( 61 ), although at the moment, this condition—of relevance for the mental health sciences—is not officially recognized by the World Health Organization. Despite the ongoing controversy, nevertheless, it has been recently pointed out that social media companies are responsible for the well-being of users, too ( 55 ).

Conclusions and Outlook

Although user numbers are high and TikTok represents a highly successful social media platform around the globe, we know surprisingly less about psychological mechanisms related to TikTok use. Most research has been carried out so far yielding insights into user motives applying uses and gratification theory. Although this theory is of high importance to understand TikTok use, it is still rather broad and general. In particular, when studying a platform such as TikTok—receiving attention at the moment from a lot of young users—more specific needs or facets of the broad dimensions of uses and gratification theory (such as social usage) being more strongly related to the needs of adolescents might need more focus. One such focus could be a stronger emphasis on the study of self-esteem ( 62 ) in the context of TikTok use. Work beyond this area, e.g., investigating potential detrimental aspects, are scarce, but will be important. In particular, we deem this to be true, as TikTok attracts very young users, being more vulnerable to detrimental aspects of social media use ( 63 ). We believe that it is also high time for researchers to put research energy in the study of TikTok and to do so in a comprehensive manner. Among others, it needs also to be studied how active and passive use impact on the well-being of the users. This means that the here-discussed how-, why- , and who- questions need to be studied together in one framework, and this needs to be done against the data business model and its immersive platform design. The key ideas of this review to understand TikTok use and related aspects such as well-being of the users are presented in Figure 1 .

Figure 1 . In order to understand the relationship between a social media service such as TikTok and human psychological processes and behavior, one needs to answer the who-, why-, and how-questions, also against the background of the social media platform design. Please note that the platform design itself is driven by the data business model. Social media usage and its association with psychological/behavioral variables such as well-being, online-time, and so on can be best understood by investigating these variables in one model, at best also investigating potential interactions of variables. These ideas have also been described in parts in Montag and Hegelich ( 22 ), Kross et al. ( 50 ), and Montag et al. ( 55 ). The figure does not exclusively mention TikTok because we are convinced that the presented details are true for all research agendas aiming at a better understanding of the relationship between social media use and well-being.

Author Contributions

CM wrote the first draft of this review article. HY screened the Chinese literature and added relevant work from a Chinese perspective to the review. Finally, JDE critically worked over the complete draft. All authors agreed upon the final version of the article.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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56. Montag C, Becker B, Gan C. The multipurpose application WeChat: a review on recent research. Front Psychol. (2018) 9:2247. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02247

57. Bhandari A, Bimo S. Tiktok And The “Algorithmized Self”: A New Model Of Online Interaction . AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. (2020). doi: 10.5210/spir.v2020i0.11172. Available online at: https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/11172

58. Rozgonjuk D, Sindermann C, Elhai JD, Montag C. Comparing smartphone, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat: which platform elicits the greatest use disorder symptoms? Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw . (2020). doi: 10.1089/cyber.2020.0156. [Epub ahead of print].

59. Carbonell X, Panova T. A critical consideration of social networking sites' addiction potential. Addic Res Theor. (2017) 25:48–57. doi: 10.1080/16066359.2016.1197915

60. Montag C, Wegmann E, Sariyska R, Demetrovics Z, Brand M. How to overcome taxonomical problems in the study of Internet use disorders and what to do with “smartphone addiction”? J Behav Addic . (2021) 9:908–14. doi: 10.1556/2006.8.2019.59

61. Schivinski B, Brzozowska-Wo,ś M, Stansbury E, Satel J, Montag C, Pontes HM. Exploring the role of social media use motives, psychological well-being, self-esteem, and affect in problematic social media use. Front Psychol. (2020) 11:617140. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.617140

62. Bos AER, Muris P, Mulkens S, Schaalma HP. Changing self-esteem in children and adolescents: a roadmap for future interventions. J Psychol. (2006) 62:26–33. doi: 10.1007/BF03061048

63. Best P, Manktelow R, Taylor B. Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Child Youth Serv Rev. (2014) 41:27–36. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.001

Keywords: TikTok, DouYin, musical.ly, personality, uses and gratification, social media, social media addiction, problematic social media use

Citation: Montag C, Yang H and Elhai JD (2021) On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings. Front. Public Health 9:641673. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.641673

Received: 14 December 2020; Accepted: 18 January 2021; Published: 16 March 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Montag, Yang and Elhai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Christian Montag, christian.montag@uni-ulm.de

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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• v.6(11); 2021

TikTok and public health: a proposed research agenda

Marco zenone.

1 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

2 Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Skye Barbic

3 Providence Research, Providence Health Care, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Associated Data

No data are available.

Summary box

• TikTok is a short video sharing social media platform that has grown rapidly since its launch, amassing over 1 billion monthly global users as of September 2021.
• We argue that public health is served by paying urgent attention to the potential health-related implications of TikTok and suggest research agenda to inform decision-makers, health providers, researchers and the public.
• Specific research priorities include investigating health-harming product promotion, medical advice/illness portrayal, dis/misinformation spread, sensitive or hateful content dissemination, problematic usage or addiction and platform corporate activity.

Introduction

TikTok is a short video sharing social media platform that has grown rapidly since its launch, amassing over 1 billion monthly global users as of September 2021. 1 Users on TikTok create and engage with algorithm-suggested content related to their interests on a variety of subjects, including health-related or implicated topics. The global growth of TikTok, while offering an engaging experience for users and approach to connecting to diverse people, is accompanied by concerns, such as the quality of health advice offered in videos and sensitive content. In this commentary, we argue that public health is served by paying urgent attention to the potential health-related implications and opportunities of TikTok and suggest a research agenda to inform decision-makers, health providers, researchers and the public.

Public health-related concerns and research focus areas

Health-harming product promotion.

Early research illustrates products detrimental to health, such as alcohol or vaping items, are widely viewed and portrayed positively on TikTok. For example, a study found that the top 100 videos with the #alcohol hashtag were viewed 291 999 100 times and 98% portrayed alcohol use in a positive manner. 2 In the past, health-harming industries have used influencers—defined as influential persons online—to promote harmful products. The vaping company JUUL employed Instagram influencers and affiliate marketers to promote their products that now constitute a public health crisis. 3 Investigation is needed to explore the marketing, platform facilitators and financial drivers behind the portrayal or promotion of such products on TikTok. Researchers may consider the commercial determinants of health 4 to frame their research questions and conceptualise health-harming industry motives and prior advertising strategies on social media.

Medical advice and health/illness portrayal

There exists evidence that TikTok influencers or users are offering medical-related advice or discuss health-related topics that receive significant engagement. For example, table 1 denotes the popularity of various health-related hashtags, such as #MentalHealth, which received over 17 billion views on tagged videos. 5 Several studies document the portrayal of certain health-related topic education, such as recovering from eating disorders 6 and sexual education. 7 However, the quality of the information offered, qualifications of the persons offering advice or their conflicts of interest, are largely unknown. A recent study on diabetes information on TikTok found that while good actors, such as qualified organisations, gave evidence-based information, those made by for-profit groups had poor quality. 8 A study evaluating medical information related to acne identified that the top 100 videos with the #acne hashtag had ‘information with serious to potentially important shortcomings’. 9 Research is needed to understand who is giving medical advice, the quality of the advice offered, how users interact and incorporate information received into their lives and the opportunities for public health organisations to promote evidence-based information to TikTok users.

*Number of views on TikTok videos with health-related hashtags

*Total number of tagged TikTok video views with a specified hashtag. Total views collected on 20 October 2021. Certain health-related hashtags, such as #eatingdisorder or related terms, are blocked on the TikTok search engine and thus cannot be totalled or included.

ADHD, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; IBS, Irritable bowel syndrome; OCD, Obsessive-compulsive disorder; PTSD, Post-traumatic stress disorder; STI, Sexually transmitted infection.

Dis/misinformation spread

Like other social media platforms, the spread of dis/misinformation is a concern on TikTok. A few studies document the spread of public health-related misinformation, on the topics of COVID-19 10 and prostate cancer. 11 The extent of dis/misinformation on other topics has not yet been investigated. Research is warranted to examine dis/misinformation on all public-health and non-public health topics, including but not limited to vaccines, cancer, experimental medicine, conspiracy theories, alternative and unproven medicine, election integrity, drug/medical regulatory processes, climate change and other important topics. The role of TikTok as a platform, including the strategies or processes in place to prevent and report dis/misinformation, also warrant attention.

Viewing sensitive or hateful content

Several TikTok trends depict creators sharing personal, sometimes traumatic, stories such as surviving sexual assault, suicide or an abusive experience such as domestic violence. 12 Sharing the stories, while courageous, may reach persons unprepared to view the content, such as young youth and recent survivors of the aforementioned experiences. Similarly, the person sharing such stories may not be prepared for their video becoming viral or may require support. In other cases—hateful speech, such as racism, sexism or xenophobia, may proliferate on the platform. For example, a recent report from Media Matters for America, a non-profit media watchdog group, documents how the TikTok algorithm may lead users to transphobic content. 13 However, TikTok enables warnings on sensitive or graphic content, provides certain support for users 14 and has banned hate speech. 15 Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of TikTok moderation policies, the dissemination and portrayal of sensitive topics and the experiences of users reacting to and posting such content to determine avenues of support. We encourage research from a duty to care perspective 16 that strategises how to connect users to needed resources, services and follow-up when appropriate. Specific focus is needed to protect underserved groups or those that experience any form of discrimination.

Problematic usage and addiction

A speculative journalistic literature exists labelling TikTok potentially addictive. 17 Research is warranted to investigate how users interact with the platform, such as attitudes towards the platform, problematic usage prevalence and facilitators, differences by age, gender and other demographic variables and evaluation of TikTok policies and initiatives to prevent and minimise overuse harms. Specific research is needed to examine the potential consequences from the algorithms underpinning the TikTok platform from ethical and regulatory perspectives.

Corporate activity

TikTok is a large for-profit business entity that requires research on their business and political activities to ensure accountability in their platform and actions. Other social media platforms, such as Facebook, are alleged to lobby governments or resist certain public health-related calls, such as moderating vaccine misinformation. 18 We encourage researchers, particularly from the commercial determinants of health, to conduct research into TikTok as a corporate political actor and investigate their business practices. In making this research call, we do not make any presumption on the motives or actions of TikTok, but their platform size, reach, resources and influence on discourse, coupled with the historical comparison of other social media platforms and their impacts on public health, warrant attention. We urge TikTok to assist researchers by developing accessible and transparent research tools to monitor content trends, community guidelines enforcement and platform design.

TikTok has changed social media since its expeditious rise. Public health has a responsibility to examine the implications, opportunities and impacts of TikTok on health and advocate for changes where necessary. Given the rapid growth of TikTok—research is needed urgently. Particular demographics, such as young people, use TikTok at higher rates and need focused research attention to understand their app engagement and perceptions. Research should be conducted independently from TikTok and any conflicts of interests when funded by or working with TikTok declared.

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge Dr. Steve Mathias for his contribution to the concept of the manuscript.

Handling editor: Seye Abimbola

Contributors: All authors contributed to project conceptualisation. MZ wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed, edited and approved the final version.

Funding: The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests: None declared.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Data availability statement

Ethics statements, patient consent for publication.

Not applicable.

Best Practices for TikTok Research: Emerging Methods

December 1, 2023 | by Robin O'Luanaigh

With over 1 billion users worldwide, TikTok is an immensely influential social media platform, particularly among young social media users. Yet, despite its immense popularity and prevalence, there is a dearth published of best practices available to those interested in conducting research on TikTok. In this Research Note, Research Lead Robin O’Luanaigh draws on her experiences with the platform to provide a basic overview of current best practices for TikTok research and a baseline understanding of how the platform works. The Note starts with an overview of security concerns with the platform before moving to possible security measures researchers may wish to utilize. It then discusses two potential TikTok research methodologies, network analysis and algorithmic analysis of the platform, concluding with an example of such methodologies at work. 

Security Concerns with TikTok Research

TikTok remains a controversial platform in national security spaces given its Chinese origins and its alleged connections with the Chinese government. The extent of this relationship between TikTok and the Chinese government has not been made readily apparent. However, data security experts posit that the Chinese government may have undue access to TikTok user data, prompting many governments (including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and across the European Union) to  ban the platform from official government devices. 

Even without a relationship between TikTok and the Chinese government, it is still possible for governmental or private operatives to access the platform’s data by nefarious means, including hacking the platform’s data. While such operatives may also be able to access user information from other social media platforms, what makes the hacking of TikTok data more problematic is the extent of the data the platform collects – TikTok has been accused of “mass data collection,” the legality of which depends on the location of the user, as the EU and other European countries have much more stringent legal protections for consumers than the US. Thus, the risk is not only in the possibility of the platform being hacked, but also in the extent of the gathered data possibly available to hackers. 

An additional security concern levied against TikTok is the platform’s alleged potential  leveraging for psychological operations , particularly given the platform’s purported connections with the Chinese government. This concern emanates from the Chinese government and military having a  known focus on psychological warfare  and the work of  experts in neurotechnology asserting that TikTok can influence user beliefs and attitudes. However,  analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) asserts that concerns regarding the possibility of Chinese psychological operations on TikTok don’t “hold up to scrutiny,” as the personal information gathered by the platform is of no greater intelligence value than data gathered by similar social media platforms, and that to date no malware has been discovered on the app. Additionally, the aforementioned neurotechnology expert alludes that the ability to influence user opinions is not specific to TikTok but instead endemic to social media platforms more broadly.

Other claims that TikTok engages in practices such as the provision of malware on user devices have not been substantiated. However, it has been established that the platform monitors user clipboards , or content that the user copies and pastes on their device outside of the app. This practice does not differentiate TikTok from other social media platforms who also engage in clipboard monitoring, such as  Reddit and LinkedIn .

Security Measures while Conducting TikTok Research

For researchers conducting analysis on specific on-platform users and user networks, a VPN is likely sufficient as it obscures the researcher’s IP address. Upon setting up your VPN, utilize an incognito or TOR browser to protect your search history and information from possible platform data gathering attempts. 

While a VPN is easier to use, a virtual machine provides added protection against the platform’s security concerns. TikTok researchers who wish to utilize a virtual machine may download the platform’s desktop version onto their virtual machine as opposed to using the browser version of the platform. This may mitigate the possibility of the TikTok browser slowing their research process down. In my experience, even using the TikTok browser without a virtual machine can cause large slow downs to the research process, but virtual machines can be further slowed down by TikTok’s audiovisual content. 

Consider Your Location

The platform’s algorithm is heavily influenced by the location of your IP address, and should be of primary consideration when conducting research, especially research on how the platform algorithmically curates content. For example, I primarily reside in Washington, DC, and the content curated by my personal TikTok algorithm contains specific references to DC-area events, businesses, restaurants, etc. However, when I travel to other parts of the US, the algorithmically-curated content shown on my personal account eventually begins to reflect my current location. Both VPNs and virtual machines can be helpful in addressing this consideration. Researchers using VPNs may standardize their VPN’s location over the course of their research process, or key the VPN to specific geographical areas that are relevant for a given research question. In either case, researchers should utilize a VPN that allows users to select the location of their IP address for these purposes. Researchers using virtual machines have their IP addresses inherently standardized, while also having the additional device security afforded by a virtual machine. 

Getting Started with TikTok Research

Most researchers will want to create a TikTok profile for every new research project they undertake, as the platform’s algorithm tracks search queries and viewed content. Creating a new profile for each research project ensures that that data collection is not influenced by past research (or personal use) due to the platform algorithm’s attempts to show you content it believes you might be interested in based on those previous searches. TikTok requires users to sign up using either an email or a phone number and sends a verification code to the chosen method of communication. I prefer to utilize an email address generator such as  Temp Mail , which allows users to see emails sent to the randomized address without needing to log in to an email provider. If a phone number is preferred, researchers should ensure that a new one is used for each account, and ideally a phone number associated with a Google voice account or similar service, rather than a personal number. These steps apply to any TikTok researcher, regardless of their research question.

Research Method 1: Network Analysis

Researchers interested in a particular TikTok user or network of users will have fewer steps to take during their research process than those interested in algorithmically curated content. If the researcher has already identified an initial account to review, they can search for that account’s username in the platform’s search feature. They may then wish to review who the account is following if possible (some users make whom they follow private). For example, I might be interested in doing research on TikTok networks associated with the  cottagecore aesthetic . I have identified an account with the username “ cottagecore22 ,” the profile of which (as seen in the platform web browser) is provided below. 

I may then wish to review the 43 users that this account follows. Thankfully, this user has not made their followers private, so if I click on “Following 43,” a pop up appears with the followed accounts. I can then review these accounts and begin to map out a network of cottagecore aesthetic enthusiasts on-platform. 

Research Method 2: Algorithmic Analysis

Researchers interested in analyzing algorithmically-curated content will make significant use of the platform’s search query feature. Every TikTok account has a distinct, algorithmically-curated “For You Page” (FYP), which contains content selected by the platform algorithm. Initial content selection for the FYP is based on the data you provided during your sign-up process. As you utilize your account and engage with TikTok content, the algorithm curates your FYP based on your past on-platform activities. For example, if you have been searching for “dinner recipes,” the algorithm may begin sending you TikToks of baking recipes, which likely include recipes of initial interest but may then begin to encourage the viewer to increase their scope of interest, encouraging them to spend more time on the platform. Once again, it is imperative that researchers create a new profile and that they utilize an anonymous browser such as Incognito mode or TOR for each research task so that data collection is not influenced by past searches.

Algorithmic Analysis Example

The TikTok algorithm influences a variety of the platform’s features, many of which have not been appropriately studied. For the purposes of this Best Practices overview, I will walk through a short example of how algorithmic analysis can help researchers recreate a possible “average user experience” on platform to analyze the data subsequently collected from this experiment. 

• Create a new TikTok account using a randomly generated email address and password. Open an anonymous browser and pull up the TikTok sign-in page.
• Once logged in, use the search feature and type in a keyword related to a topic you wish to analyze. For this case, let’s say we wish to analyze algorithmically-curated content appearing in the search results of the query “weightlifting.” Below is a screenshot of the first three search results.
• When conducting algorithmic analysis, make liberal use of the “Top” category, as seen above. This category contains the most popular content that the platform associates with the keyword “weightlifting,” or whatever keyword you decide to use. 
• Review the content within the “Top” feature, allowing you to analyze the most popular content associated with your chosen keyword without any algorithmic influence from past research or platform usage. 
• If desired, a researcher may then wish to compare and contrast the content that appears in the “Top” category of different keywords, identifying overlapping trends, accounts, or hashtags, and thereby identifying on-platform connections between the two keywords.

Overall, TikTok remains an understudied yet immensely popular social media platform, and it is important to remember that best practices are always subject to change as the platform and its algorithm are likely to continue to evolve .  As this occurs, and as awareness and understanding of the platform increases, it is likely that new research methodologies will arise. Armed with a baseline understanding of how the platform works, I look forward to an increase in researchers collecting and analyzing TikTok data. 

Our work is made possible by research grants and gifts from supporters. We appreciate your generosity.

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The TikTok Cultures Research Network is a portal for scholarly resources, research projects, and events that connects networks of qualitative scholars of various disciplines from around the world.

Latest News

August 2024 : TCRN is looking forward to our 10th event, TikTok Cultures in Korea , co-hosted with the Korea Research & Engagement Centre of Western Australia. This one-day online symposium will be held via Zoom on 09 September 2024 . 

Zoom registration is now open! Register here .

July 2024 : Recordings from our second satellite online event, Latin American Cultures on TikTok are now available! This event featured live translation and can be watched in English or Spanish.

Find out more about this event and watch recordings here .

March 2024 : Prof Crystal Abidin recently featured in a cross-media ABC Australia package focused on TikTok livestreaming. This included a digital story (also featuring Dr Jin Lee), a liveblog , an episode of the Future Tense podcast , and short-form video .

December 2023 : The TikTok Cultures Research Network is pleased to announce the publication of ’ A Retrospect on Young People and COVID-19 Discourse on TikTok ’. This report contains a summary of findings from a series of projects undertaken by TCRN from 2019 to 2023. These projects focused on pandemic-related discourses by young people on the short video platform.

Find out more and download this open access report here .

Our Virtual Events with leading academics explore a wide range of TikTok scholarship.

Recordings from our seventh event, ‘TikTok & Children’ symposium are available now.

Browse the research our Members have published in Special Issues, Journal Articles, Reports, Books, Talks and Media.

The TikTok Cultures Research Network have edited three Special Issue Journals .

We aim to provide resources of scholarship on TikTok cultures. Our Bibliographies and Syllabi document the significant research being published globally.

Explore our third TikTok Syllabus (2023) here .

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Klook-TikTok Collab: Now Book Travel Experiences Directly in the App

Peden Doma Bhutia , Skift

August 22nd, 2024 at 4:13 AM EDT

Social media isn’t all fun and games. There’s serious money to be made, and Klook is buying into the trend with its latest TikTok tie-up. Klook's message is clear: Come for the video, stay for the tour!

Peden Doma Bhutia

In a move it describes as shifting from “inspiration to action,” Asian experiences platform Klook has teamed up with TikTok to enable users in seven Southeast Asian markets and Japan to book travel experiences directly through the app.

As social media becomes the go-to channel for travelers seeking destination inspiration, Klook is intensifying its social-first strategy and driving innovation in social commerce.

Through its “Kreator” influencer program, Klook is integrating booking capabilities across various platforms, including the new TikTok booking feature.

“We are deeply attuned to the preferences of next-gen travelers — Gen Z and Millennials — who increasingly seek travel inspiration through social media,” Marcus Yong, Klook’s vice president of global marketing, told Skift.

What is the Klook Kreator Program?

Launched last year, Klook’s “Kreator” influencer program is an influencer marketing platform that enlists individuals to share travel deals and discounts on their respective platforms as a Klook affiliate.

According to Yong, the Klook Kreator program stands at the forefront of this latest strategy, enlisting over 20,000 content creators to share travel deals and discounts across their platforms.

“The program empowers a global community to produce authentic and relatable content that resonates most with their audience, while driving value for merchants seeking to tap into this diverse community,” he said.

Anyone with at least 5,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok can join the “Kreator” program. Upon signing up, participants receive a unique promo code to share with their audience, earning commissions on bookings and access to sponsored travel events and experiences.

As the program gains traction in markets like Taiwan, Australia, and the U.S., Klook is expanding its reach to include platforms like YouTube, reflecting its commitment to exploring new content formats and engaging a broader audience.

The company’s investment in Kreator Labs workshops further supports creators globally, fostering collaboration with merchants and offering influencers firsthand experiences of travel activities.

Social Media for Inspiration

The influence of social media on travel behavior is undeniable, with Gen Z and Millennials making up 70% of Klook’s 60 million monthly visitors . These younger travelers increasingly turn to short-form videos for inspiration, with many willing to spend over $3,000 per trip, according to the latest Klook Travel Pulse survey. The average age of Klook’s customers is 27.

The survey highlights social media as the primary source of inspiration for Gen Z travelers, with over half relying on these platforms to discover new destinations and experiences, rather than traditional travel guides or search engines.

Digital influencers continue to play a significant role in shaping travel decisions, with more than 80% of travelers basing their bookings on online reviews and recommendations from content creators.

In response to this trend, Yong noted that with over one-third of Asia Pacific travelers turning to short-form videos for activity ideas, integrating booking features within social media platforms is a logical step to seamlessly connect inspiration with action.

Influencer Marketing

Klook’s recent partnership with TikTok builds on a history of successful collaborations, such as the “Amazing Thailand Passion Ambassador” initiative with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

This earlier campaign leveraged TikTok’s reach to encourage tourists and content creators to share travel videos, with participants vying for prizes, effectively blending user engagement with promotional incentives.

This also aligns with broader trends identified by Skift Research, which found that 57% of individuals now rely on social media for travel planning.

The shift towards visual inspiration as a key driver in trip planning underscores the growing importance of platforms like TikTok, where short-form video content resonates deeply with Gen Z and millennial audiences.

According to Skift Research, these generations, who have grown up in an era of influencer marketing, show higher levels of engagement with travel influencers. Gen Z demonstrates a pronounced preference for TikTok.

The broader industry context further supports Klook’s approach. Earlier this year, Expedia Group introduced Travel Shops , allowing influencers to earn commissions on hotel bookings, while the Tourism Authority of Thailand launched “TAT Connex,” an influencer marketing platform aimed at boosting Thai tourism.

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Tags: asia monthly , asia pacific , expedia , gen z , Klook , millennials , online travel agencies , online travel newsletter , social media , thailand , tiktok

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Shroud of Turin could actually be Jesus's burial cloth, new study finds

New findings say the turin shroud has likely existed since before jesus christ's death..

Dylan Murray

Seeing as it took place over 2,000 years ago, artifacts that can be traced to Jesus Christ’s life and death are scarce and fascinating to come by.

Similarly, due to how long ago Jesus walked the Earth, small details surrounding his death are often disputed in the modern day by believers and nonbelievers alike.

While these disputes come through in big and small ways, one of the most aggressively contested debates is whether the infamous Turin Shroud - currently on display at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy - was the burial cloth of Jesus Christ when he died 2,000 years ago.

The shroud, which was first discovered in the late 14th century, has been subject to scrutiny since that initial discovery, with many believing that the theory Jesus Christ wore it was ridiculous and false.

Up until recently, many people even believed that the cloth was made during the Middle Ages , with previous studies placing its creation anywhere between 1260 and 1390 AD, centuries after the Common Era began.

However, a recent study has shown results that are contradictory to those of its predecessors.

The new study, which was published in Heritage , a public journal that covers heritage science , says that the Turin Shroud’s history would theoretically coincide with the theory that it was adorned by Jesus Christ two millennia ago.

The study utilized X-ray technology to identify that the majority of the cloth’s aging took place before its discovery by the church in 1390 AD, suggesting that it likely existed for far longer than a century before that point, as was suggested by previous studies.

Instead, the 2000-year mark was deemed to be more accurate, giving believers that the shroud was Jesus Christ’s burial cloth more standing scientifically.

However, the study does admit that they cannot say without a shadow of a doubt that the shroud’s timeline matches up with Jesus Christ’s death, noting that there are a few caveats to their findings.

Most notably, due to not knowing what could’ve happened to the cloth throughout the centuries before it was discovered and preserved by the church in 1390 AD. Most importantly, whether or not the cloth was kept at roughly 22C and with an average humidity of 55 percent for the 1300 years prior to its discovery would make or break the study’s findings.

To identify whether that was the case, the researchers would need a larger sample of the cloth than the 0.5 mm × 1 mm sample they used in this study.

The study itself concluded : “A more accurate and systematic X-ray investigation of more samples taken from the TS fabric would be mandatory to confirm the conclusions of our study."

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Title: For This Medical Student, Her Cancer Research Is for Her Little Sister

Ritu Amarnani (M’27), a second-year medical student, spent this summer researching cancer care in Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

She is one of the first BellRinger Fellows — a program in which students work with a team in the cancer center to advance their academic research and understanding of cancer treatment and care.

The role is one Amarnani has personal experience with. 

In high school, Amarnani volunteered at a pediatric hospital in her hometown of Miami, Florida. She played with children who were going through cancer treatment there. A year in, her nine-year-old sister was admitted to the same hospital. She had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. 

“Sahana was seven years younger than me, and so [growing up] everything that I did, she wanted to do, too,” she said. “As I got older, I understood I was her role model. I began to lean into the big sister role. While I didn’t know it then, I became the person that planned her last birthday party.”

In the hospital, Amarnani began playing with her sister just as she did the other kids, so that “their diagnosis didn’t seem so scary.”

Six days after her sister’s diagnosis, and a few days into her chemotherapy treatment, Sahana passed away from a stroke.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her,” Amarnani said.

Her sister’s passing marked a turning point in her life. Amarnani wanted to make her little sister proud. And she wanted to help patients who were going through similar situations. She turned her career focus toward medicine. 

While attending Northeastern University, Amarnani worked as a medical assistant in Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s hematology-oncology unit, gaining as much exposure to the field as she could. 

“I realized that I could turn my grief and pain into something that could help others in similar situations,” she said. 

Armarnani was accepted into Georgetown’s School of Medicine in 2023. Now in her second year, she is working under the mentorship of Dr. Nina Kadan-Lottick , a pediatric hematologist-oncologist who specializes in cancer survivorship. Amarnani is conducting research for a study that examines why cancer patients might not return for follow-up care and the social determinants of health that impact their access to survivorship care. 

“Our project aims to understand why people don’t come back for treatment,” she said. “Is it a matter of access to healthcare, financial constraints, insurance? There may also be an issue of providing appropriate patient education after cancer treatment.”

Armarnani is one of four fellows in the Mitchell BellRinger Oncology Research Fellowship Program, which is named in honor of Dr. Stephen Ray Mitchell , dean emeritus of the Georgetown University School of Medicine , who played a pivotal role in the growth of medical student research. This fall, BellRinger will host its annual bike ride to support cancer research at Georgetown Lombardi, which Armarnani will join. She said it’s a reminder that “humanity comes together when it counts the most,” she says.

This fall, Amarnani will continue to advance cancer research initiatives at Georgetown Lombardi, and continue to honor her sister’s memory.

“I cannot bring my sister back, but I can see pieces of her embedded in my bedside manner and in my patients,” she said. “For Sahana, I will constantly aspire to be someone she could be proud of — someone that she could have called her big sister.”

This story was adapted from a blog post by Alyssa Bielinski originally published on BellRinger’s website .  

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I’m a stomach doctor — this is a big breakfast mistake my patients often make.

This news is bananas.

Dr. Saurabh Sethi , a California gastroenterologist, is revealing three surprising reasons why bananas should be cut from your fruit smoothie recipes.

“I commonly see my patients make this mistake,” Sethi shared in a TikTok this week. “Adding bananas to your smoothies might be doing more harm than good.”

Sethi points out that bananas can contain high levels of polyphenol oxidase , which can reduce the amount of beneficial flavanols in a fruit blend.

Flavanols — found in blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and other common smoothie ingredients — have been shown to support heart and brain health, decreasing inflammation and lowering blood pressure .

@doctorsethimd 3 Reasons Why You Should Not Add Bananas To Your Smoothies ‼️ Doctor Sethi As a gastroenterologist, I commonly see my patients make this mistake. In this video, I reveal the top three reasons why adding bananas to your smoothies might be doing more harm than good. If you’re serious about optimizing your health and nutrition, you’ll want to reconsider this popular ingredient. 👉 Do you add bananas to your smoothies? Drop a comment below! Thank you for your interest. ❤️ #smoothie #guthealth ♬ original sound – Doctor Sethi ⚡️

A 2023 study published in the Food & Function journal found that adding a banana to a berry smoothie shrunk the amount of flavanols by 84% compared to a control group.

“Bananas can reduce the anti-oxidant benefits [of other fruits],” Sethi said.

Sethi also says that fully ripened bananas increase the carb load in smoothies, which can lead to blood sugar spikes, a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes .

“Despite being a healthy fruit, bananas are pretty high in both carbs and sugar, which are the main nutrients that raise blood sugar levels,” registered dietitian Helen West writes for Healthline .

The outlet reports that a medium banana (about 126 grams) contains 29 grams of carbs and 112 calories.

West notes that green, unripe bananas have less sugar than yellow, ripe bananas. The two types of bananas have similar calorie counts , though.

Sethi says it’s just too much.

“Bananas are calorie dense as compared to other fruits, so adding them to smoothies can raise the calorie count,” Sethi said.

He added: “If you’re serious about optimizing your health and nutrition, you’ll want to reconsider this popular ingredient.”

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Consumer Reports reports that a large banana has about 120 calories and 16 grams of sugar, while 1 cup of strawberry slices has 53 calories and about 8 grams of sugar.

But Jessica D. Bihuniak, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, argues that bananas don’t deserve a bad rap.

They are rich in fiber, potassium, magnesium , vitamin B6, vitamin C and other important nutrients.

“Nobody gets fat or develops diabetes from eating too many bananas,” she told Consumer Reports.