Original articleShelter in Place, Connect Online: Trending TikTok Content During the Early Days of the U.S. COVID-19 Pandemic
Section snippets
TikTok
TikTok was the most downloaded app during the first quarter of 2020, with 315 million downloads from January to the end of March [3]. Globally, 49% of teens have used the app [4], and 70% of TikTok users are teens [3]. The platform features user-generated content in the form of videos up to 1 minute long. These videos can be layered with text, hashtags, images, effects, memes, and music. The app is often known for its skit videos, dancing, and lip syncing [5], although it is also used for many
Data collection
For 65 days, Author 1 tracked top TikToks on trending COVID-relevant hashtags (n = 2,675 total TikToks; 529 distinct TikToks). Data collection spanned March 17 to May 20, 2020. The week of March 17 marked widespread dismissals from in-person schooling across the U.S.: by the end of the week, 43 states in the U.S. (as well as Washington D.C. and most U.S. territories) had ordered or recommended school closures [22]. The aim was to identify and track trending TikTok content related to the
What was featured
Posts most frequently featured commentary on and/documentation of circumstances related to Pandemic Life (n = 344, 65.03%). Pandemic Life TikToks were similarly prevalent in Months 1 and 2, although as described below, subthemes within the Pandemic Life category shifted. Trending TikToks also explicitly promoted public health messages and/or information sharing (Health-Promoting Practices; n = 58, 10.96%). Others, in contrast, featured Risky or Concerning Health Practices (n = 13, 2.46%); these
Discussion
The objective of this study was to document trending TikTok content during and related to a major public health event: the COVID-19 pandemic. The results build on prior preliminary studies of trending COVID-related TikToks [2,15], replicating key findings while providing a fuller picture of relevant content over an extended period.
Commentary about Pandemic Life—documented as the largest category of observed posts in both this study and Ostrovsky and Chen's study—comprised more than half of each
Conclusion
The global COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by heightened, compensatory use of social media apps because of social distancing and shelter-in-place orders. Data reveal that on TikTok, a platform heavily used by teens, public health information coexists with copious casual commentary and showcasing of everyday life during the pandemic. The prominence of this documentation suggests uses of social media for connection and common humanity during a novel time of distancing and isolation. In
Author Biographical Notes
Z.S.U. is a high school senior in New York. She conducted her first study of youth social media use at age 16 years. A year later, when her school closed due to COVID-19, she began tracking TikTok posts about the pandemic. Her project evolved to an original study (under mentorship of Drs. E. Weinstein and C. James) later submitted for national science talent competitions. She is an aspiring social scientist, a New York Civil Liberties Union Student ambassador, and a nationally ranked squash
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Carrie James for her feedback on this article and prior guidance on study design and analyses.
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Conflicts of interest: The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to report.