TikTok Subcultures

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TikTok subcultures are the social cultures that arise from a set of users‘ specific subject or set of subjects within the popular content creation app, TikTok. The genre of said categories can range from broad topics, such as fashion, to more specific subjects, such as Retail TikTok.[1]

As TikTok has continued to rise in popularity, the recognition of these subcultures has become a prevalent subject among users and industries that rely on them. Examples include the influence of TikTok on recent fashion trends, including E-Girl[2] and Dark Academia[3] aesthetics. [4] While TikTok itself does not predetermine these subcultures, the algorithm serves to group users with similar interests together, resulting in specific subcultures arising. [5]

TikTok logo


The Algorithm

Feedback

"Not Interested" button on TikTok

TikTok subcultures are formulated by the recommender system. The recommender system primarily collects data from two forms of feedback.

Explicit feedback[6] refers to the explicit ratings users give, such as liking a video to express their interest. TikTok’s explicit feedback comes in the form of users liking videos as well as having users explicitly select categories they are interested in upon the creation of their TikTok account. Another feature that TikTok uses to get explicit feedback is the “Not Interested” button, where the user can explicitly state their disinterest towards a particular video.

Implicit feedback[6]refers to the natural interactions a user has with a video, such as the sharing of a video. Sharing a video across platforms or through Tiktok does not indicate the feelings a user has about the video. Examples of implicit feedback include user follows, hashtags, as well as device and account settings. While implicit feedback does not contain as much information about content as explicit feedback, it is typically recorded as true-false answers, making it easier to collect. [7] Granular implicit feedback is also collected by the algorithm. This feedback includes tracking app usage time and video interaction in order to provide more accurate feedback on the app's recommender system. [8]

Subculture Formation

Subcultures form as the results of feedback collection among users. Users with similarly recorded feedback tend to be grouped together and shown videos that reflect their similar interests. [9] For example, two users who explicitly like and interact with a specific fashion aesthetic video will be recommended related videos as well as additional videos that are designed to produce similar reactions. Using the combination of explicit and implicit feedback collected on users, TikTok's algorithm is able to create thousands of micro-communities with shared interests and opinions.

Subcultures

Alternative Subculture

One of the most influential and prominent subcultures on TikTok is the Alternative TikTok subculture. Noted by the group's unwillingness to participate in mainstream culture, this subculture is often marked by those with deep interests in alternative music, art, fashion, and humor. [10] As TikTok first gained traction, the rise of Alt TikTok was viewed as a detachment away from Straight TikTok, classified as the mainstream content associated with TikTok, such as dancing and lip-syncing. [11]

e-girl trend initiated by TikTok

Fashion Subcultures

Fashion TikTok tends to revolve around fashion and clothing trends. While the subculture itself has a multitude of subcultures within itself (including E-Girl/E-Boy TikTok, Cottagecore TikTok, and Light/Dark Academia TikTok) the entire community is often classified as a whole. [12] The most prominent feature of the combination of such subcultures is the “distinct clothing styles to separate themselves from the mainstream American teenage culture and express their despondence towards contemporary culture as well as their oppositions to hegemonic femininity and compulsory heterosexuality”, as stated by Lynn in her analyzation of social media self-identity. [13]

This subculture is especially notable for its widespread effects on the fashion industry. Many modeling agencies have begun to use Tiktok over other forms of social media in order to scout new talent. One notable example of this is IMG Models, one of the largest modeling agencies in the world. [14] Other effects of the app include increased interest in sustainable fashion and the creation of multiple new brands of clothing developed by creators.

Political Subcultures

Political subcultures on TikTok refer to the subculture of media on TikTok that relate to the political and social workings of a government. Accounts such as @conservativehypehouse and @liberalhypehouse highlight two TikTok accounts with different political affiliations. [15] Specific political TikTok that revolve around one political candidate, such as Bernie Sanders TikTok and Trump TikTok, are also prevalent. Most videos that come from political TikTok subcultures involve utilizing mainstream trends to deliver political opinions and statistics.

Campaigning

Due to its increasing popularity, TikTok has played an increasingly large role in the campaigns of many politicians. Leading up to the November 2020 United States Presidential Election, political operatives were reported to have paid TikTok creators to campaign on their personal platforms, encourage their viewers to get out and vote [16] . In addition, democratic and republican political action committees created “Hype Houses” of TikTokers to create content supporting either Joe Biden or Donald Trump for president [16].

This form of campaigning was mainly targeted at a younger audience in order to encourage greater voter turnout from groups with historically low voter margins. While researchers have difficulty in defining the specific impact of TikTok on the current political landscape, it has been reported that the app has served to educate and inform audiences about social movements and political activism on national and global levels. [17]

In 2020, Christina Haswood was elected to the Kansas state Legislature and became the youngest person to ever sit in that chamber[18]. Haswood has accredited her success to her engagement on TikTok, which resulted in connecting with younger voters [18]. Tiktok has enabled politicians like Haswood to offer a refreshing level of transparency which has engaged young voters [18].

Controversies

In June 2020, former President Donald Trump’s campaign anticipated huge numbers of people at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as tickets had sold out online [19]. However, a majority of seats were empty for the rally [19]. This was due to a viral TikTok trend, where TikTok users who are against Trump registered for tickets, knowing they wouldn’t go as a prank [19]. This was discussed to have occurred mainly on Alt TikTok, where activism is common [19].

Ethical Concerns

Political polarization

TikTok made by conservative account @ericyansound

Echo Chambers

There have been increasing concerns regarding the radicalization [20] within subcultures. The most notable example of this is the radicalization of political extremism subcultures, where people with extreme views are consistently grouped together to create "echo chambers" within their respective subcultures[21]. Personalization algorithms, such as TikTok’s, learn what a user’s interests or views are and filter out content that the algorithm learns the user does not agree with or like [22]. Eugene Wei, former Head of Video at Oculus, coined this phenomenon as the “Sorting Hat”, referencing the famous Young Adult novel Harry Potter where the Sorting Hat places students into four distinct Houses. Eugene Wei states that “[like the sorting hat], TikTok’s algorithm sorts its users into dozens and dozens of subcultures. Not two FYP feeds are alike”. [23] This radical personalization, where no two For You Pages are alike, is also known to create filter bubbles; a personalization algorithm can create a world for a user that only reflects ideas that they already believe and may create a false view of the world for a user, as everything they disagree with is filtered out [22]. Filter bubbles contribute to the creation of echo chambers; a highly personalized environment where a user’s personal beliefs are constantly reiterated and rarely challenged [24]. It has been discussed that echo chambers have contributed to the increase in political polarization in the United States and that political polarization may be especially concerning in the social media space [24].

Misinformation

Due to the large amount of content that is uploaded to Tiktok each day, concerns over widespread misinformation have also arisen.Content is often very loosely moderated on each page, allowing many users to come into contact with false information on a daily basis. [25] For example, tech magazine Wired analyzes the influence conservative subcultures had in relation to MAGA Radicalisation, highlighting a viral conservative TikTok that “depicts a map of the US made up of a smattering of small blue dots surrounded by a sea of red [with the] caption: ‘THERE ARE NO ‘BLUE STATES’ NOT ONE!’”. [26] Wired states that “[a]lthough the image is factual, it’s a county-by-county map of the 2020 election results, [lacking] critical context”. [27] In a June 2020 update, TikTok recognizes the concerns surrounding repetitive patterns and diversifying recommendations in their recommender system, claiming that the future of the recommender system will address these concerns. [28]

Intergroup Conflict

There also arises a concern of the fueling of pitted hate wars and negative emotions between subcultures, as subcultures with different taste rarely mix together. For example, Alt TikTok became coined as “Elite TikTok”, assigning a negative connotation to those that are not on Alt TikTok along with the creation of many trends mocking Straight TikTok. [29] Similarly with fashion subcultures on TikTok, as most fashion TikToks portray themselves as detaching away from mainstream culture, those that do follow mainstream culture, not following the fashion trends depicted in these subcultures are isolated.

This phenomenon has contributed heavily to the rise in distinct Tiktok subcultures, as many groups have used their differences from others as a means of self-identification. Notably, this form of identification has served to increase the prevalence of echo chambers as individuals become more and more entrenched in their corner of the algorithm. [30]

Subculture Trends

Instances of harm: TikTok has been the center of controversy because of its significant influence of the trends created from subcultures on young children. The social media platform has struggled to maintain a safe space for users despite being targeted primarily to a younger audience, where the content that arises from subcultures has been not subject to moderation and regulation. TikTok also holds responsibility for attracting a stream of underage children to its social media platform. Users must be at least 13 years old in order to be able to legally sign up for TikTok. However, many children below that age are joining TikTok and the repercussions of this trend are tangible. For example, dangerous challenges have caused children to participate in risky activities. In Italy, a 10 year old boy died while imitating a “black out challenge” that involved intentional self suffocating.[31] A young 4 year old child located in the Philippines almost lost her life as she attempted to imitate a TikTok challenge that involved hanging oneself. Luckily the mother was present to save her life. [32] Underage children are not the only ones affected by the rise of dangerous TikTok challenges. For example, a 15 year old girl from the US died after overdosing while participating in the “benadryl challenge” without her parent’s knowledge. [33] TikTok also harbors pedophiles who take advantage of TikTok as a social media platform that provides ease of access to largely under supervised children. Using fake profiles to connect with children has become increasingly common. For example, after a pedophile attempted to build a relationship with a child, their older sister went to Twitter to start a discussion about the prevalence of predators on TikTok. [34]

Artificially Stifled Subcultures

TikTok moderator's content suppression policy

In 2019, TikTok instructed their moderators to suppress people deemed unattractive, poor, or disabled [35]. The algorithm was adjusted to reflect this as well. Queer and overweight people were also “blacklisted”, so that after their videos reached a certain amount of views (6000 to 10000), they would be flagged and stop being recommended to other users [36]. Examples of accounts flagged include those that used disability related hashtags, hashtags with the word fat, and the rainbow flag emoji in a user’s biography. The censorship policy that moderators followed was, they were told, a means to make the platform more “fancy and appealing”. As such, any content creators with “abnormal body shapes”, “ugly facial looks”, and “shabby and dilapidated” environments had some of their videos removed or their content distribution minimized[37]. By 2020, Gartner, TikTok’s spokesperson, stated that most of these policies are no longer in effect, and were originally meant to prevent cyber bullying, so users with mental or physical attributes that they deemed “vulnerable” were recommended to a less broad audience [38]. TikTok Live also has policies that artificially stifle or assist different subcultures. Live streams of military movements, anti-government rhetoric, or “threats to national security, honor, and interests” could receive suspension varying from a day long to permanent. TikTok Live punishes certain acts of political speech with permanent suspensions, but treats racism, homophobia, and sexism, lighter, offering users that break this policy a month long suspension. Users that attack TikTok as a platform are banned for three days, and users that promote competitors are permanently banned. Other content that TikTok deemed strong, however, received “shadow users” to boost viewership and recommendations[39]. Under these rules, TikTok picks and chooses which subcultures are able to reach a large audience and be profitable, while others are suppressed and occasionally shut down.

References

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