See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/346523887

A Uses and Gratifications Exploratory Study of TikTok: What Does This Mean for
Brands?

Thesis · December 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29812.17286

CITATIONS READS
3 8,391

1 author:

Allison Lawrence
The University of Edinburgh
1 PUBLICATION   3 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Allison Lawrence on 01 December 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

A Uses and Gratifications Exploratory Study of
TikTok: What Does This Mean for Brands?

B146580

DISSERTATION TYPE: Traditional

Dissertation presented for the Degree of

MSc Marketing

2019/2020
 B146580

Abstract

There’s a lack of academic research exploring the new social media phenomenon and

video sharing app, TikTok. Specifically, there’s a lack of research on how and why

consumers use TikTok and how users feel about brands on TikTok. Uses and

Gratifications Theory has been applied widely to study consumer motivations to use social

media. But few studies qualitatively research consumer motivations to use a single social

media platform and even fewer studies define “use” by the 3 primary levels of social media

use: consuming, participating or engaging and creating user-generated content. This

dissertation fills those gaps by qualitatively researching user motivations to consume,

participate and create content on TikTok, as well as explores user perceptions of brands

on TikTok.

12 semi-structured Skype interviews with TikTok users were conducted to answer these

questions. TikTok users are motivated to consume by entertainment, passing the time

and escapism. Archiving, social interaction and building a community motivate users to

participate on TikTok. The primary motivations to create content on TikTok are for self-

expression, creativity and TikTok is easy to use. Consumers are weary of brands using

TikTok but accept the reality brands will use TikTok and beg them to be careful when

designing content for TikTok as to not affect the authenticity of TikTok’s culture. To

conclude, TikTok users are motivated by a variety of reasons to consume, participate and

create on TikTok. Users are highly active on TikTok, with many users revealing that they

use TikTok for content creation, not only consumption. Brands should ensure their social

media team takes time to learn TikTok’s culture before adding it to their social media

strategy.

2
 B146580

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................. 6

1.1 Research Context .............................................................................................. 6

1.2 Research Problem and Topic ............................................................................. 7

1.3 Research Questions ........................................................................................... 8

1.4 Dissertation Structure Outlined ........................................................................... 8

2.0 Literature Review................................................................................................. 10

2.1 Social Media and Social Media Strategy Explained ........................................... 10

2.1.1 Benefits of Social Media for Brands ................................................................ 11

2.2 Strategies Brands Use on Social Media ............................................................ 12

2.3 Theoretical Framework and Importance ............................................................ 13

2.4 Applications of UGT ......................................................................................... 16

2.4.1 UGT: Specific Social Media Platforms ............................................................ 17
2.4.2 UGT: Findings from Qualitative Studies .......................................................... 20
2.4.3 The Importance of Active Consumers ............................................................. 20

2.5 UGT: Motivations to Create Content ................................................................. 23

2.5.1 User-Generated Content Defined .................................................................... 23
2.5.2 Motivations to Create UGC .............................................................................. 23
2.5.3 Motivations to Consume, Participate and Create UGC .................................. 25

2.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 27

3.0 Methodology........................................................................................................ 29

3.1 Research Philosophy ....................................................................................... 29

3.1.1 Ontological Approach ...................................................................................... 30
3.1.2 Epistemological Approach ............................................................................... 31
3.1.3 Axiological Impact ............................................................................................ 31
3.1.4 Paradigm .......................................................................................................... 31

3.2 Research Design.............................................................................................. 32

3
 B146580

3.2.1 Research Questions and Purpose................................................................... 33

3.2.2 Research Strategy ........................................................................................... 33
3.2.3 Research Method and Data Collection............................................................ 34
3.2.4 Research Sample Design ................................................................................ 34

3.3 The Interview Process ...................................................................................... 37

3.4 Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 38

3.5 Research Ethics ............................................................................................... 39

3.6 Limitations ....................................................................................................... 39

4.0 Findings .............................................................................................................. 41

4.1 Motivations to consume: entertainment ............................................................. 42

4.1.1 Entertainment: content descriptions ................................................................ 43
4.1.2 Entertainment: the “For You” page .................................................................. 46

4.2 Motivations to participate: archiving .................................................................. 47

4.3 Participation Behaviors: commenting ................................................................ 49

4.4 Motivations to Create UGC ............................................................................... 52

4.4.1 Motivation to create UGC: Self-expression and creativity .............................. 52
4.4.2 Motivation to create: motivations to use hashtags in content descriptions .... 56
4.4.3 Motivations to create: TikTok is easy to use ................................................... 58

4.5 Consumer perceptions and reactions to brands on TikTok ................................. 59

4.5.2 Benefits of brands using TikTok ...................................................................... 64

5.0 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 66

5.1 Summary of key findings .................................................................................. 66

5.2 Implications for marketing theory ...................................................................... 68

5.3 Implications for practice .................................................................................... 71

5.4 Future research ................................................................................................ 71

References ............................................................................................................... 73

Appendices ............................................................................................................... 83

4
 B146580

Appendix A- Sample of Data- Section of Haley’s Interview Transcript ...................... 83

Appendix B- Sample of Data- Selection of Mandie’s Interview Transcript ................. 88

Appendix C- Sample of Data- Selection of Chessi’s Interview Transcript ................. 93

Appendix D- Examples of Data Analysis Process .................................................... 99

Appendix E- Interview Questions .......................................................................... 103

Appendix F- TikTok Notes Diary ........................................................................... 105

Appendix H- Interview Reflections ........................................................................ 131

Appendix I- Sample of Interview Notes ................................................................. 147

5
 B146580

Introduction
1.1 Research Context
TikTok is a Chinese mobile video app and social media platform that has recently become

a household name (Noyer, 2020). TikTok was originally known as Douyin to its Chinese

home audience and was introduced to overseas audiences as TikTok in 2016 (Influencer

Marketing Hub, 2020). Bytedance bought Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it with Douyin to

form the current version of TikTok (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020). Since the merger,

TikTok has been used by millions of users worldwide (Noyer, 2020). It is one of the fastest

growing social media platforms in the world right now and allows users to create short

form videos with music and filters (Mohsin, 2020). TikTok is available in at least 39

languages worldwide (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020) and now boasts over 800 million

users worldwide, becoming the most downloaded mobile, non-game application in the

world for January and February 2020 (Vorhaus, 2020).

Chappel (2020) reports that during that during the first quarter of 2020, TikTok received

over 315 million app installs and grew to boast over 1.5 billion app downloads. 46 million

of those app installs are from the United States (Iqbal, 2020). 60% of the active users in

the United States are 16-24 years old (Vela, 2020). The average amount of time spent

per day on TikTok is between 45 minutes and 52 minutes per day (Iqbal, 2020; Vela,

2020).

Watson (2020) reports that TikTok has become a household name thanks to COVID-19

causing a global pandemic, and people are using the app to express themselves during

lockdown as well as participate in light-hearted hashtag challenges. Impressive statistics

like these above have helped solidify brands’ interest in the platform. Social Media

6
 B146580

Examiner’s Industry Report (2020) states that 30% of marketers are interested in learning

more about the platform and 16% of marketers plan on increasing their efforts on TikTok

in the next year. All of the above provide a wonderful opportunity to research TikTok from

an academic standpoint.

1.2 Research Problem and Topic

This dissertation studies new social media phenomenon, TikTok, by applying Uses and

Gratifications Theory (Katz and Foulkes, 1962; Katz et al., 1973) to better understand

consumer motivations to use TikTok, with regards to consuming on TikTok, participating

on TikTok and creating user-generated content on TikTok; as well as explores user

perceptions of brands on TikTok. To do so, 12 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with

TikTok users was conducted to understand their experiences on TikTok. In many ways,

this dissertation has been inspired by Omar and Dequan (2020)’s recent quantitative

study on TikTok to help provide greater depth to their findings.

The reason this dissertation is designed in such a way is to address the various gaps in

the current literature pertaining to social media uses and gratifications. These gaps were

discovered by reading extensively on the topic. Through reading, many studies employ

Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) (Katz and Foulkes, 1962; Katz et al., 1973) to study

consumer motivations to use social media, and of those studies, a majority used

quantitative methods. Many studies also do not define what “use” means within context

of the study. Therefore, it feels unclear as to what is meant by consumers “using” social

media. For instance, does “use” mean they consume content or publish their own content?

Such an observation means that the motivations reported are lacking in depth and clarity

in what behavior qualifies “use.” Furthermore, of the studies that do apply UGT to social

7
 B146580

media and define the usage behaviors, many look at one level of usage (creating content)

without first putting that type of use into perspective by also studying motivations to

consume and participate on social media (Shao, 2009; Heinonen, 2011). Lastly, a majority

of the studies do not define “social media” more specifically by exploring user motivations

to use a specific social media platform (e.g. Facebook or Instagram.)

All of these gaps help justify this dissertation because it aims to qualitatively use UGT to

study consumer motivations to consume, participate and create user-generated content

on TikTok.

1.3 Research Questions

1. Why do consumers use TikTok?

2. What motivates consumers to consume on TikTok?

3. What motivates consumers to participate on TikTok?

4. What motivates consumers to create content on TikTok?

5. What are consumer perceptions of brands on TikTok?

1.4 Dissertation Structure Outlined

The Literature Review first defines Uses and Gratifications Theory and its importance.

Then, it discusses the current literature around social media uses and gratifications,

pointing out research gaps along the way and listing the research questions throughout

as well. In the Methodology, an overview of this dissertation’s research philosophy and

research design is provided. Following the research design, the Methodology provides a

brief discussion about the data collection and interview process, analysis and research

8
 B146580

limitations. The Findings chapter provides a discussion of key findings for consumer

motivations to consume, participate and create on TikTok. The final section discuses

consumer perceptions of brands on TikTok. Following the Findings, things are wrapped

in in the Conclusion with final remarks, managerial implications and opportunities for

future research. The Appendices provides examples of interview transcripts, a copy of the

interview questions, as well as a sample of the data analysis process, post interview

reflections and a “TikTok Diary” that was kept for a 3-week period to keep up with trends

on TikTok.

9
 B146580

2.0 Literature Review

As mentioned in the introduction, there has been a sharp increase in TikTok app

installations and average monthly users. Combining this fact with the fact that marketers

are becoming more curious about the platform and how to use it validates the need for

this dissertation.

The following sections will briefly highlight some benefits of social media marketing,

various strategies brands use for social media marketing, and the theoretical framework

of this study, Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT). A discussion of its background

highlights early research utilizing UGT then focuses on the various ways UGT has been

applied to digital and social media. The discussion of UGT and social media moves from

a broad overview down to the different motivations consumers attribute to using,

participating and creating content on specific platforms.

2.1 Social Media and Social Media Strategy Explained

Social media is defined as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the

ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and

exchange of User Generated Content,” (Kaplan and Heinlein, 2010, p. 61). We Are Social

(2020) report in their Digital 2020 report that as of January 2020, 3.8 billion people use

social media worldwide, revealing a 9.2% growth over January 2019, and 87% of social

media users surveyed are actively engaging with social media or contributing their own

content to social platforms. The most recent data from We Are Social (2020)’s report show

that the following social media platforms are most popular by active monthly users:

Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and then TikTok.

10
 B146580

Furthermore, there are many reasons for brands to utilize social media. Normoyle (2019)

lists several uses in a blog for Business 2 Community: social media allows brands to

highlight the best aspects of the business, makes reaching an audience (even

international) easier and quicker with advanced targeting capabilities and allows brands

to diversify their content by using graphics, videos and articles.

Effing and Spil (2016) reviewed existing literature about social media strategy to define

the key elements of a social media strategy for brands and list the following elements:

target audience, channel choice, goals, resources, policies, monitoring and content

activities. Furthermore, Effing and Spil (2016) explain that there are three stages of

developing a social media strategy and provide a “cone” to show the levels: initiation,

diffusion and maturity; they explain how each element is associated with different stages

in social media strategy development. Furthermore, by getting the above elements and

stages right, brands can benefit greatly from implementing a social media strategy and

may be eager to add another platform (TikTok) to said strategy to further reap rewards.

2.1.1 Benefits of Social Media for Brands

For instance, brands that create a satisfying customer service experience on social media

platforms, as well as create “calls to actions” by announcing product promotions on social

media can provide an immersive experience for customers; creating such an experience

allows brands to create a loyal customer base and brand ambassadors (Hamilton et al.,

2016a). Tsimonis and Dimitriadis (2014) argue that social media also helps brands raise

brand awareness as well as foster relationships with existing and new customers. Social

media allows brands to improve their communication with customers by being proactive

11
 B146580

in their communications and better interacting with customers when a need arises (Rohm

et al., 2013); For example, social media allows brands to be more than reactive in the post

sales context and proactively address any customer issue as it arises. Also, companies

who utilize social media well by providing great content for their customers, enjoy better

performance because they are able to encourage customer engagement through the

content (Parent et al., 2011). But brands cannot enjoy these rewards without first creating

a social media strategy.

2.2 Strategies Brands Use on Social Media

There is no one “right” way to develop a social media strategy. But when doing so, brands

must realize that social media platforms are made for consumers and that brands are the

uninvited party; this means brands should go where their customers are (Fournier and

Avery, 2011; Ashley and Tuten, 2015). A study of global brands who rank high on social

media success found that brands employ a range of creative strategies when developing

content for social media platforms; for instance, many use functional appeals as opposed

to experiential appeals because they did not want to alienate customers who feel they are

in a relationship with the brand (Ashley and Tuten, 2015). When developing a strategy,

brands must take into account the needs and values of their customers and implement a

strategy that offers content of value to those customers, as well as is entertaining by doing

what other brands are not doing on social media (Erdogmus and Cicek, 2012). Parent et

al. (2011) and Ahmad et al. (2016) argue that content is the most important part of a

successful social media strategy, and brands should consider investing in it for the long-

haul. Each of these studies argue the importance of putting the customer at the heart of

12
 B146580

any strategy and leads us to the next point- brands must keep the customer front of mind

and understand them before developing a strategy.

While there are many benefits to a well-oiled social media strategy, before brands can

reap those rewards, they must first understand their consumers, from which platforms

they are on to why they use those platforms, as argued by Fournier and Avery (2011);

They suggest 3 managerial approaches to brands entering social media, with ceding

control to consumers being the likely option for many Web 2.0 cases because it causes

the least resistance. Zhu and Chen (2015) and Quan-Hasse and Young (2010) also argue

the importance of understanding your consumer and their needs before moving forward

with a social media strategy. For example, Quan-Hasse and Young (2010) argue that

consumers don’t embrace just one single social media platform and each meet different

needs (e.g. Facebook fulfills a need for social inclusion). To address this issue, Uses and

Gratifications Theory (UGT) will be discussed in the following sections, as well as its

application to social media.

2.3 Theoretical Framework and Importance

Uses and Gratifications Theory dates back to the 1940s and was made popular by Katz

and Foulkes (1962); they explain that Uses and Gratifications Theory is a theory of mass

media that highlights what people do with media. Specifically UGT helps fulfill a need to

understand “what people do with the media, what uses they make of what the media now

give them, what satisfactions they enjoy, and, indeed, what part the media play in their

personal lives” (Katz and Foulkes, 1962, p. 377; Katz et al., 1973).

13
 B146580

UGT makes several important arguments: Media competes with other sources of need

satisfaction to meet a wide range of human needs and the link between gratification and

media choice lies with the consumer (Katz et al., 1973). People are active, not passive

media consumers (Katz and Foulkes, 1962; Katz et al., 1973); this means that people use

mass media with a goal in mind. Considering the methodology of determining the uses

consumers cite for media, many of the goals of using mass media are derived from

speaking to audience members themselves; generally speaking, they’re self-aware of

their motivations (Katz et al., 1973). Lastly, “value judgements about cultural importance

of mass communication should be suspended when exploring the audience” (Katz et al.,

1973, p. 511).

What the theory does, is it provides a list of guidelines that aid in studying consumer use

of mass media, one could consider it a model (Lundberg and Hulten, 1968 as cited by

Katz et al., 1973). UGT also provides early motivations and uses such as escapism (Katz

and Foulkes, 1962). Since UGT’s rise in popularity, it has been used to study consumer

uses of advertising (O’Donohoe, 1994), websites (Eighmey and McCord, 1998) and social

media (Flecha-Ortiz et al., 2019; Athwal et al., 2018; Knoll and Proksch, 2017).

UGT is an important theoretical approach to studying the early stages of a new mass

communication phenomenon because it provides a cutting edge model to understand

consumer media uses of that new communication tool (Ruggiero, 2000); that is why it is

a valid approach to studying not just social media, but specifically TikTok. As TikTok is

still a very new phenomenon and little is understood about it, UGT provides insight into

why it has become popular among consumers. Thus far, only Omar and Dequan (2020)

14
 B146580

have studied consumer uses and gratifications of TikTok but did so through an online

quantitative survey in 2019, and specifically studied how and if personality traits of the

users influenced their motivations to use TikTok. What they found is that different

motivations influence different usage situations, such as users view TikTok videos for

escapism, social interaction and archiving purposes or they engage with TikTok content

for motivations such as self-expression and social interaction (Omar and Dequan, 2020).

While Omar and Dequan (2020) do provide an explanation for what archiving means

across levels of usage situations (saving and compiling videos they watched or saving

and compiling videos they liked/shared), it is still unclear as to how and where users

archive the videos and why that motivation is so important. One may assume that they

save them within the TikTok app, but does the app allow for them to save videos on the

user’s phone? Also, the study mentions different levels of usage such as consuming,

participating and content creation but it still seems unclear as to what all is meant by

participation (Omar and Dequan, 2020). For instance, when they say sharing, do they

mean sharing videos within the app or sharing the videos to an outside platform? More

context is needed to fully understand how people share TikTok videos.

In addition to the above criticisms, Omar and Dequan (2020) also found that users use

TikTok to entertain themselves but what does entertainment exactly mean? As the study

used an online survey, it appears that answer choices could have been limited in allowing

for explanation. Could content users watch cause the entertainment or how entertaining

they find it? The study also argued people create for self-expression purposes, but what

does self-expression mean to the users? Are they posting their art, dance, opinions or do

they not have one specific “genre” of content they post? Is self-expression more about

15
 B146580

releasing internal creativity in general? This dissertation will attempt to give better context

to some of these questions to further Omar and Dequan (2020)’s initial findings.

2.4 Applications of UGT

There are many studies that apply UGT to research digital and social media technologies

to understand why consumers use social media. For instance, in a study of women

bloggers, Chen (2015) finds three main motivations for why women use social media:

information, engagement and recreation. Hamilton et al. (2016b)’s study specifically looks

at consumer motivations to engage with brands on social media and find a variety of

motivations; they report that consumers are motivated by entertainment and fun, branded

content, product information and timeliness. What Hamilton et al. (2016b)’s study argues

is that consumers are driven by a number of motivations to engage with brands and that

choice is also driven by platform choice (such as Facebook or Twitter). This study is

especially valuable because one aim of this dissertation is to discover consumer

motivations to engage with brands on TikTok. Lenhart et al. (2015) studies teenage use

of social media and argue that teens use social media to express emotional support and

affection for who they care about and to feel more connected with friends. Knoll and

Proksh (2017) apply UGT more broadly than the above research by applying it to user

generated content on the internet; they look at people’s motivations to view user

generated content online and cite motivations such as entertainment, to be informed and

to form part of their personal identities.

These studies (Knoll and Proksh, 2017; Lenhart et al., 2015; Chen, 2015; and Hamilton

et al., 2016b) start to illustrate the different motivations and situations consumers

16
 B146580

experience using social media but study them from unique perspectives, showing a

fragmented picture. For instance, Chen (2015) only studying female bloggers limits its

generalizability because of the sample chosen and appears to lack more discussion as to

how the sample defines motivations such as recreation. Also, by the studies presented

above not defining more specifically what “social media” they mean, but just using the

phrase, one cannot understand if user motivations would be the same for specific social

media platforms, such as Twitter or Instagram. By not more specifically defining what

social media is meant, it makes one wonder “Are motivations to use social media the

same regardless of platform choice?” Research that makes that distinction will be

discussed in the following section. Consumers use social media for a variety reasons that

may crossover among platforms, but in order to have a more robust understanding of

consumer behavior individual platforms and motivations must be studied.

2.4.1 UGT: Specific Social Media Platforms

It is vital to examine user motivations under the UGT lens with regard for specific social

media platforms because doing so illuminates if characteristics or aspects of a platform

impact the motivations consumers have for using that specific platform. For instance,

Flecha-Ortiz et al. (2019) have studied millennials use of Snapchat and find their needs

are met through the platform’s “ephemeral content” because the short time span of

Snapchat content provides users an outlet to express their thoughts and feelings. This

form of raw self-expression provided by Snapchat offers great benefits to brands using

the platform to connect with millennials too because it allows them to connect with them

through ephemeral, personalized content that aligns with users’ needs (Flecha-Ortiz et

al., 2019). Similarly, Choi and Sung (2018) also study Snapchat but compare it to

17
 B146580

Instagram. They find that motivations to use each image/video sharing platform differ;

people are motivated to use Snapchat as a device to show their true and actual selves,

while they use Instagram to portray an idealized version of who they’d like to be seen as.

Choi and Sung (2018) also argue that those who are motivated to post about themselves

for attention could choose Instagram because it can fulfill this psychological need. Both

Flecha-Ortiz et al. (2019) and Choi and Sung (2018)’s studies are important because their

focus on Snapchat and Instagram show that people are motivated to use image/video

platforms for personal and self-expressive reasons instead of the “social” aspect of social

media that attracts people to Facebook (Quan-Hasse and Young, 2010).

Other studies that distinguish platform specific motivations include those from Quan-

Hasse and Young (2010), Zhu and Chen (2015) and Phau et al. (2017). Quan-Hasse and

Young (2010) study motivations for why people join Facebook and find that people join

for reasons related to social inclusion; they don’t want to feel left-out. Zhu and Chen

(2015)’s study is particularly interesting because it provides a “social media matrix” that

explains the different types of social media people use and how they differ; the four types

of social media are Relationship (Facebook), Self-Media (Twitter), Collaboration (Reddit)

and Creative Outlets (YouTube and Pinterest). People use these various forms of social

media for different motivations; people use Facebook to connect with others and build

relationships, and they use YouTube as an outlet to share creativity and hobbies with

other likeminded people (Zhu and Chen, 2015). Based on Zhu and Chen (2015)’s matrix,

TikTok can be understood as a creative outlet, similar to YouTube. In a quantitative

survey, Phau et al. (2017) argues that Snapchat users use Snapchat to pass the time and

improve social knowledge, while Instagram users use it to show affection.

18
 B146580

Differentiating between user motivations for specific social media platforms and how

consumers behave on those platforms become important to brands when they are trying

to develop a social media strategy because it will inform them of content that works on

the platform. Research shows that some platforms and motivations are more social in

nature; For example, users choose Facebook to keep up with social connections from

their offline lives and to fulfill a need of social inclusion (Quan-Hasse and Young, 2010).

Other platforms appeal to internal motivations; For example, people use Instagram to

present an ideal version of themselves (Choi and Sung, 2018). Therefore, not all social

media platforms and their motivations are created equal and understanding these

motivations can help brands design content that works on each. For example, could

utilitarian appeals work better on Facebook and visual appeals work on Instagram?

So far, the research discussed has leaned heavily on quantitative methods (Quan-Hasse

and Young, 2010; Flecha-Ortiz et al., 2019; Hamilton et al., 2016b; Choi and Sung, 2018,

Phau et al., 2017). The results offer interesting data but don’t allow the researchers to dig

deeper into consumer motivations the way qualitative studies can. For instance, what

does Hamilton et al. (2016b) mean by “entertainment/fun” in their result? Statistical data

feels stiff in comparison because quantitative surveys provide fixed choices that

respondents may interpret differently (Bryman and Bell, 2011) and provide more shallow

understanding. The following section discusses two studies that implement qualitative

methods to provide a richer picture.

19
 B146580

2.4.2 UGT: Findings from Qualitative Studies

Through consumer interviews, Whiting and Williams (2013) report ten uses and

gratifications for social media, including social interaction, information seeking, passing

the time, entertainment (for humor, jokes, listening to music) and expressing one’s

opinion, which they describe by people liking posts or being able to anonymously criticize

others and vent. This study further demonstrates that consumers use social media for

many reasons, ranging from personal reasons to social pursuits. Several motivations

listed by Whiting and Williams (2013) link to research mentioned in previous sections,

proving that despite the context, motivations can overlap. But Whiting and Williams (2013)

don’t provide a discussion using quotes from the interviews to help illustrate their findings

in more detail; therefore, while qualitative, the study lacks depth. Athwal et al. (2018)

examines consumer needs and motivations to interact with luxury brands on social media.

Athwal et al. (2018) report that gratifications sought by those consumers primarily include

affective and cognition based, but also gratifications such as passing the time and

escapism; such findings link to Whiting and Williams (2013) who also find people use

social media to pass the time. Table 1 provides a comparison of the common motivations

and uses consumers cite for social media and helps put into perspective a trend in

consumer behavior.

2.4.3 The Importance of Active Consumers

Section 2.4 sets the scene for how UGT has been applied to social media by introducing

important studies which list a variety of motivations consumers rely on within different

contexts. Several studies provide greater depth of insight by listing motivations unique to

different platforms, such as Flecha-Ortiz et al. (2019), Choi and Sung (2018), and specific

to industry, such as Athwal et al. (2018). What none of them do is investigate if there are

20
 B146580

different motivations that relate to consumers consuming on platforms versus motivations

to create their own content on platforms. Katz and Foulkes (1962) and Katz et al. (1973)

argue that consumers are active in their media choices and use. Therefore, simply

studying consumer “use” of social media but not digging into the different levels of what

using social media could mean (e.g. also participating and creating) doesn’t make the

strongest argument that consumers are active because using in that context could give

the impression that consumers passively consume content and contributes to a gap in the

literature.

The average user spends almost an hour per day on TikTok (Vela, 2020), 55% of users

have uploaded a video in the last month and 63% have recently liked someone’s video

(Marketing Hub, 2020). Its apparent users are active not just on TikTok but on all social

media platforms. Therefore, it’s important to review UGT research on user motivations to

be active users.

First gap in the literature:

Of the substantial amount of studies that employ UGT, a majority of studies employ the

word “use” loosely without defining what “use” means, therefore limiting how active

consumers seem. Most of the studies are quantitative, limiting the richness of insight that

can be drawn from findings.

RQ1: Why do consumers use TikTok?

RQ2: What motivates consumers to consume on TikTok?

21
 B146580

Table 1: Most Common Uses and Gratifications

22
 B146580

2.5 UGT: Motivations to Create Content

2.5.1 User-Generated Content Defined
The very nature of social media allows users to become content creators and

communicate with brands, friends and family alike, as Baines et al. (2019) state; this is

the essence of user-generated content (UGC). Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) consider the

various elements that characterize UGC and argue three important elements make

content “UGC”: the content is free and accessible to the public, is amateur in nature and

the content showcases creativity. Oxford University Press defines UGC as “digital content

created by unpaid contributors” (Bullock et al., 2019, p. N/A). It is vital that brands

understand motivations beyond “general uses and gratifications” or consuming

motivations because of the fact that social media allows consumers to become content

creators easily; motivations to create content may be different than motivations to

consume. TikTok allows users to display their creativity by creating videos on an infinite

number of topics and themes (Vecchio, 2020). The very nature of TikTok is to enable

amateur content creators, and therefore brands need to understand why that appeals to

them.

2.5.2 Motivations to Create UGC

Presi et al. (2014) review consumer motivations to create user-generated content after a

negative customer service experience and find the main motivations to publish such

content is either altruism or vengeance, followed by economic incentives. Ham et al.

(2014) report five different motivations that cause consumers to create content on social

media: social cognition, entertainment, self-expression, social-belonging and

communication. Entertainment has the strongest impact on consumer’s attitude towards

creating social media content, implying that people are motivated by a desire to have fun

23
 B146580

when creating content on social media (Ham et al., 2014). Similar to Ham et al, (2014),

Daughtry et al. (2008) argue that people are motivated to create their own content online

and on social media by a need to connect with others; creating gives them a way to

socialize with friends and family as well as connect with others. Daughtry et al. (2008)

also argues consumers are more likely to create UGC in the form of blogs or websites,

which is interesting because the study was conducted before the mass rise of social

media platforms popular today but still argues consumers are motivated to create by a

need of self-expression.

Poch and Martin (2015) also argue that altruism drives consumer motivation to create

UGC but this time, in relation to creating branded video content and not after a negative

customer service experience (Presi et al., 2014). Poch and Martin (2015) study users’

intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to create branded video content and find that altruism

(defined as individual differences and intrinsic motivations) has a positive effect on the

chance that a consumer will create a positive user-generated branded video and

consumer to consumer word of mouth. Extrinsic rewards, such as economic incentives,

can also affect consumers’ motivations to create UGC (Poch and Martin, 2015). This study

puts into perspective that consumers are motivated by internal needs as well as needs

from their environment, as other studies also highlight in their own words.

Furthermore, the studies above look at motivations to create UGC but do so in a vacuum

because before consumers can create content on social media, they must first be

motivated to use social media. This dissertation argues that in order to fully employ Uses

and Gratifications Theory, one must do so by applying it to investigate the entire spectrum

24
 B146580

of social media use, (Muntinga et al., 2011) meaning that UGT must be applied to

investigate consumer motivations to consume, participate and then to create UGC.

This leads to another research gap:

Of the studies that have explore user motivations to create UGC, some of those do so

without first looking at consumers’ motivations to consume and participate. By not

exploring those motivations first, it lessens the understanding of how consumers fully use

social media and if motivations differ at other levels of use (such as participating).

2.5.3 Motivations to Consume, Participate and Create UGC

Several significant studies apply UGT to social media and explore motivations to

consume, participate and create (Shao, 2009; Muntinga et al., 2011; Heinonen, 2011).

For example, by reviewing various motivations across each usage level, Shao (2009) was

able to provide a model to show how consumer motivations may seem separate

analytically, but in reality, are interdependent. Reviewing the research on motivations

across each level of consumer engagement (consuming, participating and creating) on

social media is important to fully understand their motivations and design a strategy

around. Shao (2009) studies motivations to interact specifically with UGC and find

different motivations at each level of engagement. Consumers who simply consumed

UGC are motivated by entertainment, those who participate in UGC are motivated by a

need to foster social interaction and community development (Shao, 2009). Consumers

are motivated to create UGC by a need of self-expression and entertainment (Shao,

2009). Muntinga et al. (2011) study consumer motivations to participate in consumer-

brand online activities and several of their findings echo that of Shao (2009). Consumers

cite entertainment and information as motivations to consume branded content; They’re

25
 B146580

motivated to participate or contribute to brand activities and content by a need of social

interaction and entertainment (Muntinga et al., 2011). Shao (2009) and Muntinga et al.

(2011) both show that consumers are motivated to create content by a need to express

themselves as well as interaction. The latter also argues motivations of empowerment

and personal identity construction, which relates to motivations related to the self, such

as impression management (Muntinga et al., 2011). These studies also prove consumers

are multifaceted not just using social media but also in creating UGC, citing personal and

social motivations but entertainment is an underlying factor at every level.

Heinonen (2011) argues that motivations for consuming, as well as participating in UGC

is usually a combination of several motivations, and their study argues there are three

categories of motivation. Tying back to Shao (2009) and Muntinga et al. (2011), Heinonen

(2011) report that entertainment (such as relaxation and using UCG to boost one’s mood)

is a motivation across levels of consumer use on social media; they also argue that

consumers are motivated to visit UGC sites by need for information and social connection.

These studies illustrate that while motivations may overlap, there are distinct motivations

to use, participate and create on social media. What these studies do well is better define

what motivations such as entertainment information seeking mean in context because

several of these studies are qualitative. Many of the studies that use UGT broadly without

looking at these levels of activity are not able to give that depth. But what none of the

studies in this section do is research motivations to use, participate and create based on

one specified social media platform. Could the same motivations mean something

different in the context of a specific platform?

26
 B146580

Leading to another research gap:

Very few studies that examine motivations to create UCG on a specific social media

platform.

RQ3: What motivates consumers to participate on TikTok?

RQ4: What motivates consumers to create content on TikTok?

2.6 Conclusion
This literature review explores the current research available on UGT and consumer

motivations to use social media and the current literature on consumer motivations to

create UGC on social media. Several gaps in the literature exist. First, many more studies

look at uses and gratifications of social media from a broad perspective, which means

they don’t look at motivations to use, participate and create on social media (Knoll and

Proksch, 2017; Chen, 2015; Hossain, 2019; Whiting and Williams, 2013; Athwal et al.,

2018; Lenhart et al., 2015; Quan-Hasse and Young, 2010). They just simply say “use.”

Secondly, a majority of the research solely relies on quantitative methods or lean heavily

on quantitative methods (e.g. Flecha-Ortiz et al., 2019; Choi and Sung, 2018; Wilson et

al., 2012; Presi et al., 2014; Daugherty et al., 2008; Chen, 2015; Ham et al., 2014). A lack

of qualitative research means that the current findings lack the depth qualitative data

provides. The third gap is that few studies use UGT to study consumer motivations with

respect to a single social media platform. The only study to date that investigates TikTok

is Omar and Dequan (2020)’s, which is quantitative.

27
 B146580

With regard to these gaps, this study will attempt address those gaps by qualitatively

researching consumers’ motivations to use, participate in and create content on TikTok.

Developing a deep understanding of those motivations is crucial for brands to move

forward with integrating TikTok into their social media strategies.

RQ5: What are consumer perceptions of brands on TikTok?

Brands on
TikTok

Consumer
motivations Consumer
to create motivations
UGC on to use social
media
social media

Represents the gap: What are

consumers’ motivations to use and
create on TikTok? How do
consumers respond to brands on
TikTok?

28
 B146580

3.0 Methodology
As explained in the Literature Review, there is an evident gap regarding the amount of

qualitative research that employs Uses and Gratifications Theory to study consumer uses

of social media with regards to consumption, participation and content creation.

Specifically, that gap exists with regards to its application studying a single social media

platform. There’s also a gap in the amount of research that has been conducted on the

new social media phenomenon, TikTok. The only UGT study that examines TikTok is

Omar and Dequan (2020)’s quantitative survey study. This dissertation aims to address

those gaps by conducting semi-structured interviews with consumers who are TikTok

users to gain insight into their experiences using, participating and creating content on

TikTok, as well as their perceptions of brands on TikTok. This chapter explains the

methods used to complete the study. In the following sections, the Research Philosophy

behind the study, Research Design used to gather data and Research Limitations will all

be discussed.

3.1 Research Philosophy

This section focuses on the reasoning and logic behind the study as well as the purpose

of the study. I call on interpretivism in determining the ontological, epistemological and

axiological approaches to this dissertation. I am concerned with each consumer’s own

experiences and feelings, what they consider meaningful (Saunders et al., 2019; 2009)

and gaining a deeper understanding of each user’s interpretations of TikTok, as it is a new

social phenomenon (Saunders et al., 2019).

29
 B146580

3.1.1 Ontological Approach

Ontology refers to the “nature of reality or being” (Saunders et al., 2019, pg. 145) and

following the interpretivist philosophy, this dissertation takes the stance that each

consumer’s reality is socially constructed and complex (Saunders et al., 2019). It also

argues that reality is subjective (Saunders et al., 2009). Therefore, I call on the less

extreme subjectivist approach of social constructionism because “reality is constructed

through social interaction in which social actors create partially shared meanings and

realities, in other words reality is constructed intersubjectively” (Saunders et al., 2019, p.

137). The research presented in the literature review argues that consumers address their

need for social interaction through using and creating on social media (Zhu and Chen,

2015; Quan-Hasse and Young, 2010; Omar and Dequan, 2020), further supporting the

validity of this ontological approach.

TikTok is a social media video sharing platform and is very public in nature, allowing

users an opportunity to be social on the platform. Many videos shared show entire families

or duets between two creators who use TikTok to collaborate on a video. Seeing this helps

argue the case that creators are regularly socially constructing their reality and

perceptions of using the platform; each person’s reality of using the platform has the

potential to be different from the next person’s due to their social interactions and even

cultural context (Saunders et al., 2009; 2019). Therefore, I care about understanding each

interviewee’s own socially constructed realities and understandings of using TikTok.

30
 B146580

3.1.2 Epistemological Approach

The social world appears to be an incredibly complex place and simply cannot be explored

through a series of cold and rigid laws, the way positivists think (Saunders et al., 2009).

This dissertation takes the stance that human beings are social actors, and I am interested

in the different ways in which they interpret the world around them according to their own

lived experiences and feelings; Therefore, the social reality and meanings consumers

create cannot be studied the same way phenomena of the natural world can, allowing this

dissertation to take on an interpretivist approach (Saunders et al., 2019; Bryman and Bell,

2011). I thrive on understanding each consumer’s own subjective feelings and even more

importantly, their motivations (Saunders et al., 2019; 2009) that caused them to join and

use TikTok.

3.1.3 Axiological Impact

I chose a topic that I have a personal interest in, and by doing so, was able to remain

interested in the subject throughout the research process (Bryman and Bell, 2011). By

being personally invested, I relied on my own interpretations of the existing research and

data gathered, allowing my personal values to play an important part in each stage of the

research process (Saunders et al., 2019). In other words, my research was bound by my

values (Saunders et al., 2009). My questions and interactions towards interviewees are

molded by an interest in each individual’s motivations to use, participate in and create

user-generated content on TikTok.

3.1.4 Paradigm
Based on the matrix of organizational paradigms designed by Burrell and Morgan (1979),

this dissertation utilizes an interpretivist subjectivist approach; meaning that the

31
 B146580

experiences and interactions consumers create on TikTok are socially constructed and

only those who were involved understand the rationale behind those interactions (Bryman

and Bell, 2011). The focus of working in this paradigm is to understand how consumers

make sense of the world around them (Saunders et al., 2019). In this case, the focus is

on understanding how consumers make sense of their motivations to use and create on

TikTok and how they feel about brands on TikTok. I am also concerned with experiences

that deepened their TikTok use, such as social interactions and engagement. Since being

a user of TikTok is the primary criteria for participating in this study, I then chose to focus

on selecting consumers who are well aware of their motivations and actions and can

articulate them appropriately.

3.2 Research Design

This dissertation is intended to be an “exploratory study” because it aims to seek out novel

insights and understand a new social media phenomenon, TikTok (Robson, 2002;

Saunders et al., 2009). As there is little academic research on TikTok, and no qualitative

research to my knowledge, a dissertation exploring how consumers use and create on

the platform is imperative. Thus far, little is understood about how and why consumers

behave the way they do on TikTok or how they feel about brands joining TikTok. Omar

and Dequan (2020) have published the only known study on TikTok; they did so from a

quantitative stance, making the need to explore TikTok from a qualitative angle necessary

because their results only were able to yield so much understanding or depth and they

did not address the question of brands on TikTok.

32
 B146580

3.2.1 Research Questions and Purpose

The research questions for the dissertation emerged out of discovering gaps in the

literature. After thoroughly exploring the current research surrounding Uses and

Gratifications Theory and social media, a noticeable gap exists in the amount of

qualitative studies that examine the uses and gratifications of a singular social media

platform. Specifically, there is a lack of qualitative studies that explore user motivations

relevant to not only using social media, but also participating and creating on a specific

social media platform. Therefore, the research questions are as follows:

1. Why do consumers use TikTok?

2. What motivates consumers to consume on TikTok?

3. What motivates consumers to participate on TikTok?

4. What motivates consumers to create content on TikTok?

5. How do consumers respond to brands on TikTok?

3.2.2 Research Strategy

Acknowledging that there are two distinct avenues research strategy can take, this

dissertation is qualitative in nature because it emphasizes the importance of words rather

than numbers in collecting and analyzing data (Bryman and Bell, 2011). Approaching

research in such a way is appropriate in the case of this dissertation because there is little

academic research available on TikTok, making it difficult to employ a quantitative stance

and strengthening the need for an exploratory, qualitative study (Bryman and Bell, 2011).

33
 B146580

3.2.3 Research Method and Data Collection

I acknowledge that there are many worthwhile methods for collecting data that can either

take on a qualitative or quantitative approach. As this dissertation is qualitative, the most

appropriate method to use to collect data is semi-structured interviews because there is

a clear research focus and I have specific open-ended questions that I want the

interviewees to address (Bryman and Bell, 2011). Saunders et al. (2009) argues that

semi-structured interviews are helpful in exploratory studies and allow interviewers to

probe answers to build on those responses and add depth to the data that will eventually

be presented. Being able to probe interviewees is also important to me as I took an

interpretivist approach and am concerned with how each participant understands TikTok

(Saunders et al., 2009). As Katz et al. (1973) argues, UGT assumes consumers are self-

aware of their motivations to use media and to understand those motivations, asking them

directly is a worthwhile method. Therefore, interviews are meant to allow each participant

to discuss their experiences using TikTok and motivations for doing so by asking a series

of open questions to elicit their honest thoughts and motivations.

3.2.4 Research Sample Design

I used my own network to produce an initial sample of interview participants, meaning that

the sample I created used a purposive technique because those chosen gave me the best

chance at answering my research questions (Saunders et al., 2009). Following that, I

was able to use a snowball sampling technique (Bryman and Bell, 2011; Saunders et al.,

2009) to locate other eligible TikTok users to interview and collect data from.

As the dissertation follows a qualitative approach, less emphasis was placed on the

number of participants in the sample because the sample is not statistically representative

34
 B146580

of the population (Bryman and Bell, 2011). For non-probability sampling methods, there

are no rules for an appropriate sample size, as Saunders et al. (2009) states, and

therefore this dissertation aims to conduct enough interviews to reach “data saturation”

(Saunders et al., 2009 p. 235). Due to time restraints and my ability to conduct interviews

in the manner required, I completed 12 semi-structured interviews. See Table 2 below for

Participant information.

35
 B146580

Table 2: Participant Information

36
 B146580

3.3 The Interview Process

Questions for the interviews were designed in such a way to move through the different

levels of “use” consumers have on TikTok; the questions moved from using and

consuming to participating and finally, content creation. Open-ended questions were

asked in such a way to develop an understanding of each participants experiences using

and creating on TikTok. I also asked the participants about their experiences and opinions

about brands joining TikTok to help inform brand strategy. As opportunities arose, I

attempted to probed for more information regarding comments the interviewees made. I

conducted interviews as video calls on Skype, abiding by the University’s specifications.

37
 B146580

Each interview was audio/video recorded to allow for transcription, and I took notes

throughout. Interviews lasted between 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.

The sample design for interview participants can be found in section 3.2.4 “Research

Sample Design.” The population from which the sample was drawn from is TikTok users

who are at least 18 years old. I was able to ensure participants were of age by using my

own network. While there was not a specific emphasis on country or culture, by using my

own network, the sample leaned heavily on users who were located in the U.S. or the U.K

(but not necessarily FROM either country). Therefore, TikTok users who live in the US or

UK and are at least 18 years old is the population from which people were sampled from.

3.4 Data Analysis

Table 1 in the Literature Review provides a list of the most common uses and gratifications

of social media found in the literature and provided guidance in “thematic analysis”

(Byrman and Bell, 2011, p. 624) of each interview. I used Table 1 to guide the coding of

each interview by looking for instances where the same use, gratification or motivation

came up in conversation. But Table 1 only served to inform and guide the analysis. I also

coded for any new themes or motivations that could have arisen in conversation. To help

me code, I printed out each interview and Table 1. Then, assigned each use or motivation

in the table that I anticipated to find, a color. Other motivations I expected to find was also

given a highlighter color. Each interview was then coded and analyzed for themes

regarding motivations to use TikTok during each stage of “use:” coding for motivations to

use, participate and create content, as well as themes regarding brands on TikTok.

38
 B146580

3.5 Research Ethics

By using my own network, I was able to ensure participants were ethically of age (18 or

older). As participants agreed to take part, I emailed a brief explanation of the study and

what types of data would be gathered. Before the interview process started, I also emailed

a “Participant Consent” form to each participant for them to review and sign to ensure they

understood the study and agreed to take part. Alternatively, if the participant was unable

to send the form back, they were asked to consent at the beginning of the interview.

Before recording each interview, I made sure the participant was aware of it being

recorded, to allow them a chance to speak up if they did not wish it to be recorded.

Sensitive questions, such as age and gender, were left until the end of the interview. I

made sure to ensure them the information was safe. I also used the phrasing “What

gender pronouns do you prefer?” to try and be as sensitive as possible to such questions.

Real names are kept out of the quoting within the data presentation to protect everyone’s

identities.

3.6 Limitations
1. I have never conducted qualitative interviews for research before, and that fact

means my skills are not that of a professional researcher. I also began the interview

process nervous and tripped over questions at times, as the transcripts will show.

Therefore, I possess limited skills. This fact hinders the success of each interview.

If this study were conducted again, I would practice more to fine tune my

interviewing skills and appear confident.

2. Because the dissertation is qualitative, it lacks the likelihood of being generalized

to the population (Bryman and Bell, 2011); As the dissertation focuses on the

39
 B146580

experiences and contexts of each participant, the results may provide richer data,

but cannot be generalized.

3. The sample also cannot be representative of the population is because of the age

range of the sample. According to Influencer Marketing Hub (2020), 25.8% of US

users are between 18 and 24 years old, and the percentage drops off slightly for

the 25-34s. In the U.K., 26% of TikTok users are between 18 and 24 (Statista,

2020). The sample in this study ranged from users 18 to 33 living in the U.S. and

U.K. Therefore, this dissertation cannot represent the typical user TikTok user in

the U.S. or U.K. If done again, I would choose a more defined population to sample

in hopes it could be better representative.

40
 B146580

4.0 Findings
This chapter presents the primary findings from the data and discusses them in more

depth. During the interviews, participants were asked questions (see Appendix E) such

as “What motivates you to consume on TikTok?” “What motivates you to engage with

TikTok content?” and “What motivates you to create your own content?” Table 3 presents

an overview of the various motivations to use TikTok based on an analysis of the

interviews. Following that, a discussion of about participants’ motivations to consume,

participate and create on TikTok is provided, as well as a discussion of their perceptions

of brands on TikTok.

Table 3 below lists the most common motivations for users to use TikTok, relying on

coding of common themes and an understanding of prior literature to arrive at the

motivations listed.

41
 B146580

Table 3 Motivations to Use TikTok

4.1 Motivations to consume: entertainment

One of the most prevalent motivations to consume is entertainment or enjoyment of the

TikTok platform. Based on the data, users consume on TikTok by watching other’s content

either to start their day or wind down at the end of the day, and to provide stimulation

42
 B146580

when bored. Participants described different versions of “entertainment” in conversation,

such as “it puts me in a better mood,” “I just want something to give me short bursts of

laughs,” “it’s a really easy platform to enjoy,” and “I like to see somebody who can make

me laugh in 60 seconds of less.” These quotes prove that TikTok can be used to fulfill a

need of boosting users’ moods. One illustrated this by saying TikTok allows users to

“laugh over [videos] together” through the TikTok app; TikTok helps users fill a void of

loneliness some are sure to have experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown.

By participants defining “entertainment” in the ways listed above, it adds context and

depth to Omar and Dequan (2020)’s argument that TikTok users use TikTok for

entertainment because the authors were unable to provide examples or discussion of

what they mean by entertainment. This also relates to Whiting and Williams (2013)’s

argument that consumers use social media for entertainment (comic relief and humor) by

describing types of content users define as comedy or humor and by defining “use” as

consuming. During interviews, participants discussed how they consumed for

entertainment by describing the types of content they enjoyed watching and illustrating

that each user’s definition of entertainment can be unique and varied in terms of content.

For some, consuming for entertainment helped distract users from a serious global

pandemic that caused many to be stuck in lockdown (Watson, 2020), as was mentioned

by Miles (age 27) and Paige (age 21).

4.1.1 Entertainment: content descriptions

“I think, again, it's predominantly comedy focused, comedy and animals. […] I'm

trying to think of what I mean by comedy. Like it's not people doing like comedy

43
 B146580

sketches. That's not necessarily the kind of stuff I quite like. You know, if you would

like just tell stories and stuff on TikTok. I've always been a big fan of stories, […] I

think it's when people are just having fun.” – Emily, female, 23, daily TikTok User

Emily had said previously she uses TikTok primarily for entertainment and was not a big

creator herself, making her primary entertainment usage consumption based. The quote

above gives examples of what she classifies as entertainment and also gives her version

of what comedy means, providing context as to what entertainment is to her and

illustrating one type of entertainment consumption situation (Omar and Dequan, 2020;

Whiting and Williams, 2013). Drawing on her interview, the conclusion is that she finds

people telling stories and sharing funny anecdotes about their lives entertaining or prefers

less staged comedy, such as the sketches. On TikTok, there’s an abundance of comedy

sketches where the user acts out a scene or scenario that is meant to be funny. Based on

her quote above, that is not the comedy she enjoys. She went on to state she preferred

“relatable comedy,” which her For Your Page suggests to her, allowing her to enjoy the

discovery of new content.

Miles gives his own definition of entertainment below.

“I'd say probably anything with good humor. Sometimes things that like when

there's good trends, they have the different songs, different dance trends. They

can be quite funny. […] I think I think it's probably the ease of it. I mean, if you get if

you have trends that are very cool but nobody else can do, it sort of dies out.” -

Miles, male, 27, weekly TikTok User

44
 B146580

This quote is interpreted as furthering literature on social media uses by more deeply

defining what “entertainment” means because to many participants on TikTok,

entertainment is about comedy, popular trends on TikTok and the ability for any user to

get involved. This adds context to Omar and Dequan (2020), Whiting and Williams (2013),

Knoll and Proksh (2017) and Ham et al. (2014). Miles is entertained by “good humor,”

described as challenges and dance trends that are accessible. But entertainment is

subjective and dependent on each participant’s experiences and explanation of what

content they find entertaining or funny, as the following quote illustrates.

“[…] I like some of the things that you can see kind of make you laugh, like can enjoy

it in that way […] then just some of them are really weird, which can be really

enjoyable. And I think some of the people do that like satisfying videos, like all my

satisfying videos […]” -Cait, female, 18, daily TikTok User

Cait also discussed how she consumes TikTok for entertainment. Based on her interview,

this idea of “satisfying” videos started on Instagram and was brought over to TikTok. By

satisfying, the conclusion is she’s able to go to a user’s profile and easily watch content

to satisfy a need for entertainment. TikTok also satisfies a need of catering to niche

audiences, making one conclude there is content for anyone’s interests. In comparison to

Emily, her definition of entertainment is different because she describes videos that are

weird and “satisfying.” Later in her interview, she said she was a big fan of UK humor and

videos about Liverpool because she is from Liverpool. By saying that, one could conclude

she enjoys content that resonates with her on a personal level. To further compare, Annie

(female, 28) described her version of entertainment as “anything stupid,” such as basic

45
 B146580

everyday dog or cat videos. Annie (female, 28) also revealed that TikTok allows her to

easily pass the time, which makes one conclude the app interface allows for ease of

consumption in order to pass the time, illustrating another facet of entertainment.

4.1.2 Entertainment: the “For You” page

Tied closely to participants discussing what content they consume and enjoy were many

mentions of their “For You” page and the TikTok algorithm. The For You Page helps

participants enjoy consuming without having to search for content they like. This

contributes to the idea that what’s considered “entertaining” content not only is subjective

to each person, but their definition frequently changes as their video preferences change.

TikTok’s algorithm learns from user’s change in consumption behaviors to constantly

update their For You Page and provide content it thinks users will enjoy; Users can

possess many definitions of entertainment, adding depth to Omar and Dequan (2020). As

the quote below emphasizes:

“I think […] it's quite personalized. I think that the algorithm of TikTok... […] My whole

For You page was just people roller skating. Which was good at the time when I

was like loving that. […] I think the fact that updates in a sense like it learns from

you. […] and then takes it from what I was enjoying at that time.” -Paige, female, 21,

daily TikTok User

What Paige means is that she’s able to enjoy TikTok because the algorithm learns from

her habits and works hard to curate her “For You” page to her preferences and continues

to as her preferences change. As her interview revealed, her For You Page provided her

46
 B146580

with video content she should enjoy based on her recent viewing habits. When she

decides she does not like that type of video anymore, like with the roller-skating example,

TikTok will learn to adjust the content on her For You Page by learning from her change

in viewing habits. If she decides she no longer likes roller-skating videos and starts

watching a new trend of Hunger Games videos, the algorithm will then show her videos

related to the Hunger Games.

4.2 Motivations to participate: archiving

In line with Omar and Dequan (2020), these findings also identify archiving as a motivation

to participate. Omar and Dequan (2020) define archiving as a way user can save and

compile videos across all levels of TikTok. Although, participants provide strong evidence

of the use of archiving, it is clear that similar to entertainment, the use of archiving is

unique to each individual and fulfills different needs.

“[…] But since I can download the video like my friend, he doesn't have to download

it, so I'll just save the video and text it to him or whatever. -Haley, female, 26, weekly

TikTok User

Here, Haley reveals evidence of archiving (Omar and Dequan, 2020) within one context

because she mentions saving and compiling (definition of archiving) TikTok videos to her

phone to then send to friends who don’t use TikTok. But her motivations for this relate

also back to Heinonen (2011)’s finding that consumer activities on social media are linked

to several motivations. Not only does Haley archive and save a video she’s seen, moving

her from consuming to participation, but she also is initiating a social interaction by sharing

47
 B146580

it with a friend. This is important because it illustrates one example of how, why and where

a TikTok user may archive, which was not explained by Omar and Dequan (2020).

“Oh, I actually also like I save like some of my favorite ones. Like, I save a lot of

like the shuffle dancing ones to like, watch later, like when I was like practicing

more.” -Tay, female, 26, weekly TikTok User

Tay illustrates archiving on TikTok that touches multiple levels of use, not just

participation, because as the quote illustrates, she archives (saves and compiles) shuffle

videos she likes to consume later and help her practice her dancing. This example

provides greater definition and another context to Omar and Dequan (2020)’s archiving

motivation, showing how a simple motivation can take on several forms. Tay’s archiving

behavior is specifically interesting because she, more than other participants, archives on

TikTok to consume, participate and create content (Omar and Dequan, 2020; Shao,

2009). Omar and Dequan (2020) found that archiving was the most important motivation

across levels of use, but Tay is the only participant who exhibited archiving across each

level. Her archiving motivation blurs the lines of TikTok use because there is no definitive

separation of use for Tay; her consumption of shuffle videos leads into her active

participation of archiving videos, and both prior uses feed into her creating and archiving

her own UGC. It appears to be a seamless act for her.

The following quote shows how she transitions from participation archiving to creating

archiving because her motivation to “track her progress” and learn a new hobby was

inspired by her consumption and engagement with the content she archived.

48
 B146580

“I wanted to track my progress. The only reason I wanted to do it, I was just like,

I'm just going to post, like, shuffle videos on this. […].” -Tay, female, 26

This gives a whole new meaning to archiving because she wanted to “track her progress”

of her learning how to shuffle dance and video the progress. That is why she started

consuming, saving videos (archiving) and creating her own. Therefore, archiving allows

her to save videos of her progression in a single space (her TikTok account) and easily

go back over them to learn from her mistakes and progress in her ability to shuffle dance.

It also shows a different form of archiving to Haley, who saves and compiles videos by

downloading them to her phone.

4.3 Participation Behaviors: commenting

Each participant was asked how they engaged with or participated with content on TikTok,

and many revealed that they consider commenting is a way to participate. There’s a divide

between the participants over “commenting” on TikTok, which is a novel finding and

reveals 2 types of users in the study: those that use TikTok as a resource and those that

create communities. Omar and Dequan (2020) did not explore users’ motivation to

engage in behaviors, such as commenting.

“Probably just liking and sharing, don't tend to comment on anything. Haven't really

found a reason to comment on stuff. I think maybe that's in the way it's done. It's

so much easier just to share it and send it to somebody than it is to like tag them

in a comment, which is sort of what effect what you normally do on Facebook or

Instagram.” -Miles, male, 27, weekly TikTok user

49
 B146580

The above quote reveals one argument: people do not see a reason to comment on

TikTok videos if the only reason is to tag a friend in the video. Miles not commenting on a

video could mean that what he consumes does not resonate with him in a way that

encourages commenting. The above also highlights the difference in unspoken rules

among platforms. He uses TikTok for laughter and entertainment, so that seems to say

he is not engaged in a way that inspires commenting and does not see TikTok as a

community platform. He uses it to meet his individual need of entertainment. This quote

implies that Miles also participates by using video content to spark a conversation or social

interaction by sending it to a friend, relating to Whiting and Williams (2013). Social media

users sometimes use social media to give them something to talk about with friends,

called communicatory utility (Whiting and Williams, 2013), which Miles confirmed by

saying he likes to send TikTok videos straight to friends. Tay’s feelings on commenting

are also similar to Miles’.

“Honestly, […]. Like, I don't really. I've never commented on anyone's videos.” -Tay,

female, 26, weekly TikTok user

The other side of the argument is that TikTok users comment on videos in order to show

their support or appreciation for the content or to form some sort of community. For

example:

“Like I mean, there's a lot of things where I see a lot of, like, really beautiful women,

you know, finding ways to empower other women. So, I feel like a lot of the

50
 B146580

comments that I make are supporting those people and encouraging them to

continue to do that.” -Chessi, female, 27, weekly to daily TikTok user

Chessi spoke at length about how the culture of TikTok values honest self-expression

(Omar and Dequan, 2020) and people who post content celebrating their true selves. She

admires people for their bravery in putting themselves out there, such as when LGBTQ+

individuals giving insights into their lives. By her commenting on people’s content, it not

only shows support but also gives them permission to keep being who they are, can boost

their self-esteem and communicates that they’re welcome on TikTok; this reveals there is

a community on TikTok, but not all users join TikTok for the community (e.g. Miles). These

comments also seem to say that TikTok fulfills a need for community on social media that

users feel other platforms have failed to give them. Chessi’s comments relate to Choi and

Sung (2018)’s argument that Snapchat users portray their true selves because the

environment is suitable for raw self-expression; it appears TikTok is similar in that regard.

“Commenting… it's a good way to engage and sometimes get people to look at your

account. I do that a lot. When I first when I first joined TikTok, I spent a lot of time

in the comments of other people's videos. […] And I started building like almost a

little community, like there were certain people that would comment every time.” -

Mandie, female, 33, daily TikTok User

For Mandie, commenting is a way to participate in social interactions with other TikTok

users, providing an example to support Omar and Dequan (2020)’s finding that TikTok

users participate for social means. She’s trying to build a community around her platform

51
 B146580

and the content she creates. Interestingly, her interview revealed she’s worried about

commenting back or talking to people who were much younger than her. She seems to

harbor a moral responsibility to make younger users feel heard because she felt she was

never heard or taken seriously at their age. By listening to others in the comments and

taking the time to comment back, not only does she make them feel valued but also can

form a community where others are safe to speak up.

4.4 Motivations to Create UGC

Omar and Dequan (2020) argue that TikTok users are motivated by self-expression to

create UGC, and these findings support that argument by giving examples of how and

why users express themselves on TikTok. Many participants spoke passionately about

how TikTok allows them to express themselves and be creative. For example, Cait says

“I feel like for me, definitely it makes me want to be more creative.” But these findings also

brought new motivations to light, with participant’s commenting how easy it was to use

the TikTok app and by discussing their motivations to use hashtags.

4.4.1 Motivation to create UGC: Self-expression and creativity

One of the most important factors in user’s decision to create their own TikTok videos is

that participants in this study felt they were able to more openly be themselves and publish

their own thoughts, feelings and creative ideas without fear of persecution; for example,

Mandie revealed that she’s able to be honest about her struggle with bipolar disorder.

TikTok gives her a creative space to postivitely hone her manic energy. This discovery

gives meaning to Omar and Dequan (2020)’s findings by helping us understand why self-

expression is an important creating motivation. During the interviews, self-expression

became about honesty, vulnerability and exploring who you are:

52
 B146580

“Instagram feels so fake. Like whenever I posted anything on there, I didn't feel like

I was really being myself. And as I started creating a lot of videos on TikTok, I felt

like I was learning more about who I really am and like what's important to me and

how I want to be like how I want to be viewed by everyone, I guess, like. […] And

people seem to respect it and enjoy it, even if it's messy and even if it's cringing

and embarrassing if you're being yourself, people respect it a lot.” -Mandie, female,

33, daily TikTok User

Mandie’s comments are revealing because she compares feelings of posting on

Instagram to TikTok. Before TikTok, Instagram appeared to be a platform where people

could be creative and express themselves. Her comments echo that of many other

participants who feel less strongly about Instagram now. TikTok is a haven for self-

expression (Omar and Dequan, 2020) because of the community that has grown and

because of this deep-seeded value of authenticity and vulnerability. Other participants like

Chessi echo the same thoughts. For Mandie, TikTok is the only place she feels safe to

post the truth of who she is or wants to be. Her interview revealed that she always felt the

need to hide her mental illness on other social platforms for fear of judgement but when

she posted about being bipolar on TikTok, it felt freeing. The following quote illustrates

this:

“There's so many other people who have posted about […] struggles with mental

illness. And I really feel a solidarity with the other people who've posted that it feels

like a safer place to post it.” -Mandie, female, 33

53
 B146580

These findings relate back to Choi and Sung (2018)’s argument that Snapchat offers

similar benefits to users. One may conclude that short form video allows people to openly

express themselves more than simple photos. In Mandie’s case, self-expression is less

about the type of content she posts and more about how she feels and how it is received

by her audience; it is about being safe and feeling like she is truly valued and heard.

TikTok gives her a voice and allows her to feel confident in showing who she is, whereas

other social media was not that safe space.

“I think it's just one of those little sorts of like hobbies that I'm like I'm not looking

to, like I said, try to get something out of it. And I think we lose that more or more

as we get older. […] I really enjoy doing like thrift hauls. And I, like, show how I style

outfits because, like, I love fashion. I'm probably never going to work in it. -Haley,

female, 26, weekly TikTok User

Haley and many other participants in their mid to late 20s and early 30s are not the primary

age group of TikTok users. But their experiences prove that “older” creators can

experience the platform positively, which indicates that TikTok is a safe place for anyone

to be creative and express themselves despite of age. TikTok appears to encourage an

almost childlike creativity in adults without fear of judgement. For Mandie, TikTok re-

ignited creative energies in her adult life:

“After I was a kid, I stopped doing it [creating home movies]. I never pursued […]

like film in high school or college. I'm not sure why. I think it's something I let slip

54
 B146580

away. But when I found TikTok, I rediscovered that passion for like its less acting

and more directing, I think is what I enjoy.” -Mandie, female, 33

The above feeds into how deeply the community values authenticity and self-expression;

this idea does not seem to come across in existing literature, making it a novel finding.

Their experiences seem to give other older TikTok users permission to just be creative,

explore hobbies and have fun with TikTok without worrying what people may think.

“But I also feel like you can use it to show off your personality because it's video

based and there's only so much you can translate over a photo and text like Twitter

and Instagram, if that makes any sense.” -Dylan, male, 27, weekly TikTok User

Dylan provides another context for self-expression (Omar and Dequan, 2020) in his

comment above. For him, TikTok is a great place to express himself because of its visual

format. In his interview, he spoke about his profession as a photographer and how he is

always creative and promoting his own brand on social media. TikTok is great for showing

a different side of himself because he does not have to be as formal or professional in his

content, like platforms such as Instagram, which he considers a portfolio; he can post a

funny video of pizza just because. TikTok is a great place for him to be more who he is

and less about representing his “brand.” TikTok allows him to express another dimension

to his social media presence and who he is as a creative professional, showing more of a

“behind the scenes” version of his creative process. Here, self-expression is about the

type of content being posted, as opposed to Mandie. Many others agree with his

55
 B146580

comments; TikTok has given people a way to better explore self-expression and creativity

than other social platforms:

“I mean, I don't really consider myself creative, but it does make it easy to look

creative because the template for it is very easy to sort of copy. So maybe that's

one thing that I like to talk in, that you’re somebody who doesn't have all these

ideas about, you know, maybe they want to be funny online, but they're not exactly

sure how to.” -Miles, male, 27, weekly TikTok User

TikTok users are also motivated to create because of TikTok’s creative capabilities.

TikTok allows people to be creative or at least feel creative without trying too hard,

needing a background in video production or experience coming up with creative ideas.

This is important because users could feel intimidated to create their own content because

of the volume of creative content that exists on TikTok and how professionally made it

appears. Miles breaks down that barrier and says that TikTok will help anyone tap into

their creative potential by giving them the tools to jumpstart ideas and easily feel creative

(by way of template) without needing many pre-existing video skills or creativity to do so.

4.4.2 Motivation to create: motivations to use hashtags in content descriptions

During the content creation discussions, participants discussed their motivations to use

hashtags. This discussion was inspired by Erz et al. (2018)’s study of user motivations to

use hashtags on Instagram and by spending time on TikTok observing popular hashtag

trends. A full TikTok Diary of hashtag observations can be found in Appendix F.

56
 B146580

“When I first started posting, like I noticed, like everything on the for you page, you

have like #FYP, hashtag for you, page, hashtag for you. And then usually like \ if

you go on like the trending or like discover page, it'll show like hashtags that are

like blowing up and like everyone will just put all those hashtags in their videos

even if they weren’t related. So, I did that a lot at the beginning.”

-Mandie, female, 33

Mandie goes on to say that she only uses hashtags relevant to her content now. This is

an interesting finding, because by spending time on TikTok’s “Discover” page, the most

obvious observation is that a majority of videos hashtagging a popular or trending hashtag

were in no way related to the hashtag itself. Countless videos used any and every popular

hashtag in their content description despite if their video’s content actually related to the

hashtags or not, in order to get more views. This is known as “hashtag hijacking” (Sandler,

2020) and appears to run rampant across the platform. Mandie means she uses content

related hashtags to help improve the viewership of her videos by attracting the right

viewers, those who share the same interests or opinions.

“I definitely use it all the time, but I do like try a lot more if I spent time on a video.

All right. So, yeah, if I've spent a lot of time on, like, creating a video, I'll think more

about what hashtags I use and like adding effects like in the app and stuff.” -Haley,

female, 26, weekly TikTok User

The other factor in considering hashtags is the effort put into the video, as Haley

illustrates. Participants, such as Miles, agree with this comment and are more likely to use

57
 B146580

hashtags if they are proud of the creativity, content of the video and want publicity for it.

This implies that users more want their best work to get noticed and appreciated over

other videos. If the videos are just for fun, users are less likely to care about how many

views the video gets. Participants not only provided thoughtful discussion on how and why

they use hashtags but were aware of the complexity of the topic by discussing if hashtags

work and admitted to learning new skills in order to make the platform work for them; as

no studies have researched hashtag use on TikTok, this appears to be a novel finding.

The consensus is to use targeted hashtags to attract the right kind of views because using

meaningless hashtags could hurt video’s views or do not use hashtags if the video is just

for fun.

4.4.3 Motivations to create: TikTok is easy to use

A finding is that participants believe TikTok is an easy app to use. This came up across

many interviews. Miles (male, 27) feels “the TikTok app is very easy to like. It's very well

integrated with everything else.” Cait (female, 18) agreed by saying “It is really easy to

use.” But the most revealing conversations about this finding comes from participants

discussing their own content creation.

“YouTube is kind of like I don't want to say gate kept, but it's really hard to enter

just financially because like you need a vlogging camera and editing software, like

even if you film something on your phone, it's like and you upload it like the

production quality on YouTube is so much higher. Like there's a standard that's like

up here that doesn't really like exist on TikTok. So, I feel like it's just so much more

accessible to anyone with a phone.” -Haley, female, 26

58
 B146580

By her comment above, Haley is saying TikTok is more egalitarian and DIY in nature, like

many youth culture scenes. Haley’s feelings are echoed by other participants who relate

their reasons for the app being easy to use back to YouTube. In the literature review,

TikTok was understood as a creative outlet similar to YouTube (Zhu and Chen, 2015).

However, participant’s comments provided evidence to suggest that TikTok is perceived

as a far more accessible option for content creators; this is due to the reduced barriers to

entry through lower perceived technical and production skill required to be successful on

the TikTok app. This finding also justifies TikTok as a platform well suited for UGC (Kaplan

and Haenlein, 2010).

4.5 Consumer perceptions and reactions to brands on TikTok

Participants acknowledged they had not experienced many brands or branded videos on

TikTok but expected brands will join the platform. While many participants think TikTok

can be good for brands, there was a fair amount of skepticism and weariness at the

thought. Many feel brands cannot succeed by using traditional marketing tactics. A couple

of participants went as far as to say they do not want brands on TikTok because they feel

that brands joining TikTok will make it feel less organic and take away from users enjoying

TikTok:

“Selfishly, I'd say no.” -Chessi, female, 27

“I hate that there are brands on TikTok, and I hate that there are celebrities on

TikTok. I feel like it takes away from just like the.... -Mandie, female, 33

59
 B146580

Many participants are concerned with how brands will approach joining TikTok and feel

that they “should play by TikTok creator’s rules” (Miles, male, 27). “There are unspoken

rules” (Mandie, female, 33) in place on TikTok; for example, trends move quickly on

TikTok and brands cannot expect to succeed if they try to use a trend from two weeks

prior. Comments like these relate back to Fournier and Avery (2011) who argue brands

are “uninvited” on social media and that one managerial approach to joining a platform is

to “play their game” (p. 5) by taking time to understand the culture of the platform and

nuances in place.

“[…] a lot of the posts on TikTok are quite funny, and I think at times on other social

media in the past where brands have tried to be funny, it just doesn’t work. […] and

so, because TikTok is kind of […] a lot of the content on there is like funny videos,

like brands might try and make those funny videos and sometimes might mix them.”

-Cait, female, 18

Cait is concerned with brands joining and acting like they understand TikTok content and

how to post it, when in reality, their efforts fall short in appearing that way. A huge part of

TikTok’s culture (Fournier and Avery, 2011) is funny, light-hearted dance and hashtag

challenge videos. If a brand comes in trying to act like they understand TikTok and their

content fails, users will let them know. This quote also illustrates that brands need to take

time to understand what content works and how to then invest in creating that content for

their own TikTok accounts (Parent et al., 2011). The following comment also addresses

this idea that brands really need to invest time in learning TikTok in order for it to work.

60
 B146580

“[…] but what I would suggest is to have their social media team…They need to

spend a lot of time on TikTok themselves and really like absorb like a culture of it.

If you don't get it, then I mean, it's going to be immediately obvious.” -Mandie,

female, 33

These findings support Fournier and Avery (2011)’s notion of brands understanding

cultural nuances of a social media, but it also seems to say that just because brands are

on other platforms and doing well does not mean they will immediately understand a new

one. Brands should not copy and paste their Instagram strategy and expect it to work.

Users are protective of the environment the they have created and worry brands coming

in without understanding it fully will completely disrupt how they experience TikTok. For

instance, some worry that brands will make TikTok feel less authentic and lessen how

creative the platform feels. For instance, Mandie says:

“Then you see Nike or Pepsi, like pop up, it just kind of like breaks up that feeling.”

-Mandie, female, 33

Again, this relates back Fournier and Avery (2011) arguing brands are uninvited on social

media.

“How it felt when I first joined, […] everybody has an equal chance to, you know,

blow up and like, get the hype and like whatever. I feel like brands and celebrities

61
 B146580

on there just like circumvent that and make it feel less organic and fun.” -Mandie,

female, 33

Above, Mandie worries about brands hurting how the community runs and feels. Mandie,

as well as others, feel that brands and celebrities coming in will affect the authenticity of

TikTok and hurt the average user’s chances of gaining an audience. Because Mandie and

others experience TikTok in such a vulnerable and unfiltered way, brands should gain

access by acknowledging that and allowing them to still be in control of TikTok’s ethos

(Haley, female, 26).

“And you're not even talking about the fact that you're selling peanuts. It's just like

your logo. Having fun. And like, I think if brands did stupid shit like that on TikTok,

it could work to their advantage.” -Dylan, male, 27

What Dylan means in the above comment is that many brands, like FMCG brands, can

use TikTok as a story-telling platform to show a more human side to the brand. By creating

a story around the brand, brands can make the audience care without ever trying to sell

them the product, and prove the brand understands what content works on TikTok.

Participants feel brands should focus on organic content, building their audience,

storytelling (like above) and encouraging engagement on TikTok.

There is a fair amount of skepticism concerning which brands should be joining TikTok.

Many participants feel that it can be hugely useful to smaller brands in building an

audience and engaging with consumers. But because of the community values on TikTok,

62
 B146580

many worries that big corporations such as Coca Cola maybe are not suited for TikTok,

as the quote below illustrates.

“[…] Go to Wal-Mart and buy whatever, because we know we can buy our basics

from this, like small business that's owned by, you know, whoever with a family

like, I think we just really value the stories and the people behind brands and

businesses so we can see that it becomes a lot easier to support and to want to

support that over something else.” -Haley, female. 26

Users value transparency and many enjoy watching storytelling-based content, brands

can use that information to create the proper type of content for their TikTok audience

(Rohm et al., 2013; Erdogmus and Cicek, 2012). Haley’s quote above says that brands

can use TikTok help humanize the brand. But it also eludes to the community being more

willing to accept certain brands over others and brands should take the decision to join

seriously.

“Through content creators that are already popular on the platform, like people […]

sponsored on Instagram […]. I think that's probably the best way to do it. Where it's

like people already know their personality.” -Tay, female, 26

For brands joining TikTok, one way they can break onto the platform is by utilizing the

voices of creators already popular on TikTok. Tay argues that TikTok users are more likely

to trust a creator they already follow to promote a brand. Because brands are uninvited

(Fournier and Avery, 2011), audiences are skeptical of if brands will be authentic and

63
 B146580

trustworthy; by using existing voices on TikTok, brands benefit because the creator’s

audience is more likely to trust or buy a brand after hearing about it from a creator they

already trust. Authenticity is an important value to TikTok users, brands should keep that

in mind and utilize TikTok’s community to help gain acceptance on TikTok.

4.5.2 Benefits of brands using TikTok

If brands manage to enter and either cede control to TikTok users or learn to play their

game (Fournier and Avery, 2011) and invest in the right content (Parent et al., 2011), they

can benefit from creating relationships with TikTok users (Tsimonis and Dimitriadis,

2014), humanizing the brand and driving brand engagement (Rohm et al, 2013) and

participation.

“I think they in some capacity, because people want to talk to people, they don't

want talk to like a business, but with that side of it that they can get, like the human

side of brands and brands can essentially be humanized.” -Cait, female, 18

Ahmad et al. (2016) argues that many new Web 2.0 platforms allow brands two-way

communication with their consumers. By being able to directly connect and show a human

element of the brand via TikTok, brands will be able to show themselves as genuine.

Many other participants agree with Cait in using TikTok to humanize the brand and speak

to your audience.

64
 B146580

“I think that, like, getting people to comment is really fun. I like sort of bringing them

into, like, the process of either, like making a product, packaging a product.” -Haley,

female, 26

One way that brands can show a more human element and directly communicate with

TikTok users is to allow them to voice their opinions (Whiting and Williams, 2013) in the

product development and packaging process. Haley believes that brands can show

consumers that they value their input across all areas of business and not just when

buying the end product.

65
 B146580

5.0 Conclusion
5.1 Summary of key findings
While users revealed many motivations to consume on TikTok, the most revealing

motivations were entertainment, to pass the time and escapism. When users spoke of

using TikTok to consume for entertainment, they highlighted varied definitions of what

constitutes “entertainment” and that this can change as their preferences change; many

also rely on the For You page to provide entertaining content. Users are also motivated

to consume to cure boredom by passing the time. But participants revealed that this was

not meant to be a passive act because they seek out TikTok to provide stimulating and

engaging content to pass the minutes. Many also use TikTok as a fun, lighthearted way

to escape the serious events of the outside world.

Users are motivated to participate on TikTok for social connection and interaction,

archiving, entertainment, self-expression and the TikTok app is easy to use. Participants

described different reasons behind archiving on TikTok, further revealing that a singular

motivation can mean something different to each user. Participants revealed a divide

among TikTok users in terms of commenting; several felt there was no reason to comment

on a TikTok video if the reason was to share it with a friend. While others comment on

TikTok to show support and build a community. This observation shows that while not all

TikTok users use TikTok for the social aspects of the platform, TikTok has met a need for

community when other social platforms failed to do so and that community continues to

attract users’ participation on TikTok.

Participants cite multiple motivations to create their own content. These motivations

include creativity, self-expression, entertainment, archiving, to go viral, the TikTok app is

66
 B146580

easy to use and for social connection. User discussions of self-expression were

particularly revealing because users spoke passionately about how TikTok has fostered

a culture where users are encouraged to vulnerably be themselves. TikTok has

encouraged specific users to give social media content creation another try after negative

experiences on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, showing how TikTok has met this

unmet need of users wanting to express themselves safely on social media. Self-

expression was defined in terms of how free users felt about portraying a truer version of

themselves, as a way to diversify one’s content or exploring newfound hobbies and

interests. Users also revealed motivations behind using hashtags by explaining they

either use content specific hashtags to attract the right audience or do not use hashtags

if the video was just for fun; this proves that users are likely to crave publicity for their

content if they’ve put in effort they’re proud of.

The insights above further prove that TikTok users are incredibly active in their uses of

TikTok and that for a majority of users, TikTok use spans each level, from consuming,

participating and up to content creation. Across each level of TikTok use, users also

expressed multiple motivations to use TikTok, with entertainment, self-expression,

creativity and TikTok is easy to use as some of the most popular motivations; such an

observation proves that users are multifaceted in their use of TikTok.

User perceptions of brands were varied, with some users wishing brands would not join

TikTok, but all acknowledged that they believe brands will join. Many gave the advice that

brands need to spend time getting to know and understand TikTok and its culture before

putting out content. While other users also gave their opinions on what brands can do

67
 B146580

encourage UGC; ideas include created a branded hashtag challenge or dance and using

TikTok to communicate back to users.

5.2 Implications for marketing theory

This dissertation is valuable to marketing theory because it is the first qualitative study

known to date that researches uses and gratifications of TikTok and provides insight into

consumer perceptions of brands using TikTok.

These findings support Omar and Dequan (2020), deepening our understanding of how

users consume on TikTok for entertainment by providing multiple definitions and

examples of how users define “entertainment.” Thus, proving that entertainment is a

subjective motivation and that users’ definitions of entertainment change over time.

Furthermore, these findings support Whiting and Williams (2013) by further proving

entertainment as a primary motivation to use social media and providing more description

as to how social media users define “entertainment.”

These findings support Omar and Dequan (2020)’s archiving motivation by providing

greater definition and explanation of what archiving means; users possess different

strategies for how, where and why they archive. Some archive within the TikTok app,

while others archive by saving the TikToks to their phones. Again, this supports Omar and

Dequan (2020) but gives better definition to their finding and proves how one motivation

has many definitions. This finding somewhat contradicts Omar and Dequan (2020)

because archiving was not found as a primary motivation across all levels of TikTok use

for most users.

68
 B146580

The finding that users create for self-expression not only proves that of Omar and Dequan

(2020) but also relates back to Choi and Sung (2018)’s finding that Snapchat users use

the platform to be their true selves. This dissertation’s findings prove that social media

users feel comfortable displaying who they truly are by way of short form video. These

findings further prove and support Omar and Dequan (2020) on self-expression as a

primary motivation to create UGC but provides greater discussion around how users

define self-expression based on their own experiences and further reveals the TikTok

community values self-expression that is authentic and genuine.

The TikTok app is easy to use appears as a novel finding in itself as a motivation to use

TikTok but does provide support in understanding TikTok as a platform for user-generated

content because TikTok allows creators a more accessible, less intensely professional

creative outlet to create content. These elements relate back to the definition of UGC

(Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).

Although, asking about user motivations to use hashtags was inspired by Erz et al.

(2018)’s study of Instagram hashtag use but these findings did not relate back to the study;

therefore, these findings reveal a novel finding for why TikTok users include hashtags in

their content descriptions.

Furthermore, as Table 3 illustrates, TikTok users are motivated by a variety of motivations

to use TikTok, spanning from using as consuming to content creation; this finding proves

Heinonen (2011)’s argument that consumer activities on social media are inspired by

several motivations. 10 of 12 TikTok users interviewed spoke about how their activities

69
 B146580

and motivations using TikTok included not only consumption but also engaging with

content and creating their own UGC; such an observation further justifies using UGT

because the theory assumes that media users are active in their choices of mass media

to meet different needs (Katz and Foulkes, 1962).

Findings also directly prove and support Shao (2009) because they argue that users

harbor different motivations to interact with UGC at each level of social media use; they

argue users consume UGC for entertainment, participate for community building and

social interaction and create their own UGC for self-expression. These findings directly

support this argument but also provide greater definition and discussion as to what each

motivation mean to different users, providing multiple definitions of each.

Furthermore, these findings support Fournier and Avery (2011)’s argument that brands

are uninvited on social media by users expressing their weariness of brands joining and

advertising across TikTok. Many participant’s comments support Fournier and Avery

(2011)’s first or second managerial strategies for brand entrance: brands either need to

allow users to remain in control of the platform or brands need to essentially, play by

TikTok’s rules and learn the culture of TikTok. User comments of how brands should

design their content strategy for TikTok support Parent et al. (2011) and Rohm et al.

(2013). Brands also need to consider if TikTok is even right for their brand and audience;

if so, then they will need to work on designing content that suits the platform and offers

value to their audience, supporting Erdogmus and Cicek 2012).

70
 B146580

5.3 Implications for practice

For brand managers considering including TikTok in their social media strategy, spend

time getting to know the platform, its users and content first. TikTok users are extremely

weary of big brands coming in and disrupting this organic, welcoming feeling the

community has fostered. Allow your social media, and even video teams, to spend time

absorbing TikTok’s culture first. Brands need to understand the TikTok community has

unspoken rules that users abide by and they expect brands to as well. Brands must also

consider their values and if those values can be communicated well on TikTok. In

designing content, utilize what already works well on TikTok; take time to understand

popular trends and hashtag challenges. Do not blatantly piggyback off of existing trends

but use the knowledge of trends and how they work to develop one for your brand or

product. Encourage user-generated content by designing a challenge or hashtag trend

that inspires user creativity, their desire to join the challenge or ask for user opinions in

designing a product. Most importantly, brands should be authentic in their presence on

TikTok. Right now, users are looking for organic content from brands; do not make users

feel like they’re just being sold to. Finally, brands need to seriously think about if TikTok

is the right platform for their goals and their audience; do brand values align with that of

TikTok and its users? Does your brand’s audience demographics fit well with TikTok?

5.4 Future research

As TikTok is still so new, there are avenues for future research. One limitation of this

dissertation was the sample did not represent a single population or user demographic.

Therefore, one avenue to explore is TikTok use within one specific culture, country or age

demographic to understand if TikTok habits differ within one population. As brands

continue to join TikTok and the app continues to update its software, it will be worth

71
 B146580

researching how brands are using TikTok in practice and what complications they have

faced. Many participants compared TikTok to Instagram or YouTube; providing another

interesting avenue to research: how TikTok compares to other popular social media, and

if user perceptions change over time. Finally, as influencers continue to grow on TikTok,

it will be worth researching if they are able to monetize TikTok and if brand partnerships

with TikTok creators differ from that of partnerships with Instagram creators.

It must be noted that this dissertation was carried out during the midst of a global

pandemic and nationwide lockdown. User experiences of TikTok and perceptions of

brands may be linked to the wider context. Users rely on TikTok to escape the problems

the global community currently faces. Future research will need to be carried out to see if

these opinions and perceptions of TikTok change.

72
 B146580

References
Ahmad, N.S., Musa, R. & Harun, M.H.M. (2016) ‘The Impact of Social Media Content

Marketing (SMCM) towards Brand Health’, Procedia Economics and Finance, 37, pp.331–

336.

Ashley, C. and Tuten, T. (2015) ‘Creative Strategies in Social Media Marketing: An

Exploratory Study of Branded Social Content and Consumer Engagement’, Psychology

& Marketing, 32(1), pp.15–27.

Athwal, N., Istanbulluoglu, D. and McCormack, S. (2018) ‘The allure of luxury brands’

social media activities: a uses and gratifications perspective’, Information Technology &

People, 32(3), pp.2-21.

Baines, P., Fill, C., Rosengren, S. and Antonetti, P. (2019). Configuring the Marketing

Communications Mix. In: P. Baines, C. Fill, S. Rosengren and P. Antonetti, ed., Marketing,

5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.430-431.

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011). Business Research Methods. 3rd ed. London: Oxford

University Press, pp.15- 472.

Bullock, A., Jennings, C. & Timbrell, N. (2019) ‘user-generated content’ A Dictionary of

Publishing, pp. Oxford Dictionary of Publishing.

73
 B146580

Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological Paradigms And Organisational Analysis.

Burlington: Ashgate.

Chapple, C. (2020). Tiktok Crosses 2 Billion Downloads After Best Quarter For Any App

Ever. [online] Sensor Tower Blog. Available at: <https://sensortower.com/blog/tiktok-

downloads-2-billion> [Accessed 3 June 2020].

Chen, G.M. (2015) ‘Why do women bloggers use social media? Recreation and

information motivations outweigh engagement motivations’, New Media & Society, 17(1),

pp.24–40.

Choi, T.R. & Sung, Y. (2018) ‘Instagram versus Snapchat: Self-expression and privacy

concern on social media’, Telematics And Informatics, 35(8), pp.2289–2298.

Daugherty, T., Eastin, M. and Bright, L. (2008) ‘Exploring Consumer Motivations for

Creating User-Generated Content’, Journal of Interactive Advertising, 8(2), pp.16-25.

Effing, R. & Spil, T.A.M. (2016) “The social strategy cone: Towards a framework for

evaluating social media strategies” International Journal of Information Management,

36(1), pp.1–8.

Eighmey, J. and McCord, L. (1998) ‘Adding Value in the Information Age: Uses and

Gratifications of Sites on the World Wide Web’, Journal of Business Research, 41(3),

pp.187-194.

74
 B146580

Erdoğmuş, İrem E. & Çiçek, M. (2012), ‘The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand

Loyalty’, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 58, pp.1353–1360.

Erz, A., Marder, B. and Osadchaya, E. (2018) ‘Hashtags: Motivational drivers, their use,

and differences between influencers and followers’, Computers in Human Behavior, 89,

pp.48-60.

Flecha-Ortíz, J. et al. (2019) ‘Millennials & Snapchat: Self-expression through its use and

its influence on purchase motivation’, Journal of Business Research, pp.Journal of

Business Research, 2019.

Fournier, S. & Avery, J. (2011) ‘The uninvited brand’, Business Horizons. 54(3), pp.193–

207.

Ham, C., Lee, J. and Lee, H. (2014) ‘Understanding consumers' creating behaviour in

social media: an application of uses and gratifications and the theory of reasoned action’,

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising , 8(4), pp.241-263.

(a)Hamilton, M., Kaltcheva, V. and Rohm, A. (2016) ‘Social Media and Value Creation:

The Role of Interaction Satisfaction and Interaction Immersion’, Journal of Interactive

Marketing, 36, pp.121-133.

75
 B146580

(b)Hamilton, M., Kaltcheva, V.D. & Rohm, A.J. (2016) ‘Hashtags and handshakes:

consumer motives and platform use in brand-consumer interactions’, The Journal of

Consumer Marketing, 33(2), pp.135–144.

Heinonen, K. (2011) ‘Consumer activity in social media: Managerial approaches to

consumers' social media behavior’, Journal Of Consumer Behaviour, 10(6), pp.356–364.

Hossain, M. (2019) ‘Effects of uses and gratifications on social media use’, PSU Research

Review, 3(1), pp.16-28.

Iqbal, M. (2020) Tiktok Revenue And Usage Statistics (2020). [online] Business of Apps.

Available at: <https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/#1> )Accessed 23

July 2020).

Kaplan, A.M. & Haenlein, M. (2010) ‘Users of the world, unite! The challenges and

opportunities of Social Media’, Business Horizons, 53(1), pp.59–68.

Katz, E. and Foulkes, D. (1962) ‘On the Use of the Mass Media as "Escape": Clarification

of a Concept’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 26(3), pp.377-388.

Katz, E., Blumler, J. & Gurevitch, M. (1973) ‘Uses and Gratifications Research’, The

Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), pp.509–523.

76
 B146580

Knoll, J. & Proksch, R. (2017) ‘Why we watch others' responses to online advertising -

investigating users' motivations for viewing user-generated content in the context of online

advertising’, Journal of Marketing Communications, 23(4), pp.400–412.

Lenhart, A., Smith, A. and Anderson, M. (2015) ‘Teens, Technology And Romantic

Relationships'. [ebook] Washington D.C.: Pew Research Center, pp.42-46. Available at:

<https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/10/pi_2015-10-

01_teens-technology-romance_final.pdf> [Accessed 20 May 2020].

Marketing Hub, I. (2020) 50 Tiktok Stats That Will Blow Your Mind In 2020 [Updated].

[online] Influencer Marketing Hub. Available at:

<https://influencermarketinghub.com/tiktok-stats/> (Accessed 28 June 2020).

Mohsin, M. (2020) 10 Tiktok Statistics That You Need To Know [July 2020]. [online]

Oberlo.com. Available at: <https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics> )Accessed 23

July 2020).

Munar, A. and Jacobsen, J. (2014) ‘Motivations for sharing tourism experiences through

social media’, Tourism Management, 43, pp.46-54.

Muntinga, D.G., Moorman, M. & Smit, E.G. (2011) ‘Introducing COBRAs Exploring

motivations for brand-related social media use’, International Journal Of Advertising,

30(1), pp.13–46.

77
 B146580

Normoyle, A. (2020) Social Media Importance: 5 Reasons Your Brand Needs To Embrace

It. [online] Business 2 Community. Available at:

<https://www.business2community.com/social-media/social-media-importance-5-

reasons-your-brand-needs-to-embrace-it-02245735> (Accessed 18 July 2020).

Nover, S. (2020) Tiktok Is Growing Up, And So Are Its Users. [online] Adweek.com.

Available at: <https://www.adweek.com/digital/tiktok-is-growing-up-and-so-are-its-

users/> (Accessed 28 May 2020).

O′Donohoe, S. (1994) ‘Advertising Uses and Gratifications’, European Journal of

Marketing, 28(8/9), pp.52–75.

Omar, B. and Dequan, W. (2020) ‘Watch, Share or Create: The Influence of Personality

Traits and User Motivation on TikTok Mobile Video Usage’, International Journal of

Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), 14(04), p.121-137.

Parent, M., Plangger, K. & Bal, A. (2011) ‘The new WTP: Willingness to participate’,

Business Horizons, 54(3), pp.219–229.

Phua, J., Jin, S.V. & Kim, J. (2017) ‘Gratifications of using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

or Snapchat to follow brands: The moderating effect of social comparison, trust, tie

strength, and network homophily on brand identification, brand engagement, brand

commitment, and membership intention’, Telematics and Informatics, 34(1), pp.412–424.

78
 B146580

Poch, R. & Martin, B. (2015) ‘Effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on user-

generated content’, Journal of Strategic Marketing, 23(4), pp.305–317.

Presi, C., Saridakis, C. & Hartmans, S. (2014) ‘User-generated content behaviour of the

dissatisfied service customer’, European Journal of Marketing, 48(9/10), pp.1600–1625.

Quan-Haase, A. & Young, A.L. (2010) ‘Uses and Gratifications of Social Media: A

Comparison of Facebook and Instant Messaging’, Bulletin of Science, Technology &

Society, 30(5), pp.350–361.

Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.

Rohm, A., D. Kaltcheva, V. & R. Milne, G. (2013), ‘A mixed-method approach to examining

brand-consumer interactions driven by social media’, Journal of Research in Interactive

Marketing, 7(4), pp.295–311.

Ruggiero, T.E. (2000), ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century’, Mass

Communication and Society, 3(1), pp.3–37.

Sandler, E. (2020) How Tiktok Hashtag Hijacking Is Impacting Beauty Campaigns –

Glossy. [online] Glossy. Available at: <https://www.glossy.co/beauty/how-tiktok-hashtag-

hijacking-is-impacting-beauty-campaigns> (Accessed 1 June 2020).

79
 B146580

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods For Business

Students. 5th ed. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2019). Research Methods For Business

Students. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, pp.128-160.

Schaedel, U. & Clement, M. (2010) ‘Managing the Online Crowd: Motivations for

Engagement in User-Generated Content’, Journal of Media Business Studies, 7(3),

pp.17–36.

Shao, G. (2009) ‘Understanding the appeal of user-generated media: a uses and

gratification perspective’, Internet Research, 19(1), pp.7–25.

Statista, (2020) Tiktok Penetration Demographics UK 2019 | Statista. [online] Statista.

Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/1091438/tiktok-penetration-

demographics-in-the-uk/> (Accessed 12 July 2020).

Stelzner, M. (2020) 2020 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. [ebook] Social Media

Examiner, pp.4-48. Available at: <https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-

marketing-industry-report-2020/> (Accessed 11 June 2020).

Tsimonis, G. and Dimitriadis, S. (2014) ‘Brand strategies in social media’, Marketing

Intelligence & Planning, 32(3), pp.328-344.

80
 B146580

Vela, G. (2020) Council Post: Tiktok: The Next Frontier Of Social Media Is Here. [online]

Forbes. Available at:

<https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/03/19/tiktok-the-next-frontier-

of-social-media-is-here/#59e8fd624264> (Accessed 18 May 2020).

Vecchio, G. (2020) Tiktok Is Pure Self-Expression. This Is Your Must-Try Sampler.

[online] Forbes. Available at:

<https://www.forbes.com/sites/genedelvecchio/2020/06/06/tiktok-is-pure-self-

expression-this-is-your-must-try-sampler/#505a75325a09> (Accessed 7 June 2020).

Vorhaus, M. (2020) Tiktok Is Growing Around The World With China, India And The U.S.

Being Early Successes. [online] Forbes. Available at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikevorhaus/2020/05/24/tiktok-is-growing-around-the-

world-with-china-india-and-the-us-being-early-successes/#7da76e1c349e (Accessed 25

May 2020).

Watson, I. (2020) Tiktok Explains Why It's Pitching Itself On TV Amid A Lockdown Growth

Spurt. [online] The Drum. Available at:

<https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/05/26/tiktok-explains-why-its-pitching-itself-tv-

amid-lockdown-growth-spurt> (Accessed 26 May 2020).

We Are Social (2020) Digital 2020 - We Are Social. [online] We Are Social. Available at:

<https://wearesocial.com/digital-2020> (Accessed 14 August 2020).

81
 B146580

Whiting, A. & Williams, D. (2013) ‘Why people use social media: a uses and gratifications

approach’, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 16(4), pp.362–369.

Zhu, Y.-Q. & Chen, H.-G. (2015) ‘Social media and human need satisfaction: Implications

for social media marketing’, Business Horizons, 58(3), pp.335–345.

82
 B146580

Appendices

Appendix A- Sample of Data- Section of Haley’s Interview Transcript

Interviewer [00:13:49] Moving on now, you mentioned a little bit about how you feel TikTok

is kind of unfiltered. I've read a lot of research that says different social media platforms

allow you to portray uh like a different version of yourself. For instance, Instagram like

idealizes how you want people to think your life is versus others, you know, not so much.

What do you say? How do you think TikTok fits into that when it comes to like expressing

a version of yourself?

Haley [00:14:20] I think it could be absolutely different for everyone, but I think the point

is to really, like, catalog your day to day life. And like, I think that the generation like maybe

younger than me is finding a lot more value. And like that transparency of like here is what

I eat for breakfast. Here is me when I first woke up. Like, they don't really care about, like,

your best moments as much. I think that they value that transparency, like, a lot more.

And because they're sort of like the generation of the app is made for, I think that there is

sort of like this, like in the ethos of TikTok. I think that there is a sort of like, hey, you can

come here and like it doesn't have to be like your best outfit, like a lot of people will do,

like transformation videos of like here's me without makeup, blah, blah. And then boom,

I'm ready and like, this is what I'm going to wear out. And that makeup done. And I feel

like you would never see something like that. Well, like Instagram and Twitter, like a before

and after. Like it's all about the aesthetic. I think TikToks a lot more like OK with sort of

showing the process of things like even people like building stuff or creating art, like they

show a lot of like start to finish. So, I think it just sort of like encourages that, hey, it's OK

to like start from scratch and also show that you're starting from scratch.

83
 B146580

Interviewer [00:15:49] That's that's that's really that's what I definitely feel it. Instagram is

more of this is my perfect makeup look. But there's nothing about how you got to there or

something like that.

Interviewer [00:16:04] We are slightly different than I think a few questions ago. But what

is it that TikTok allows you to do? What kind of needs does it meet?

Haley [00:16:18] I love taking like little videos all the time, but I would never have anything

to do with them. And I just I love them, I'm such a visual person. So, like, if I'm like. You

know, traveling like I'm taking all these little video clips of, like the scene or you or

whatever, but I'm like, what am I going to do this? And so now it's like, oh, well, I can edit

like a montage video in like a minute. And like, I have that for years to come, like show

whoever I want. And I think like all of us have become sort of like quote unquote

photographers because of iPhones and we're taking pictures and all that. But I think of

videos like just such a cooler way to capture different moments. And I like I'm such a

nostalgic person, like I wish I had like all my home videos growing up, like on my phone,

and I don't. So, I love the idea that, like, I will be able to have that for myself for like years

to come. And they sort of just like live there. They don't take a lot of time for me to produce.

And also, it's just like a nice... I feel like Instagram and Twitter and all that kind of felt like

creative outlets when they first started. And now they're just like such a part of our daily

lives. we don't really think about it, but like with TikTok, it's like it's a challenge and it's an

like a new way to be truly creative. Like, you really do have to kind of have sort of like a

good or funny idea. So, I think it makes you think a little bit more than other social media

84
 B146580

platforms, which I really enjoy. And I think that it also rewards the people that are super

creative, which is nice, because then you're sort of like seeing their content to.

Interviewer [00:18:14] Basically, the next question is kind of like, I want you to think about

the benefits and opportunities that other social media have and then kind to compare the

benefits with TikTok to your other social media platforms. However, you want to go about

that.

Haley [00:18:35] OK.

Haley [00:18:38] I think I use Twitter and Instagram a lot to, like, connect with my personal

friends, slash like a very catered audience that I built and. Like, I don't know, it's it's more

like my community. I feel like TikTok is more like people I don't know that I'm connecting

with, but they have similar interests to me. So, it's like a way different sense of community

that I've never gotten on a social media site. And it doesn't feel like unsafe, even though

these are people I know, like, it's so easy to, like, connect with other people that love mid-

century modern furniture, which, like none of my friends are into you know. And so, I don't

really have, like, that outlet with my friend group of like, let's talk about this, but I'm going

to talk and find people that are interested in the same thing. So I think that, like, the main

benefit that TikTok adds to me is like I can find my niche that I'm not getting from my friend

group or like my passion or whatever, like my very tailored interest and like really like dive

into it, learn more about it, find people that are also interested in it, which I like. It's really

hard to do that on twitter and Instagram. But I do think, like Twitter and Instagram will be

around forever because they add so much value to like me keeping up with friends and

85
 B146580

even like Instagram, like private stories has been such. Because I've never wanted to

create like a Friendster or like a private account. But it's it's such a nice thing to be like,

OK. Here's like 30 people. I'm going to vent about what's going on in my life. And I know

that they saw it without having to text 30 people about what's going on in my life. So I don't

know. Does that answer the question?

Interviewer [00:20:28] Yeah, I totally does.

Interviewer [00:20:29] So would you say, like, TikTok allows you a sense of community,

but with people you're not as familiar with.

Interviewer [00:20:35] So you're tied based on your interests and Twitter- so you have

more your personal community.

Haley [00:20:41] Yeah. And I think that that's so important.

Haley [00:21:04] I would say. What was it saying? Oh, I'm an empath. So I like, really

value like getting to know other people and like learning and like all that sort of stuff. And

it's like when you're just seeing your friends over and over again, you're not really like

learning anything. So I think TikToks really good, especially right now. It's like everything

going on in the world. Kids are doing like a really good job of, like educating people in like

a minute of like here's a minute video of like why we need to, you know, unlearn racism

and like here is like some things that you probably didn't even know about. It's just like it's

super digestible information and it makes it so easy to keep learning without being

86
 B146580

intimidated because like, you can open Twitter and maybe you're seeing the same

information, but it's like a 20 tweet thread or it's like a really long Instagram caption. But

I'm TikTok like you're spending a minute and you're learning the same stuff. So I think it

not only is it adding to your community that's broader than just like where you live, like it's

popping like that bubble. And it's getting you to, like, learn something and like actually

challenge you hopefully educationally.

Interviewer [00:22:24] So you would say that there definitely is a place for education and

more serious types of content on TikTok versus the idea that most want... A lot of fun

content. Like just like dancing and laughing and funny stuff.

Haley [00:22:38] Yeah. I think firstly I thought the same thing like, oh, this is just going to

be a bunch of kids dancing and you really do have to cater like your for you page to what

you want to see, otherwise you aren't going to see that stuff. But I think there's a lot of kids

out there making it like there's this one guy. He might be my age, but he dresses up in a

suit and he does the dance videos while he's doing them- he's putting up facts about like

legal information because he's like a lawyer. And it's just funny because he's mixing like

this entertainment with like, hey, listen to me give you legal advice in case you're ever in

this situation.

87
 B146580

Appendix B- Sample of Data- Selection of Mandie’s Interview Transcript

Interviewer [00:12:04] And are there any specific like uses you can out of TikTok?

Mandie [00:12:13] Oh, yeah. So, for me, it was definitely a creative outlet. Let’s me get

out a lot of creative energy that I think I had bottled up inside of me for a long time. Like

when I was younger, my dad had one of those big like 1980s like camcorders that were

like, like huge. And he would let me and my sister like, borrow it and set it up on the tripod

in our bedrooms. And we would make like newscasts and little skits like we had one called

like Big Amanda and Little Chelsea. We did like Seinfeld like parodies and all sorts of

stuff. And it was something I love to do. And I never like after I was a kid, I stopped doing

it, never pursued anything as later to like film in high school or college. I'm not sure why.

I think it's something I let slip away. But when I found Tick-Tock, I rediscovered that

passion for like its less acting and more directing, I think is what I enjoy. My mom used to

call me her like little director because I would like try to direct all the neighborhood kids in

like my, my films. But I don't know, just like conceptual with an idea and like the different

shots that I would need to do. Like it's definitely scratches that creative itch for me. So

that's one thing.

Mandie [00:13:49] I noticed like probably a month after I started making videos frequently,

this would have been like November twenty nineteen. Like, you know, that like I have like

bipolar disorder. And at that point, like I entered, like, I would say, like kind of like a

hypomanic phase. And it was like a really scary time for me because the last time that

happened, like, I basically blew my life up and like, you know, like spent like way too much

88
 B146580

money and just like a lot of things take off was like very intertwined with this whole, like,

time in my life. And I was like using that energy to, like, make a lot of videos. But like, I

was also, like, afraid of that energy, if that makes sense. I had wondered if I should stop

using tick tock, if it was like causing this to happen or. I don't know. I talked to my

psychologist, my psychiatrist. I talked to Derek a lot about it. And ultimately, like what we

kind of decided together and came to the conclusion of is that using tick tock is a way to

channel that manic energy in a healthy way was actually like a really good thing. So that

I didn't use it to, like, go on a shopping spree or like do some stupid shit. So it was actually

really positive because it let me focus energy that could be extremely destructive in a

positive and creative way. If That makes sense.

Interviewer [00:15:39] It makes total sense. I feel like that kind of goes along with the next

question, which maybe you already answered it, maybe you have more you want to say-

is what needs does tick tock allow you to meet?

Mandie [00:15:56] So, yeah, yeah. This definitely ties into what I was saying. You know,

obviously my creative needs, which I neglected for a long time. It's also allowed me to. It's

allowed me to, like, put myself out there in a way that other social media hasn't. And what

I mean by that is. Normally in like social situations in groups and things, I'm easily

overwhelmed. I don't like to speak up. I lose kind of like my sense of self. It's just like me

and a camera. I'm able to. Just be myself without worrying about like talking over

somebody or I don't know, like there's something that, like, my brain shuts down when I'm

in a group of people and like. So I think a lot of people don't really get to see who I am or

what my personality is. Sometimes I feel like I don't even know what it is. And I you know,

89
 B146580

I think that's related to a lot of, like, trauma things that don't really matter right now that we

don't talk about, but like. Well, I want to say, like. When I'm able to just like make like

fifteen seconds of, like, just pure me, like not I'm not anxious. I'm not... I'm just being

myself. And then I can post that and put that out there into the world and just see how

people react to it. I don't know. It was very like it's been empowering.

Female Participant #8 [00:17:58] I don't know. I'm doing it right now. I'm like I'm like getting

stuck in my head. I'm unable to even speak. It's happening literally right now.

Interviewer [00:18:08] Oh, you're doing OK.

Mandie [00:18:15] Yeah, I guess it's. It was a way for me to be extroverted in a safe way,

I guess. And I am, I I judge myself very harshly, and I always am afraid other people are

judging me very harshly but with tick tock. I was able to do silly things, dumb things, big

things, and just take a chance and see how people would react. And I found

overwhelmingly that people were not as judgmental as I anticipated they would be. By

and large, people were really accepting and encouraging and kind. And I got very, very

few negative reactions from anyone for many of my TikToks, which still surprises me.

Interviewer [00:19:15] So I guess this kind of also feeds into my next question, which is

what, based on the benefits and opportunities of other social media offers you? How

would you compare back to the benefits you get from tick tock?

90
 B146580

Mandie [00:19:44] Let's see. So., I don't know how many benefits and opportunities there

are from like like Facebook. I mean, the only benefit I see there is like, you know, being

able to, like, connect with family, which isn't always a benefit. And like, events and things

like Facebook, you don't really... If you're yourself, then you're going to be like criticized

by your racist aunt, things like that. So, it's not even worth that. I feel like nobody's really

themselves on there. Same thing with like Instagram. Instagram is like I've always had

trouble even like posting on Instagram because it felt so fake to me. I never really enjoyed

it. And I remember when I was like trying to make make like a garden Instagram account

a couple years ago, I was posting all the time like I just hated myself for it. It was just so

like try hard with all the hashtags and just like, I don't know. I never felt like I was being

true to myself. I felt like I was being this weird, like, fake version of myself. TikTok is, like

I said, like the opposite of that. Wait, what was your question again?

Interviewer [00:21:05] It's kind of comparing what benefits or opportunities TikTok offers

you compared the benefits and opportunities of other social media. So, you’re on the right

track.

Mandie [00:21:16] OK. I would say one benefit of Instagram is like monetization. And I at

least, when I stopped making a lot of TikToks, there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity with

that. So, I would say, you know, Instagram is definitely the better platform for that for now.

But that's never been my priority. I guess it would be nice and it would be like a nice

supplemental income, especially if I lose my job from my corona virus, which I'm very

afraid of. But I also think that getting paid for it would suck the fun out of it and suck. I don't

know. I feel like that would probably prevent me from being myself if I had to worry about

91
 B146580

that. So the fact that Tick-Tock isn't monetized in like a formal way yet is a benefit to me,

but might not be to everyone else.

Interviewer [00:22:21] Then would you say that, that this platform allows you to, like,

express yourself more freely than you would be on other platforms would be like another

benefit for you?

Mandie [00:22:34] Yeah, definitely. Yeah. That's the main benefit.

92
 B146580

Appendix C- Sample of Data- Selection of Chessi’s Interview Transcript

Chessi [00:08:10] I think it's so relevant because of what's going on right now, because of

the fact that we we do have a lot more time on our hands and we don't have, like, some

outdoor activities that are disposal. So, yeah, I think it's been more of a a way to feel

connected to what's going on outside of me. And like I said before, it just it puts me in a

better mood. And I've been going through this big mental shift so, you know, trying to just

cut out things that don't make me feel good. And Instagram doesn't necessarily make me

feel good. But it's a platform I've been on. I mean, since it came out as well. So I was like,

let me just substitute with this.

Interviewer [00:09:11] So it's kind of been your substitute for Instagram makes you feel

better?

Chessi [00:09:18] Yeah. I just like able to go on something and, like, giggle.

Interviewer [00:09:23] I mean, there's definitely a lot of that. A lot of fun dog videos with

like sunglasses and then like being tuned to that Dolly Parton song or whatever.

Chessi [00:09:32] Yeah.

Interviewer [00:09:36] So one of the studies I read basically says that like different social

media platforms allow you to like, portray or be a different version of yourself. Like based

on that platform and what it does. What are your thoughts on Like, TikTok, allowing you

to express different or specific version of yourself?

93
 B146580

Chessi [00:09:59] I think that I think that's what I like so much about it [??] As well. I mean,

I was later to it than most people. But still, this is pretty early. And the culture on there that

I quickly picked up on was that they didn't want celebrities on there, that they didn't want

influencers on there. You know, anytime those people part of migrating to tick tock, they

were met with a lot of like not so friendly comments. So I really, it really struck a chord

with me. That man, this is an audience that really values authenticity. And since that was

something that really bothered me about places like Instagram, it. It's very refreshing. And

for myself personally, I don't think I've made enough content where I have really put out

like what I really want to put out. If that makes sense. But it's something that I, I want to

do. And I think that I think it's interesting and like very brave of people to post these

snippets of their lives where they're way more vulnerable because that's something you

notice on there, that people are very vulnerable on that. And they do show to see-through

real-life things and kind of include all these people.

Interviewer [00:11:35] So would you say it's more like a better portrayal of who people

actually are over trying to be a specific version of themselves? Because, like that's whar

they feel they have to be on the platform.

Chessi [00:11:48] Exactly. And I think because of that culture that was established at the

very beginning of, you know, that's all that people want to accept, that it's really, it's been

encouraged to be to be authentic and not put on this front. And obviously, that's something

that you can get with video that you can't get with just posting photos. So, I think that's a

huge advantage.

94
 B146580

Interviewer [00:12:20] [???] the next question kind of goes along with what you said. So,

my study is like fueled by a specific theory of mass media that basically says that we

choose media to meet certain needs, is there anything regarding like... Needs TikTok

allows you to meet that you would like to say?

Chessi [00:12:50] I don't think so at this point, just because I feel... Sorry my computer is

telling me it's about to die. And won't charge. There we go... I don't think so at this point

because it's still so early for me at my age. A need that could be met would be to make

some money off of it. But a lot like you had mentioned earlier. I feel like it's so widely

misunderstood. And I. I swear I get an inquiry a day about sponsorship, but either A, it's

not a brand I would work with for or B, it pays nothing. And I'm not going to put that effort

into something, you know, for like five dollars, like there's been things like that where it's

like use this song and you get five dollars. I'm like, that's not worth my time. But it I don't

think so. But I do think there's the potential for it to meet. I mean, it's mostly just been a

want thing at this point.

Interviewer [00:14:03] And then so comparing TikTokk to the other platforms you're on.

What are the benefits and opportunities that it offers compared to your other platforms?

Chessi [00:14:16] Visibility. Yeah, it's just I don't know what they do, what their algorithm.

But I still have a hard time trying to predict, like, what videos will do very well and which

ones will just not. And to be honest, I don't know if there's really that much of a rhyme or

reason to the things that are both it and the algorithm. But visibility is the main thing. And

like I mentioned before with YouTube, you know, I did YouTube for a couple of years and

95
 B146580

would try to upload a video months in. But YouTube became something that was, oh, you

need to post over a fifteen-minute video. You know, three times a week. And for regular

people that have jobs, that's just not reasonable. And on top of that, it was so hard to

grow. So to be able to go on TikTok, put in less effort, be more transparent and not have

to really stage things. And then to reach the audience that it does is just super rewarding.

Interviewer [00:15:32] So then, would you consider yourself an active user of TikTok still

I guess?? (audio did not capture her saying Yes. but she said YES)

Interviewer [00:15:43] You're going to go back to the brand thing in a little bit. So I'll ask

you about that when we get there. Is there anything else about your overall experience

using it that you would like to say at this point?

Chessi [00:15:57] I think the main thing is that it's just been a very positive. It's a positive

app. And I know, like everyone said, that at the beginning, like the beginning of MySpace,

the beginning of, you know, Facebook and all that stuff. But I think this is different because

they're it's it's just become such a bigger thing where so many people are on it and so

many people are putting all varieties of things on it, that you definitely have the capability

of finding something that influences you in some positive way, whether it's just like, you

know, a giggle or a joke or, you know, a dog. I just think it's a I think it has potential to stay

that way. And it's not oversaturated with people trying to put on these facades.

Interviewer [00:17:01] All right. So, moving on. So, like, in what ways would you say you

participate or engage with content, such, as you mentioned, you've posted some, but

96
 B146580

like... Like are you comment and sharing? How do you generally engage the content that

you watch?

Chessi [00:17:23] Most of the time when I comment on something, it's like me making a

joke or pointing. Like I mean, there's a lot of things where I see a lot of, like, really beautiful

women, you know, finding ways to empower other women. So, I feel like a lot of the

comments that I make are supporting those people and encouraging them to continue to

do that. And like I said earlier, is a very vulnerable culture on there. So, you have, you

know, minorities you have LGBTQ that are giving like firsthand accounts of what's going

on in their lives. So, I feel like I engage with a lot of that stuff to try and be supportive. And

then other than that, sometimes I just make like a little joke with this.

Interviewer [00:18:23] Are there any... Is there anything in space specific about the

content that makes you want to engage with it other than it being vulnerable, other than it

being empowering women? Are there any other comments about what types of content

you engage with and why that you'd like to say?

Chessi [00:18:45] I think too... And I think this is what a lot of other people do as well.

When people post content that kind of goes against the grain or like an unpopular opinion,

I think we all our age group at least, and, you know, millennials and gen Z, we all like to

insert ourselves and stuff like that because, you know, one hand is brave to kind of like,

say things that not everyone else may agree with. And for people to differentiate

themselves that way, but also to like we're in a time where everyone wants to give their

97
 B146580

opinion on everything. So, I definitely engage with that as well, because I just am naturally

a very opinionated person.

98
 B146580

Appendix D- Examples of Data Analysis Process

99
B146580

100
B146580

101
B146580

102
 B146580

Appendix E- Interview Questions

Use/Consume:

-When did you start using TikTok and how often do you check it?

-How does TikTok fit into the rest of your “social media” life and has TikTok taken the

place of other platforms you’re on?

-What motivated you to join TikTok?

-What uses have you been getting out of TikTok since joining?

-Research has stated that social media allows users to portray versions of themselves.

Does TikTok allow you to express different versions of yourself? How does it do this?

-What does TikTok allow you to do? What needs does it allow you to meet?

-What benefits and opportunities do other social media offer you? How would you

compare the benefits TikTok offers you to those benefits of other social media?

-Do you consider yourself an active user of TikTok? (Why or why not?)

-Describe your overall experience using TikTok.

Participate:

-How do you participate in TikTok? (posting, viewing content, liking and commenting?)

-What motivates you to engage with content on TikTok (liking, commenting, sharing)?

-How often do you engage with content?

-Have you viewed or interacted with content that discussed the current political and

economic climate of the world?

-What are your views on TikTok being used as a platform to participate in those

discussions?

-What kinds of videos do you like to view the most and why?

103
 B146580

-What has your experience been with engaging with brands on TikTok?

-In your opinion, should brands be on TikTok? Why or why not?

-What can brands do on TikTok to encourage you to engage with them?

Create:

-Are you currently creating your own videos on TikTok? If yes, what motivates you to do

so? If no, what WOULD motivate you to create your own content?

-What types of videos do you (or would you) like to create and why?

-Are you inspired by the current political and economic climate of the world to create and

share content on TikTok?

-How do you feel about your technical skills regarding creating content on TikTok?

-Are you motivated to improve those skills by seeing other content?

-What motivates you to incorporate hashtags in your content description? (If you don’t

use hashtags when posting content, why is that?)

-Have you created video content that is brand related? Why or why not?

-What can brands do to motivate you to create content for them or about the brand?

Participant Name:

Age:

Location:

Gender:

104
 B146580

Appendix F- TikTok Notes Diary

Note from the researcher: During the early stages of research, I decided to spend time

every day on TikTok to see what types of videos are popular on the platform and see what

trends arise. I took note of the top trends on the “Discover” page for almost 3 weeks.

These observations helped me form questions for interviews and allowed me to have a

better conversation about TikTok with users.

What’s trending? What are people creating? What’s on my “For You” page?

May 27, 2020:

- “Act My Age” One Direction sound: 55.1k videos. Dance videos

- “Think About Things” sound: 58.8k videos that use the whole family. Group created

content. Created to curb boredom during Lockdown

- #thisissports trending: has over 36 million views from its video and tag shows

people playing with sports balls or doing sports tricks. A lot of footballs

- “Breaking Me” song videos: over 412k videos. Used for pranks and videos are

entertaining. Appears as if used to help with boredom during lockdown.

- #projectfreetime: shows people working on projects during lockdown. Upon further

look, many people used the hashtag but the corresponding video did not match the

hashtag.

- #wipeitdown: “show us your best looks” over 3 billion views on the videos. Shows

people wiping mirror and revealing a different “look” or version of themselves when

they wipe.

105
 B146580

May 28, 2020:

- #heapsofhappy: 487.4k “3 tips for a happier day” is the description of the tag but

there does not appear to be the same trend in the videos using the tag. Appears

people just use the tag to get noticed or go viral? Could also tag just to get people

to laugh, which does go along with the “happy” aspect.

- #instantnoods: trending with 39.5 million views. Videos of making instant or ramen

noodles.

- Watched videos under the #ratethings, #projectfreetime and #instantnoods

trending tags next. Appears the videos do not always have anything to do with the

tag or videos pop up using each/all of these hashtags but doesn’t correspond to

any of the themes. Makes you wonder if people just hashtag trending themes to

have a better chance of getting noticed or go viral.

- #whatmattersmost: 51.2 million views on videos using said hashtag. Shows videos

of what matters to the creator. Broad topic.

- “Put Your Back In It” trending hashtag, and song. Just like with other hashtags,

many videos come up under the trend that has nothing to do with the trend. Again,

makes you wonder if people utilize popular hashtags to get views. Most videos

used multiple trending or popular tags/trends. Including the #foryourpage or #fyp,

which is an algorithm of content curated for each user’s timeline.

May 29, 2020:

- #igetupagain: 3.3 million views. At first, watching the videos, it’s a game effect

where you can interact with your video. Boxing game effect. Music was not always

the same. So I first thought it was categorized by the effect but then after the first

106
 B146580

few videos, they stopped using the effect and there was no central theme. Came

back to that later on in my daily analysis. The trending topic had a description of

“time to get rolling with the punches” making me conclude that it WAS the boxing

effect and, like the day prior, people just used the trend to get views on their video.

- Banana (feat. Shaggy) trending song: 11 million videos. Song associated with a

dance that goes along with the song. When it “drops” you like shake your

sunglasses down from your head to over your eyes and continue the dance.

- #heapsofhappy was trending third, like from preview days. Did not see much

change in the trend under that.

- “Think About Things” popular music trending under #heapsofhappy. Also see

previous notes for this. Still no central theme to videos themselves, categorized by

the music.

Then went on to look at my “For You” page.

- First video was a Pomeranian video. Video of a cute dog using the “original sound”

from bootsythecorgi.

- The “Banana Song” came up with a granddaughter and her grandpa. This is

interesting because as TikTok grows, we have seen an increase in older people

getting on the platform and creating or at least performing in videos. Some of which

have gone viral.

- The next video was a sponsored TikTok video from Doja Cat.

- Then came a video from @grandadjoe1933 and his granddaughter using the green

screen effect and Simple Plan’s “I’m Just A Kid” song. This trend of recreating a

107
 B146580

pose of you and the other person now then flashing back to the original photo from

your past has been very popular among TikTok creators as well.

The “for you” page or stream of videos does not appear to have a cohesive theme for the

content that shoes up. People just tag their videos with the hashtag and one can assume

the TikTok algorithm then uses that to categorize and place those videos on users’ own

“For You” pages. Could be a hack to try and gain views or go viral. But the “For You” page

feels different than the Instagram search/explore tab, which appears to be more based on

what you’ve liked or viewed in the past.

May 30, 2020:

checked what’s trending first.

- #testofwill: 4.2 million views. “You’ll need a little willpower to resist this one.” The

first video was of a dog being tempted by a treat, the second was a baby, then it

was someone showing a pottery demonstration, followed by a gay couple talking

about putting on lipstick. The boyfriend on the left said his partner could have the

lipstick if he waited until he got back in the room then ran out. The partner did not

have the “willpower” and tried on the lipstick before his boyfriend returned and he

got caught. The video after that utilized a “Stanford Marshmallow experiment.” The

video was about delayed gratification. So, the test of will is less about the same

content and more about anything that has to do with willpower or waiting, it appears

after viewing at least 6 videos in a row.

- #Igetupagain: second in trending. Has moved up to 7.4 million views. The first 6

videos followed the trend, but like the days prior, the videos after appearing to be

108
 B146580

“hashtag hijacking” and just using the hashtag because its trending and to gain

views. Those videos did not follow the theme.

- Banana (feat. Shaggy) song was third in trending. Up from 11 million to 11.4 million

views.

Upon scrolling down the “what’s trending” page, most of the trends coming up I have seen

or analyzed already. Until I got to the 14th trend on the list.

- The 14th trend was #esportsforall. Which celebrates all things competitive. First

video that comes up is of a man playing a video game. A majority of the videos I

scrolled through were of people playing video games. Then, as with other trending

hashtags, videos start to fall away from the theme and hashtag hijack.

Also came across an ad by Boss suits on my “For You” page. It showed Chris Hemsworth

surfing in a suit. Hard to tell if it invites a hashtag for fans to use, but I checked out their

profile and they do appear to have a hashtag for fans to use and tag their videos if they

feature Boss suits.

June 1, 2020:

Checks what’s trending first.

- #blacklivesmatter: 1.9 billion views. Just days after George Floyd was killed by one

cop while the others just watched, protests that started out peaceful turned violent

BECAUSE of the police. Videos shows the protests, turned almost riots, spreading

awareness or mourning him along with others who were unjustly killed, and racial

injustice flooded not only TikTok but all social media.

109
 B146580

- #learnontiktok: 4.1 billion views on videos using this hashtag. this tag is for people

telling you new/interesting/weird facts, showing or explaining how to do something.

Like tutorials. The first video showed a girl turning (using nature) into music and

sounds.

- A video in the #learnontiktok led me to another trending hashtag that had not come

up on my trending page so far (or was so far down, I missed it). This is the

#pancakecereal challenge. The video that led me to the hashtag was a girl making

tiny pancakes and eating them like cereal, in a cereal bow. The trend had 1.6 billion

views, but the fist 6 videos under the hashtag were unrelated and appeared to just

be hashtag hijacking. I had to scroll down a good 10 videos to find one actually

using the hashtag where the video content matched.

- Third trend back over on the trending page was #teatimeteamwork: 10.1 million

views. “teatime wouldn’t be complete without a little help from your friends.” After

scrolling through at least 10 videos, none of them seemed to be related to teatime?

The trends below those get back to trends and hashtags I have already covered in my

notes.

June 2, 2020:

Checks what’s trending

- #lipstick101: 7.8 million views. First on the list of trends for the day. Description of

trend is “mwah. Show us your hacks.” Hacks include DIY creation of bubble-gum

flavoured lip balm. The second video shows a guy “trying to change the colour of

his tongue” and tagged many popular hashtags, which made me think he was just

trying to hashtag hijack. The third video was lipstick related. A user called

110
 B146580

@alxhendy appeared in the feed for #lipstick101 a few different times and none of

his videos were related to the theme. All of his content was random, and it

appeared he used a variety of popular hashtags just to gain views.

- #blacklivesmatter: 3.1 billion views, up from 1.9 billion yesterday.

- #learnontiktok: 4.3 billion views, up from 4.1 billion yesterday.

- “Be Kind” popular music is 4th, which is a new one for me to see on the trending

page. 129.5k videos. Music from “marshmello” most of the videos also include

#bekind with the song.

No other new trends came up immediately.

- Until I got to the 11th trend on the list. #ratethings came up and I have scrolled

through it in past days, but I do not know if I included comments on it. videos on

several other trending tags have used this tag also. So it feels like another tag that

has been hijacked. Has 2.1 billion views. Description explains it is all about getting

out your score card and rating things. Some videos included people watching out

of their windows and “rating” cars attempts to stop at a stop sign as they drove by.”

But as I scrolled through videos and watched many, there was no real theme and

many videos did not include a “rating” of some kind.

June 3, 2020:

What’s trending?

- #fastestlap: 436.3k views. “grab the sticker and show us your PB.” The fastest lap

sticker appears to be like this effect you can add to your video and is based on

workout or exercise. 4 of the first 6 videos included the theme. After that, the actual

111
 B146580

theme the trend called for disintegrated. Videos I scrolled through included dogs,

make up looks and tutorials and “food to not eat before brushing your teeth.” Those

videos did not even use the effect, yet they came up when I was going through the

trend. After watching 30 something videos, most did not match the theme. Most did

appear to be filmed in the creator’s room or house by themselves. Which makes

me think they were filming because they were bored during lockdown.

- “Who’s that what’s that” trending sound. 5610 videos. The video contents differ

from video to video, a lot of people were just lip syncing to the song but some also

showed sunsets, people putting on clothes and showing them off, make up looks,

etc. As long as the video included the sound. In the captions, some people even

said they did the video because they were bored. Others list reasons like “they

wanted to show off the outfits they would have worn if the world was normal.” A lot

of videos were filmed in people’s bedrooms

- #lipstick101 next, up to 10.9 million views

- #blacklivesmatter up to 4.3 billion views.

June 4, 2020:

What’s trending?

- #missyou: 9.3 billion views. “want to recreate a family portrait, but you’re a million

miles away from your family? Go solo and show us who you miss.” First few videos

use a green screen effect and use “I wanna feel again” sound from

@weepingaudios. Showed people recreating a moment from an old photograph or

family photo and then cutting to that photo. The creators tried to create how they

112
 B146580

were posed in the old photo and then immediately cut to the photo. The first 5

followed the videos dropped off under the trend.

Based on various results from UGT , this could be a trend people create videos for

to either foster relationships with family/friends or for entertainment.

Saw a high proportion of Indian culture and Indian people when scrolling through

this trend, which makes sense as India has one of the highest proportions of users.

Important to make a note of this observation because this is the first time that has

shown up in my analysis of TikTok hashtags.

- #fastestlap: up to 6.1 million views

- #blacklivesmatter: up to 5.3 billion views

- #learnontiktok: up to 4.7 billion views

On my “For You” page, I found an interesting video called “Become a Karen Part 2” and

it shows a girl who plays both characters in the video- as the interviewer and interviewee.

She interviews a hopeful middle-aged white woman to join her “Karen Cult.” Appears to

be filmed in her living room or bedroom. The user tagged #ukcomedy #funny and

#workfromhome, which makes one believe that due to the content and the hashtags

provided, she created the video for entertainment purposes or to cure her boredom from

being stuck at home.

Also have been seeing a high proportion of elderly people participating in TikToks, usually

with their families. I’ve seen them in videos with grandkids or spouses. Could be for

reasons such as fostering family relationships or for entertainment reasons.

113
 B146580

June 5, 2020:

What’s trending?

A note to make before getting into the new trends is there is a carousel banner at the top

of the page and it scrolls through current trends on TikTok.

- #ecounited: 5.1 million views. The trend is supposed to be for “sharing your tips for

saving resources.” The first video shows a guy recycling, but clearly in a more

creative way, as that is the nature of the platform. In his description, he mentioned

World Environment Day. Literally after that one video, the themes across video

content dropped off and I scrolled through dozens of videos. None of them seemed

to follow the trend or be what it was about. I saw videos about makeup, people

making dog treats, dance videos and several videos of the same creator listing

“top 3” in various categories like top 3 sweets. All videos tagged #ecounited and

other current trends such as #PositiveEnergyChallenge

- #PositiveEnergyChallenge: 25.2 million views. Sponsored by Hyundai Motor

Company for World Environment Day. This is the first brand sponsored trend I have

come across. First few videos are labelled “official” Hyundai x BTS. People are

shown drinking or with water bottles (in many of them_ and sing along to the song-

there is also an effect you add to the video. Many people sent in videos from their

homes. the only trend I have investigated and scrolled through where the videos

stayed on trend for more than 5-6 videos. Could be because it is brand sponsored?

114
 B146580

June 6, 2020:

- #watermelonsugar: 285.9 million views. The hashtag description only says

“keeping it fresh and sweet.” The fist video showed a pug and featured many

watermelon items, such as blow up swimming pool and watermelon ice cubes-

Doug the Pug, and he listened to “Watermelon Sugar.” Many videos used Harry

Styles’ new single “Watermelon Sugar” and that makes me think this is the reason

it is a trend. The video for Watermelon Sugar came out recently. Many videos

included photos or clips of Harry too. From people showing them painting a portrait

of Harry to old One Direction videos, More and more videos stopped showing real

watermelons and started being just about Harry Styles. From people reacting to

comments and tweets to showing them playing the song on guitar in their

bedrooms. Again, it looks like people made videos to entertain themselves.

- #PositiveEnergyChallenge: up to 124.7 million views

- Move down to the 4th trend on the list because and 3 we’ve discussed. “Stunnin”

popular music. 50.3 videos and the sound is from Curtis Waters. Videos include a

father, son duo in their house have fun giving a fashion show during quarantine.

The next video is a Gen Z looking female in her room also showing off different

outfits. Videos start following this challenge or something called “what I’d wear”

and then shows what they would wear for different categories such as Pokémon

and Stranger Things. Many people filmed these videos in bedrooms. The outfit

changes and music connect the videos feature friends or what could be siblings

and outfit changes. After those videos, some just feature people at their homes

dancing. While a good few followed the “what I’d wear” theme, that is not strictly

associated with the sound. As always, video content stopped following a trend and

115
 B146580

I saw people painting, skateboarding, dancing and working out but all used the

song. Constant theme is people at home or the outfits.

June 7, 2020:

One note to make is that on many days, when I take a look at the trending page, I have

said that many of the same trends appear in the list. Sometimes the first few are the same

in the same order. I report on if the number of videos and views have increased. Many

times they have. Which leads me to believe that hashtag trends, or anything that is

“trending” has a decent shelf life. It can appear for several days and I won’t notice any

new videos popping up under the trend, but the views have gone up. Which makes me

believe that if you don’t get tons of views in the first few hours, you still have a chance to

gain traction. For several days, I see the same hashtags and trends, such as

#learnontiktok, #imissyou, #blacklivesmatter, #lipstick101 and more. I never saw new

videos in the following days I viewed the, but I saw an increase in views. Which does not

mean that new videos will not still be added to the trend, if its trending and people view a

trend and want to join, they can of course hop on the trend days after I’ve seen it. the

interesting thing is that the trends seem to last longer.

What’s trending?

- #learnontikok: 5.2 billion views, an increase from the last reporting on this trend. It

is back to the first trend I see on the Discover/trending tab and for the first time in

days, I see new content popping up. The first video shows a guy playing the Rick

and Morty theme music using glass cups of water and a piano. He appears to be

in his house. The next video showed a guy explaining how he “stole a bowl of

116
 B146580

cereal from a FaceTime call. This is an interesting #learnontiktok because it

includes him explaining using photoshop and a green screen and editing. He

included hashtags also such as #magictutorial and #tutorial. This looks to be a way

of expressing his “talents” and for entertainment. The third video is of a man

explaining to us what the “quietest room on earth” is and also hashtagged #uktrivia.

The next video is from a “Dr. Karanr” whom I have come across several times. The

video coming up here is about a rare muscle condition. So it is very educational

and about “learning” new facts. The next video is a DIY makeup tutorial of a woman

showing us how to create coloured mascara from eyeshadow and white mascara.

Definitely shows her creativity, self-expression and is a “learning” moment.

- #PositiveEnergyChallenge: up to 177.2 million views. No apparent change in video

content

- #watermelonsugar: up to 293.1 million views. Also no apparent change in video

content from yesterday.

- #ecounited: up to 20.6 million views. No change in video content.

- #blacklivesmatter: up to 7.3 billion views. This will be a talked about issued across

social media for days to come. Weeks even. People are using the platform to be

open and honest and show solidarity in so many varieties. some are sharing their

stories. Others are spreading valuable information about how to spot cops

undercover, how to protect yourself at protests, where to go donate and

educational resources to access. Some are exposing the police brutality at

protests and around their areas.

117
 B146580

June 8, 2020:

What’s trending?

- #MuseumFromHome: 1.1 million views. “Dig out those family heirlooms, pitch your

Dad’s old photography, or dust off your oldest pair of shoes. Whatever you can

find, show off your most museum-worthy items from around the house.” This trend

seems like a great place for people to fulfil a need of self-expression. Some of the

videos in the tag were: Well the first video was from @grandadjoe1933 and his

granddaughter is in most of his videos and this video was filmed because they were

bored. It showed her taking a box of chocolates and replacing the chocolates with

carrots. She doesn’t show anything “museum” worthy unless Grandad Joe is the

item himself? This is more of a prank video created because of boredom. The next

video is of an older man in his house showing viewers cone snails and educating

people about the cone snail. The next video showed a girl answering the question

(text on screen) “why are you hardly ever in school?” and tagged several trending

hashtags. So it did not follow the trend. The next video showed a guy filming a

video in his room about “asking the headmaster things” comparing year 7s then

and now. Also tagged several trending tags such as #PositiveEnergyChallenge

and #museumfromhome. One video literally just showed a tub of Nutella being

played with by someone scooping a spoon through it. A few videos down, the same

old man from the cone snail video is back and now talking about “Giant Clams” and

educating people on them. He looks to be filming in a living room or library he has

in his flat. A girl and her dog filmed a video in her flat and went on a “virtual” gallery

tour of painting she had done. This seems to fit the museum from home trend more

118
 B146580

than some videos. Of the videos that actually somewhat followed the trend, people

used it for self expression in many ways, from showing their knowledge of

interesting topics to showcasing their art.

- #learnontiktok: up to 5.4 billion views. The only new video that pops up from

yesterday is about “alternative keyboards explained

- #watermelonsugar: up to 305.6 million views.

- #PositiveEnergyChallenge: up to 295.1 million views

Have not taken a look at my For You page in a while.

The first video shows a woman answering this text on screen question of “If I was a

cartoon character in my own life” and shows her going through different activities and

events, outfits representing her routine during lockdown. Appears to be to cure boredom

or entertain herself.

More dance videos performed by friends or siblings, it looks. A chocolate lab dog video

using the sound of “quarantine dog diaries.” A promoted app download ad. A video of a

dog being taken to Starbucks for a puppuccino. There are a lot of cute dog videos. I would

guess these are for entertainment reasons.

If the algorithm shows you videos on this page based on what you like, then it would make

sense. I have viewed a lot of dog videos.

119
 B146580

June 10, 2020:

I took yesterday off from researching. As many of the same trends or hashtags dominate

the Discovery page where trends appear, maybe it was good to take a day off to notice

how things either changed or did not change. To have more to report on. To see if I get

new trends at the top of the Discovery page or just a rearrangement of ones I already

have seen, but maybe with new content showing up first.

Let’s see what is trending today.

- #NamastYay: 17 million views. “Yoga but levelled up. Grab the sticker and find

your inner yoga.” With a description like that, one would expect to find videos of

people doing yoga, which could be for the purpose of relaxation, pass the time or

to entertain oneself and express themselves by showing how they do yoga. The

sticker gives you a pose to do and you have 10 seconds to do the pose and then a

“photo is taken.” Appears not all people doing yoga and using the hashtag use the

sticker from the description and first video. After 7 videos, the content stopped

being about yoga. Content went all which ways- from a grandpa playing a prank

on his granddaughter because he was bored, to a British user called @alxhendy

using candy to turn his tongue different colours and glittery. He shows up a lot

doing different challenges or testing theories about candies and sweets. Another

user answered direct messages in a video. A while down the rabbit hole of this

trend, I did see a gay couple make a zen garden, which kind of relates to yoga. The

farther I scrolled, the more my theory was proven. The videos did not turn back to

120
 B146580

being even somewhat related to yoga, but all videos included several hashtags of

other trending themes or tags. Such as #museumfromhome along side

#NamastYay

- #MuseumFromHomw: up to 17.5 million views. The first video is from a verified

account @carnegiemnh and he is talking about Giant Glams. With facts in his

library or study. He also tagged #molluskmonday. So my guess is every Monday

he films a video like this to educate others about what he is interested in or

specializes in. Due to it being educational like it is, it does feel like it suits this trend.

An account called @.baby.frogs and the video shows a girls collection of baby

tadpoles. I remember reading about this account in an article. She got TikTok

famous over these tadpoles. After scrolling for at least 20 videos and until I

recognized one from the other day, very few videos seemed to fit the trend. Most

videos tagged #learnontiktok and #PositiveEnergyChallenge as well. Content was

all over the place. Most videos looked to be filmed at home alone or with someone

who lived with the person. But content went from cooking and dancing videos to

answering people’s questions to listing off facts, showing makeup looks, duets with

other users. An educated guess is that the videos showing up under this tag were

made to educate or share information to others, because the creator was bored,

for entertainment or self expression.

- #learnontiktok: up to 5.9 billion

- Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert)- popular music. 817.6k videos. People are using

this song with videos tied to Black Lives Matter and justice for George Floyd. I think

its important to understand what part of the song the videos use. “I might not be

the same, but that’s not important. No freedom until we’re equal, damn right I

121
 B146580

support it.” All kinds of people (and pets) coming together. This trend and why

people are sharing videos is clearly for a reason of political activism- which would

be a new motivation under UGT if further research (data) supported it.

- #blacklivesmatter: up to 8.6 billion views.

June 11, 2020:

What’s trending?

- #putafaceon: 31.4 million views. “Boom. But a face on.” The first video also uses a

sound that says “look at me! I put a face on, wow!” And shows a girl in her normal

make up and then boom! She shows what appears to be a costume, Halloween-y

style make up look. Looks very horror style. I would expect her to create and post

this video under this trend for self-expression purposes. In her description, she said

“kind of obsessed with this trend atm.” The next video also shows a female going

through the stages of doing her hair and make-up, showing off her look. Showing

how you do your hair and makeup can show creativity, which is a version of self-

expression. The second video also used the same sound that says “put a face on.”

The third video is from a gay male creator who’s content regularly comes up when

I am analysing videos. He went for a more childish kind of “face” because he

painted rainbows and clouds on a face and said in the description “spread more

love.” Also shows his creativity. Each of the first 4 videos followed the trend and

used the sound, showing each creator’s version of creativity and allows them to

express themselves with make up and hair. The 5th video shows a girl cosplaying

Harley Quinn, which very much a way to showcase her creativity and express

herself. After 7 videos that followed the trend in various ways, the next video was

122
 B146580

from a British girl who is showing people how to make elderflower cordial. I would

also say this shows her creativity but also is a DIY tutorial and provides information.

Scrolling further down, I came across a video that shows how to tie dye clothes.

This video appears to show a mom and her teenage son showing us how. As this

video is a “how to” it provides information for people watching but by the ways they

choose to dye clothes and what colours, this can also show they creativity. The

further you scroll down the videos, randomly, videos that answer the trend pop up,

but it becomes sporadic. One video, the user showed their art in the video and it

was an amazing pencil drawing. Definitely shows their creativity.

- #Namastyay: up to 28.8 million views

- #MuseumFromHome: up to 32.4 million views. Only one new video from last time

checking this challenge. Is from Guinness World Records verified account, and

showcases the oldest vomit.

- #learnontiktok: up to 6.1 billion views

June 12, 2020:

Time to check whats on the Discover/Trending page.

- #learnontiktok: up to 6.3 billion views. And for the first time in a couple of days,

there are some new videos to view. The first video is interesting. It is a tutorial of

how the creator used a “zoom effect” in his video. So after some people were

curious about it, he is showing how he did it. and each pose/character in the video

is him basically posing as different characters, including Iron Man. The video

provides useful information of how to create the same type of video using the effect

123
 B146580

but also showcases his creativity by allowing him to be many characters and edit

a video in a fun way. The next video is from @jamesllewis and shows people how

to pain fluid brush strokes. Also useful tips but also showcases his art, allowing him

to express his creativity. The next video, coming from @brandon_baum also shows

how creative and technical he gets in his videos. It explains how he “grabbed cotton

candy from the sky.” The video gives step by step explanation (DIY) style. Shows

the detailed photoshop work that was involved. One must wonder, does he just

have so much free time to kill and created this video to entertain himself? While

also showcasing his video editing skills (creativity?). Other videos also include an

eyelash tutorial for putting on fake lashes, a video of @jamesllewis painting a

Simpsons character, and a video explaining the strongest alcoholic drinks in the

world (informational video).

- What If (I Told You I Like You): popular music, 4.9 million videos. The song is from

Johnny Orlando. Just from some of the early videos under the trend that use the

song, there are a lot of DIY crafts related videos. From drawing banners, to

calligraphy with glue and glitter to using glitter to decorate/ombre an a bottle, using

colorful paper to create little box sculptures? Videos show people doing tutorials

for how to draw things. There is no direct theme to videos in this trend, just using

the song mostly. But a lot of videos did show arts and crafts related videos- which

provide useful tips and also showcase the content creator’s creativity.

Those are the only changes to the Discover/trending page for the day.

Maybe I should do an analysis of the videos users I follow post and try to categorise them?

124
 B146580

June 14, 2020:

What’s trending?

There appears to be 2 new trends that are top of the Discover page

- #onewayplease: 17.6 million views. “Queing at the supermarket? We’ve got it

covered. One-way systems? Easy. But what if you forget the milk and need to go

back? Show us how you hack the system. One way please!” Off the bat, after

reading the trend’s description, this is meant to show people’s experiences during

COVID-19 lockdown. Could lead to some creative and funny videos. Some users

use this dramatic music to show they’ve forgotten the milk and already walked past

the arrows. After 5 videos, the videos stopped being about supermarket queues

and navigating the supermarket with social distancing measures in place. The

videos that followed also tagged other trending tags. One video that came up was

from @liv.mercer and this is the second video of hers that I have viewed and

analysed. Last time, she played both parts of a woman interviewing a woman who

wanted to join the Karen club? Something like that. In this video, she also plays the

interviewer and interviewee and the theme is “becoming a budget babe.” So joining

a team of other women who are bargain hunters. I wonder if she is poking fun at

middle class white british women? Anyways, the video tags other tags such as

#workfromhome and #ukcomedy, Making one think she creates these videos to

entertain herself (and others) while being stuck at home during lockdown. Many of

the videos showing up in this hashtag also tagged #ultimatebrunch, which is the

next trend on the list today. Videos ranged from dance videos to cooking with

grandparents to using candy to experiment on changing the colour of your mouth.

But since many videos tagged several hashtags that show up on the

125
 B146580

discover/trending page, again it begs the question of: are people just tagging things

that trend to get more views?

- #ultimatebrunch: 12.7 million views. “Eggs on toast but take it up a level.” The first

video is of a girl showing viewers how to pop their popcorn using Vita Coconut Oil

and is an ad. So it would appear the brand is starting to team up with “influencers.”

The next video is the same creator and its about creating an elderflower cordial

(this video popped up in another trend a couple days ago). @alxhendy shows up

again and is showing some hack to turn an egg into like a jelly looking egg? His

weird candy and food experiments show up on almost every hashtag trend that I’ve

investigated. It would appear he just tags any and everything that’s popular to gain

views. The next video is interesting because the creator (refelicity) said she had

been watching the “strawberry salt” videos and was interested in trying it herself,

so she did. A majority of the videos I see when scrolling down this tag are videos

that showed up in the #onewayplease tag because they both appear to be trending

at the same time. So that could be why people tagged both, even if their content

did not match the theme.

June 15, 2020:

At this stage of keeping a TikTok diary, a few conclusions have been drawn from the

things that are trending on the Discover page. The trends vary in theme. For instance,

#learnontiktok and #MuseumFromHome seem to be trends that encourage users to share

information or provide useful tips; this means people that create those videos are likely to

be motivated by sharing information, their DIY tips or even showing their creativity, as

126
 B146580

“learn on TikTok” is very broad and can cover how to make a cocktail, perfect a makeup

look, paint, etc. Then trends like “watermelon sugar” and #instanoods seem to be about

entertaining oneself or making a video because you were bored. The trends related to the

Black Lives Matter protests ranged from sharing information to showing protests and

sharing personal accounts and while information is part of it, I truly believe the real

motivation was a need to speak up about the political mess the US is in and out of outrage

against the police. People are becoming political and human rights advocates and

activists and it is shown on TikTok. Many videos, despite the theme allowed people to

express themselves and show how ride a range of creativity exists on TikTok.

-#tiktoktutorial: 1.2 billion views. “CEO of using TikTok? Share your best tips and tricks

for editing videos, finding the best creations and trending hashtags and getting on the

FYP.” There seems to be no limit to what kinds of videos will come up under this trend.

The first two show behind the scenes footage of people filming and prepping their videos.

It shows the depth and care they take in perfecting each shot of the video. From the outfit

changes and different angles of filming to editing. Another girl shows footage explaining

how in her video she “disappeared and fell into the wall.” This also shows step by step

creativity, care and time spent into creating the video as she explains each shot. These

videos not only provide viewers with information and tips for creating their own videos,

but show the creativity and levels of self-expression people strive for on TikTok. One user

even used a bicycle wheel to film a video. Many videos, especially trending challenging

require users to shoot shots in different outfits, angles and then save an existing video of

said challenge, export each shot you create into a third party editing software and edit

before uploading. For such short videos, its involved.

127
 B146580

Scrolling down through other trends after this one and there is nothing new to report on

today.

My For You page is filled with silly videos of people dancing, a girl lip syncing to high

school musical and simultaneously changing her look between Troy and Gabriella’s parts,

lots of cute dogs…

June 16, 2020:

What’s trending?

- #backinthegame: 20.5 million views. “Football fans assemble! As the game

returns, and it’s time to get #BackInTheGame! With a late start to the season it’s

time to amp up your training. Show off your new skills or pass on what you’ve

learned” The first 7 videos are labelled as “official.” Coming from premier league

English football teams. Manchester City was the first one and Chelsea FC second.

The UK is VERY excited to have football back. A lot of the videos are from verified

accounts, football players showing off how training is going. But after 20 videos of

people showing off football skills or expressing their excitement about football

being back, the videos started not only moving away from football, most of the

videos I have SEEN already because of other trending hashtags that they also

tagged. This just further adds to my theory that people tag a handful of whatever is

popular and trending to get their videos noticed. After the 20th video, actual football

videos become few and far between. As usual, a lot of videos are of people dancing

and having fun or showing off outfit changes, makeup looks. They tag several

128
 B146580

trends. People also answer questions. Best educated guess as to why people do

these things? For entertainment reasons (to have fun, cure boredom).

- #tiktoktutorial: still 1.2. billion views. No apparent change in video content.

- #onewayplease: 31 million views. No change in video content.

- #ultimatebrunch: 21.5 million views. Videos include people telling and showing you

how to make recipes from cocktails to brunch bakes to sharing where are good

spots to eat brunch and other tips around food and eating. One video showed how

to make biscoff brownies. After those 4-5 videos, content resumed what I had seen

the last time I checked this trend.

On my For You page, it’s the usual mix of content. One video I really liked was a girl

parodying a song and made it about Coronavirus. It shows her creativity and allows her

to express herself. Lots of dog videos and dancing videos.

June 17, 2020:

What’s trending?

- #maincharacter: 2.8 billion views. “Now, this is a #MainCharacter intro” What I find

interesting is a lot of the videos do not tag #maincharacter but use the same music,

which is “Mr. Blue Sky” and there will be a text box on the screen explaining WHAT

the character is and then the person who is filming/or in the video goes across the

screen in how they would be featured in an intro. Most videos go through a series

of different “characters” and their intro. Examples of those characters include

“bestie on her way to fight a b,” “the friend who films the fight for everyone,” and

“the friend ready to jump in & help if needed” I think what is cool about some of the

129
 B146580

videos in this trend is some people kind of developed a whole series of characters

and a plot that pertains to them all in someway to make a cohesive video. Other

videos just include a different series of characters. Like many themes on TikTok,

this allows people to get creative. But then other videos do tag #maincharacter but

the content doesn’t seem to fit the trend. But all the videos that follow this sequence

of showing different characters in a scenario use the music mentioned earlier. So

is that the trend? Because most of them do not actually use the hashtag then

videos that are different in content do use the hashtag.

- #backinthegame: up to 29.7 million views. Today is the day Premier League

football is back in England. So it makes sense this is high up on the Discover page

today.

That is all for today.

130
 B146580

Appendix H- Interview Reflections

Interview #1- Miles, June 30 at 2:30 pm:

His interview lasted about 54 minutes long. What was interesting about him is that he was

very articulate and open in discussing his motivations and uses of TikTok. He gave a lot

of great points to think about moving forward. Some of his answers strongly supported

research reviewed in the lit review. He basically made the point that each social media

platform has its purpose and strengths that keep him going back to them. Twitter for news

and timeliness, Facebook and Twitter allow you to share links… Instagram and TikTok not

so much. He talked a lot about how easy to use TikTok is, from the user interface to how

easy it is to create content. For him, TikTok is all about fun and entertainment, as well as

to pass the time when bored. He joined mainly because of his girlfriend and they would

send videos back and forth. So, it was almost by peer pressure but gave him a way to

connect with her. He touched on how it allows people to easily become content creators

and he uses TikTok to express his creativity, without having the pressure of coming up

with creative ideas. His main form of participating is liking and sharing content. Does not

see a point in commenting when he can send the video to who he wants to see it. Does

not see TikTok as a place for brands to go hard with selling their product and service, but

more for organic content. Awareness and engagement. Sees TikTok has a good place for

bigger brands to humanize how people see them. Creates videos because of the creative

potential, peer pressure, its simple. Likes to create content where the filter, sound, effect

is already included. Uses hashtags when he has put a lot of creative effort into the video

and wants to be noticed. But spoke of 2 avenues for that- some content is just for his

friends and fun, not much time or effort goes into that. When he has expended time and

effort, would use hashtags to get noticed and credit for his work. Brands should harness

131
 B146580

the ways TikTok us already succeeding with- trends, hashtag challenges and try to find

ways to include consumers because of getting involved with that.

He spoke to how social media is about the consumer and how the content that works will

keep the consumer in mind. Which rings true to certain literature. He spoke pretty heavily

on how TikTok is not a source of news or political discussion, which contradicts past

studies that say even TikTok is used for information.

Interview #2- Cait, June 30 at 4:30 pm:

Interview lasted an hour long. Also was able to get an in-depth conversation from Cait.

She also started using TikTok before lockdown and was driven to join and start using it

because of curiosity. Her curiosity stemmed from a course mate posting a video that kind

of went viral and seeing how an average person could go semi-viral on the platform made

her want to join. Before she joined, she saw TikTok videos appear on other platforms and

sites, so she could watch videos without having an account. But was driven to join by

curiosity and the possibility of going viral. Uses TikTok to have a good laugh and watch

content she enjoys. Mentioned several kinds of “enjoyment” like different categories of

enjoyment. From enjoyment like laughing to enjoying weird content. Feels you can’t

pretend on TikTok, that you can be more yourself without worry of being judged. Whereas

on Instagram, is more about seeing people live this cool life. Feels benefits of TikTok are

more internal, and using it is more for internal reasons versus other SM, where benefits

can be more social. TikTok allows users to feel happy or fill a social void when they’re

isolated or living alone. Spoke about how TikTok is easy to use for new creators. Does

not feel TikTok is the best platform for discussions of education or political but is a good

132
 B146580

place to start that conversation or raise awareness about educational resources. Was the

first instance of speaking about engaging with the platform by saving videos she likes.

Spoke about viewing and engaging with content that she resonated with or hit an

emotional chord. The dance and hashtag like challenge videos motivated her to create.

Motivated by creating videos that are fun to do and by it feeling like an EXPERIENCE.

Motivated by the opportunity or chance of going viral. Also mentioned 2 trains of thought

for hashtags. If you are creating videos for your friends or for fun, doesn’t use hashtags.

But does if you want to get noticed or go viral. Feels brands can utilize the challenge and

hashtag popularity to encourage user engagement as well as motivate people to create

content. As these videos are fun to make, one can draw the conclusion that brands can

motivate people by asking for content that is fun or using what the platform already does

well. Also feels TikTok is like YouTube but shorter form videos and could be a catalyst for

new YouTube creators.

She spoke with ease and insight that will definitely help in the analysis.

Interview #3- Haley, July 1 at 3 pm:

Haley was very aware of how TikTok fits into her life and sits alongside her other social

media accounts. She spoke a lot to how TikTok has a niche audience for almost any

subject or hobby and gives her a way to create content around one of her passions,

thrifting and fashion. She spoke about how it is kind of like YouTube but with less barriers

to entry and can be easy to go viral. One interesting thing she mentioned was how TikTok

has allowed her to get a sense of community that she does not get from Twitter, Facebook

or Instagram. She spoke about how on other platforms, its more personal and more about

133
 B146580

catering to personal connections in her community. But TikTok allows people to create a

community or find other likeminded people based on niche interests or passions. So she

is able to build a sense of community and belonging based on that, whereas her close

friends may not share that same hobby or interest.

Unlike the first 2 interviews, she spoke more encouragingly to TikTok being a platform to

educate others on events like BLM and political issues. She spoke about how Gen Z is so

passionate about important issues and so much more knowledgeable and sharing that on

the platform. That TikTok is a good space to post digestible content that is educational

versus a long Twitter thread or a long Instagram post.

She spoke about being able to be creative and how there is less of a worry about looking

a certain way or posting the perfect content, like it could be for Instagram. Spoke about

allowing her to be creative and express herself by posting content that is of interest to her.

Also spoke about how it’s an easy to use app. Brands can find a way to humanize

themselves and can encourage users to post branded content by liking/commenting

on/sharing the branded content that already exists or (I guess?) as they see it- as a way

to encourage more people to do the same. Can help them form relationships with their

audience. She had posted a sort of branded video- and the brand had value to her

because it as nostalgic.

Haley spoke very articulately and with understanding of her experience on the platform.

Was very open.

134
 B146580

Interview #4- Tay, July 2 at 4:30 pm:

Due to time constraints with her work schedule, interview was shorter than the others and

I left out certain questions to get to the most important ones regarding UGT and

motivations. Had less to say about brands and how brands can use the space but what I

found interesting was she was the first one who mentioned leveraging the already popular

content creators on the platform. While past interviews also mentioned “playing by

TikToks rules” or jumping on trends TikTok does well, was the first one who mentioned

leveraging creators like that.

As with past interviews, she also spoke about how she used the app when bored and for

entertainment. Engaged with and posting content based on a hobby she was interested

in. As with other past interviews as well, talked about engaging with (liking) videos to save

and watch later. That seems to fall into the “archiving” category mentioned in the literature.

Talked about how the app allowed her to pass the time when bored. As an escape from

the news. What motivates her to engage with content is the content resonates with her in

some way, such as being content about her hobby or what she finds fun- aka the shuffle

dance videos. Spoke about how she started creating shuffle videos to track her progress

on the dance. Which sounds like a form of archiving because you can go back later on

and see how you’ve improved. She also said it was fun for her.

As for the political and economic climate, said the platform has space to participate in

such discussions because it is a good place for younger audience to be a part of the

discussion.

135
 B146580

What I found interesting about her comments on what brands can do to motivate user

content is to create experiences that essentially cause people to want to take videos and

share. Like making the store or in person experience in such a way that people have to

post about it.

I enjoyed hearing her talk about the shuffle dancing being part of what is important to her

on the platform because she was the first to mention that.

Interview #5- Emily, July 2 at 6 pm:

Again, really articulate and lengthy interview. Emily was aware that she uses TikTok for

fun and to pass the time, as well as acknowledged her technical skills not being

something, she put more effort into for TikTok. Said she was just there for the

entertainment. Also, like others, was driven by curiosity to join the platform. As with Tay

and Haley, mentioned archiving purposes for engaging with content- to save and share

or view later.

What was interesting about her, is she has a background and knowledge of marketing but

is still a little stumped for how best brands should and can use the space. Admitted to

falling for TikTok ads seen elsewhere to get her to join the site but has not seen many

brands using TikTok and felt if brands can leverage TikTok WELL, then it’s a space for

them. As someone who is in marketing, to be a little unsure of how best brands can use

TikTok just goes to show that the platform is still somewhat of a myth, that people are still

figuring out how best to navigate it. But did mention brands encouraging engagement and

136
 B146580

content creation by competition or by engaging with people who do post content about

the brand.

Was, so far, the only one who felt less worried about creating content and upping technical

skills to create content. Seemed happy to consume and enjoy content already available.

Interview #6- Annie, July 3 at 11 am:

Annie’s interview was somewhat distorted by the internet connection, so some parts broke

up during the interview. So, that was disappointing but was still able to have a 40ish

minute conversation about TikTok. She was the first person who knew TikTok when it was

still Musical.ly and had an account with that. Then was curious during lockdown and went

on to see her account still existed but had just switched to TikTok.

On the brand side, she was the first one to mention that they should be careful about using

TikTok and mentioned how the younger generations care about values and what the

brand stands for and if they were to engage people to create content around the brand,

make sure both parties have the same values and believe in the same things, as to foster

the right relationships.

As for uses and needs she gets out of TikTok, TikTok is a place for her to pass the time

when she’s bored. Rejoining was inspired by lockdown and having all this time on her

hands. Mentioned that TikTok is an escape from reality for her. Is motivated to share and

engage with content if she thinks her friends will like it- causing her to send it to them.

Other interviewees have mentioned similar things. So, it sounds to me that at least some

137
 B146580

people use TikTok to be social in the sense that it gives them content and things to talk

about with friends. So TikTok content can facilitate conversation and social interaction.

But no one has said they are incredibly social ON the platform, so while TikTok has social

capabilities, it seems that is fulfilled in a different manner. The short-form content is a

motivator to engage with content and watch- ephemeral content can meet people’s needs

of entertainment and passing the time.

Based on creating content, she said she creates some of her own but also helps friends

and does so because its fun. Also mentioned, as for creating content herself, it seems to

need to resonate with her. Such as seeing cat videos and having a cat herself, that would

motivate her to use the sound and create content.

Sees both sides on the technical aspect because she was a digital content creator in Uni

but for her, TikTok is just stupid and fun. So the technical sides to creating content is not

a worry to her. But it sounds like she is able to tell when someone has gotten really

technical with creating a video. Also said she would create branded content if she/her

friends were able to be free creatively. That was interesting to hear because it goes to

show that TikTok was not created FOR brands and that they are not in charge of content

or how people use the platform. It also furthers the idea that brands lose some control of

the brand on social media and that audiences contribute to the brand meaning and image

of the brand. If used well, could be a great place to shape a campaign around UGC where

the fans get to define what the brand means. But has to be navigated carefully because

brands can totally lose hold of the brand if not careful.

138
 B146580

Also fear there may have been a slight language/translation issue. She is from Lithuania

but living in Newcastle and sounds like she has for a while. Which is a fear when getting

the interview transcribed. I hope enough is legible there because I loved hearing her

thoughts.

Interview #7- Paige, July 3 at 2 pm:

After an abundance of technical issues, was finally able to get the interview to work on

video call. Will worry about some bits where it cut out on the video when transcripts come

back.

Other than that, she was lovely to chat to. As with many participants, uses TikTok to pass

the time, scrolling endlessly for hours and for fun. Also likes to share videos she finds with

friends and family- which has come up several times. Sounds like a way TikTok is used

to socialize but is less about interaction within the platform- more about using the content

on TikTok to be the catalyst for a conversation or bonding with friends. Also was

encouraged by friends, as well as motivated by curiosity to download the app at first.

Initially came across it from Twitter and the app became more prominent because of

lockdown. Says the app fills a void of loneliness.

As with many people, said she does not comment much on videos. Would just send to a

friend. What I found interesting, regarding the BLM and more political content, is she said

the content she saw was showing firsthand experiences. That this seemed more trusted

as an actual account for what was happening at the protests. But that with other platforms,

like Facebook, misinformation and fake news will become an issue. But thinks that

139
 B146580

because the app is wanting to partner with universities, maybe they can ensure the

content is factual.

Interesting to hear that she, like others, create content for fun and on things she is

interested or inspired by. Draws inspiration from what she sees on the platform as well.

What I find interesting is many people create for fun and don’t always think much about

the technical side or with an outset purpose for getting views but all do think about views

and using hashtags in order for their videos to be seen.

As for brands, as with others… seems to think that brands need to worry about organic

content and less about ads. Brands need to fit into the app if they join and thinks ads will

make it feel less natural. Brands should “keep up with the trends” on TikTok. I find this

interesting because not only does it resonate with other people but also further proves

what Fournier and Avery (2011) say- that brands are uninvited on social media and must

give up some control if they join the platforms. Also she seems to think certain brands

work better on TikTok than others- mentioned news brands joining, GoPro because of

their product and fitness brands. Also feels brands need to get creative.

All in all, was a good chat and she was very talkative. Open to discussing everything. Was

an informative interview despite technical problems.

140
 B146580

Interview #8- Chessi July 3 at 7 pm:

What was really interesting about this interview is that she is kind of seen as an

“influencer” because early on, a TikTok brand rep contacted her about joining this

“marketplace” of creators for brands to contact them about sponsorships and deals. Thus

far, she’s not accepted any of those offers because none of the brands have aligned with

her values. For instance, she said she had thrifted her clothes for the past 3 years- has

not bought new clothes from a brand in that long. So why would she team up with a brand

if it does not match who she is?

Also, as with others in past interviews, she was influenced by a family member to join the

platform. He is a few years younger, so she wanted to keep up with the trend, What was

interesting about her content creation comments was that it can be concluded that TikTok

seems to be the “YouTube for people who don’t have time for creating long form video

YouTube calls for.” She said the short form time on video is one reason she was motivated

to create content.

Also spoke about the importance of authenticity on TikTok and that is something to keep

in mind for brands because what if big brands flooding the platform hurts the value people

put on authenticity on TikTok? She also said brands need to keep up with the times and

be informed.

141
 B146580

Interview #9- Mandie, July 5, 2020:

I think what was so insightful about this interview was her ability to use the platform to

portray such a raw and honest side of herself that other platforms have not given her. She

spoke about posting videos about her mental illness and being able to connect and talk

to others because of those videos about such issues. While she also spoke about liking

funny videos, what seems to be important to her the most is how raw and honest people’s

content on there is. That seems to really inspire her to act the same. Said she had

received messages because of her videos about mental illness and have been able to

listen to and help those people with their own experiences. The connection and

community appear to have affected her experiences using TikTok.

She took a lot of long pauses trying to gather her wording on certain questions, which I

think is poignant because she was trying to gather the right words to say. Her rawness

and honesty were especially appreciated and felt throughout the interview.

When asked about how brands an enter the space and what they can to do inspire content

made about them, she was stumped and could not articulate what brands could to do

encourage her (or others) to create content about them. I think not having an answer is a

valid answer in itself because it shows how hesitant the audience is to welcome brands

to their TikTok space. It speaks to how careful brands will need to continue to be when

considering TikTok because people truly care about how their TikTok experience

is…handled? Like she spoke about how authentic and raw people currently are on the

platform and worries brands entering will ruin that. And is hesitant to consider what brands

can do to encourage or motivate branded content. I think that is really powerful because

142
 B146580

she is protective of the TikTok space and fears how brands could come in and mess all

of that up. That hesitation and uncertainty about brands speaks volumes.

Interview #10- Veronica July 6 at 11:30 am:

This was the shortest interview I have conducted because she does not create her own

videos and is not really interested in it. Which I find very interesting in itself. She said she

was never big on sharing parts about herself on Instagram and was past a time in her life

where she needed to present a certain version of herself online, so she would just stick to

using TikTok for entertainment. That paired with her viewing the technical side as almost

a hinderance from her creating content because it seems difficult to her is interesting.

Hearing this side of things shows that everyone does not have the same experiences

using the platform. She said she is German, so maybe its her culture that is why she

doesn’t feel the need to post personal things about herself online, versus UK and

Americans.

She also was encouraged to use it to understand Gen Z and younger audience- just more

of a curious standpoint to like to understand about what they like and post. Which I find

interesting. Several other interviewees have mentioned feeling a bit old for the platform

and mentioned Gen Z and the younger audiences. It seems that anyone in the mid to late

30s and older feel a bit intrigued by Gen Z as well as far away from them. As if they are a

completely different species of human. Especially since TikTok is a lot of teenagers, it’s

interesting to hear older users and their take on things.

143
 B146580

But for her, TikTok is all about a place to be entertained and just for fun. As with other

interviews, she did mention that people are more able to be who they actually are and that

TikTok allows everyone to find their niche or community- that it is a platform for everyone

with no boundaries.

As with previous conversations, is weary of brands joining TikTok and does not appear to

think that brands should be on it, unless the platform is a good fit for their brand. Some of

these opinions could be personal because she said she hated influencers and brand

partnerships with them. But it is a valid concern- if brands come in and use influencers

and the experience does not feel authentic, it could mess up what TikTok is for a lot of

people.

Interview #11- Dylan, July 7 at 4pm:

What’s so interesting about Dylan is he’s a photographer and has tried to establish his

work and himself as a brand. He also works for bands as their tour photographer. So, he

has a brand and works for “brands” in a sense. So, he was a fresh perspective to interview.

He also spoke about how he interacts with and consumes content that fits his interests,

such as photography and drumming. Considers himself more of a lurker than poster but

does aspire to post more content. From what it sounds, he uses TikTok to kind be more

himself without having to create a certain look or fulfill a certain aesthetic. So TikTok is

him being himself but also allows him to show “behind the scenes” content for photoshoots

and his work. As with some people, sounds like TikTok is a place to post content that

doesn’t really fit on other platforms and is rawer.

144
 B146580

**At this point, I am at interview 11 and it seems to be the consensus that brands can use

TikTok to humanize themselves and post “behind the scenes” or give people inside,

special content like that. Also, like with other people…. Not many knew how to answer if

they’d engaged with brands or branded content because they can’t remember if they’d

seen that much of it. Which I think is a testament to TikTok. While it is still new, there are

brands on there, and one would assume they post content. Whether its organic or ads,

that requires a look. But if consumers are not sure if the content they have consumed is

sponsored or ads, that could mean that brands are really good at utilizing the platform

well to post subtle branded content that still seems organic, influencers are subtle in their

brand sponsored posts or it means brands have not made enough of a dent in people’s

TikTok experiences, and therefore, brands need to proceed with caution to not mess up

these people’s communities.

Interview #12- Lisa, July 8 at 11 am:

She’s one of the few interviewees I had who did not post on TikTok. She said she didn’t

really think she would fit in with the platform in that way. Unless it was music related

because she’s a musician. She also said the platform was difficult to figure out. Which is

interesting because almost everyone else has said the app is very easy to use. Very easy

to create and edit within the TikTok app. I guess this goes back to everyone has their own

experience using the platform and because each of them come at it with their own

expectations, or lack of, everyone won’t agree.

Maybe because some have actually tried to create, they found it easier than expected and

she would just need to try it out and her mind would change.

145
 B146580

What was also interesting was she said TikTok seems more of a platform for smaller

brands to utilize to build brand awareness and a following. That big brands like Coca Cola

and Pepsi wouldn’t have brand awareness at the forefront. So, she can’t see big brands

like that using TikTok. But for brands who do join the platform, in order to attract content

creators or users to make content about their brand, they should consider things like a

competition or challenge…using hashtags, etc. As with others, she was getting to using

the brand in a way it already works well. Being up with the trends and doing what already

works well.

She, like many others, have mentioned it’s so easy for people to go viral on TikTok and

that can be a reason people use and create their own content. But could also be an

attraction for brands.

She mainly uses TikTok for entertainment.

Once she said she didn’t create, I eliminated some questions from the sheet and just tried

to ask what I thought she’d actually comment on. Since she said she did not participate

much or create, I skimmed over some of those questions and left others out altogether.

146
 B146580

Appendix I- Sample of Interview Notes

147
B146580

148
B146580

149
 B146580

150

View publication stats