TikTok vs. the Fourth Estate: Engagement With News on TikTok

Abstract

[EN] In addition to content from accounts the user follows, TikTok frequently emphasizes content with similar subject matter to videos the user has previously liked. As long as a user has indicated an interest in the topic (most likely by engaging with a related video), they may see a TikTok about it despite not following anyone who has ever interacted with it. Consequently, political networks and communities do not always emerge around prominent figures like politicians or professional content creators, but rather manifest as ephemeral trending topics. Our methodological approach to studying engagement with politics on TikTok therefore uses topic modeling to identify how and when TikTok users respond to news coverage about prominent current events. Specifically, we examine a large dataset of news articles, TikTok videos, and TikTok comments to uncover how TikTok discussion of the Russian-Ukrainian war temporally differs from coverage in mainstream news outlets. By examining points in time where the proportion of TikTok content about a specific topic within the war mirrors its discussion in the news – and more importantly, where it diverges – we are able to see how TikTok users include news events in their engagement with political issues. We find that the majority of TikTok videos about the Russian-Ukrainian war rarely feature prominent news stories, but rather focus on the users’ personal experiences and perspectives. However, TikTok comments are more strongly engaged with specific events and ‘hot-button’ issues related to the war. The application of our methodology allows us to observe how major news events inform the creation and discussion of content on TikTok, the discrepancy between video descriptions/hashtags and video subject matter, and the importance of the comment section as a site for political conversation.