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The purpose of this thesis is to examine popular male characters trending on the social media app TikTok under the hashtags “booktok” and “bookboyfriends”, with a focus on understanding the construction of their masculinity and determining the qualities that make them highly appealing to a female audience. This will be done by researching the six most popular male characters on #bookboyfriend. Then by close reading the novels which the characters derive from.  This thesis theoretical framework is a mix between romance research, masculinity studies and a female gaze perspective. The thesis draws upon a variety of studies, including but not limited to the works of Raewyn Connell, Laura Mulvey, Janice Radway and Jonathan Allen. The novels researched in this thesis are all heterosexual, written by women and mostly by American authors. These are: Elle Kennedy’s The Deal (2021), Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us (2016), Krista & Becca Ritchie’s Addicted to You (2020), Ali Hazelwood’s Love Hypothesis (2021), and Ana Huang’s Twisted Love (2021) and Twisted Lies (2022).  To analyze the male characters, I divided the analysis into two main parts: physical depiction and sexual content. The book boyfriends are portrayed in a way that is traditional to the romance genre, they are tall, handsome, and rich. However, now they are more extreme in everything, instead of just being tall they are massive. Furthermore, they are also more violent than their predecessors especially in the sexual content of the novels. This is mixed with the inclusion of sexual consent which now exists in all the novels. Lastly, the book boyfriends are all male heroes typical to the romance genre but work as a scale where some behave more as alpha males and others as soft boys.

This thesis investigates how queer women on the social networking site (SNS) TikTok are expressing their cultural identity and building community. Previous research has shown that self-expression and self-presentation are important parts of defining one's identity and building community for queer individuals, and this study analyzes details specifically within the unique platform of TikTok. Its popularity and success as an SNS that utilizes an advanced algorithm justifies its examination and highlights its multifaceted benefits, such as ease of community building and accessibility to diverse content. In a thematic analysis of 66 TikTok videos using the song "girls" by Girl in Red, and consisting of female-presenting individuals, two themes were revealed and defined: color combinations communicating identity and viral trends as queer confirmation or communication. These themes reveal two ways those in the queer community are embracing small content details to find each other and practice cultural identity expression. Study findings outline the social and technological advancements of online community building, while also illuminating how stigma symbols defined by previous studies are continually employed in the TikTok videos examined in this study. Results also support previous TikTok research suggesting that queer users are developing self-organized practices in response to algorithmic functions. / MACOM / This study examines strategies employed by queer women on TikTok to express their identity and build community with one another. The mobile app, which allows users to post short video clips accompanied by audio, often songs that are popular or coordinated with the message of the video, has become an increasingly important channel of communication for members of various communities. For gender and sexual minorities, self-expression and self-presentation are important parts of defining one's identity and building community. Inspired by the growing popularity online of the Norwegian singer-songwriter Girl in Red, this study analyzes the contents of 66 videos using her song, "girls." The study illustrates how online community building has advanced since early social media, the influence of the innovative TikTok algorithm, and provides context for a popular trend on the app. Results show that queer women recognize and utilize TikTok affordances to their advantage, such as participating in trends or liking specific content to encourage cultural identity connections via the algorithm.

Denna studie undersöker hur unga vuxnas TikTok-användning relaterar till deras upplevda uppmärksamhetsspann under senmoderniteten. TikTok är ett intressant fenomen vars användning är karaktäristiskt för det nuvarande senmoderna samhället och appens tillväxt, samt popularitet, stiger ständigt. Trots detta, har nästintill inga studier gjorts kring TikToks påverkan på dess användare. Med tanke på appens revolutionerande innehållspresentation är det därför av intresse att i denna studie undersöka hur appens användning relaterar till dess användares upplevda uppmärksamhetsspann. Studien förhåller sig till ett teoretiskt och begreppsligt ramverk utifrån Anthony Giddens förklaring av senmoderniteten och epokens abstrakta system, livsstilsval samt epokens medföljande collageeffekt och Erving Goffmans interaktionistiska begrepp: intrycksstyrning, främre och bakre region, i kombination med Giddens individualiseringsbegrepp för att förklara den nutida individens identitetskonstruktion. Dialogiska intervjuer enligt den hermeneutiska metodansatsen genomfördes med fem intervjupersoner vilkas TikTok-användning översteg sex timmar per vecka. Studiens resultat presenterar en huvudtolkning som centrerar kring att TikTok-användning har en negativ påverkan på unga vuxnas upplevda uppmärksamhetsspann genom tre olika faktorer. Dessa faktorer kan sammanfattas som användarnas maktlöshet i att förändra den individualiserade och enformiga TikTok-algoritmen och flödet, skroll-funktionens beroendeframkallande och svårkontrollerbarhet samt Tiktoks tongivande roll i användarnas verkliga liv.

This essay aim to study the hashtag and trend #MedievalTikTok, popular on the TikTok mobileapplication starting late summer 2020. The trend will get looked at through concepts like use of history (historiebruk). Some of the main ways the trend uses history is for entertainment, socialization and commercialization. Michael Nordberg’s book "Den dynamiska medeltiden" is also central for the text and works as an academical and theoretical basis. Nordbergs workquestions the idea of the ”dark middle ages”, disproving many unfavorable misconceptions about the period. #MedievalTikTok centers on users acting out the middle ages through simple costumes, shakespearean language, TikTok’s in-app editing features and medieval style covers of pop songs. Bardcore, as this genre of music is called, exploded in popularity in early summer2020. Artist Stantough’s cover of Shakira’s ”Hips don’t lie” is particularly significant in relation to the trend. #MedievalTikTok tends to replicate the same ideas that Nordberg questions. For example the prevalence of witch hunts is greatly exaggerated as well as the absolute rigidity of gender roles and class. The middle ages depicted in the trend is also very geographically limited, with Western Europe being the centerpiece. Northern Europe and vikings are for example overlooked. Other signifiers of the trend is a compression of time and mixups with preceding and following eras such as the early modern period. Popculture, limited school hours dedicated to the middle ages and comedic overstatements influence the trends dated portrayal of the medieval period.

Internetutvecklingen har skapat nya arenor för utövande av våld. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur det digitala våldet mot minderåriga flickor kan gestalta sig på TikTok. Materialet består av kommentarsfält tillhörande minderåriga flickor. Studien intar ett radikalfeministiskt perspektiv vars utgångspunkt är att det sexuella våldet är en konsekvens av patriarkatet och mannens makt över kvinnans sexualitet; studien utgår även från ett makt-kontrollperspektiv. Metoden för arbetet är Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys, denna appliceras för att analysera hur diskursen gestaltas i kommentarsfälten. Resultatet visar att det digitala våldet tar sig uttryck genom att sexualisera och på andra sätt kränka flickorna, där det främst utmärkande för diskursen är objektifiering av flickorna samtidigt som en social diskurs identifierats som upprätthåller och reproducerar patriarkala strukturer och könsmaktförhållanden. Det finns tendenser till en subkultur som bidrar till gemenskap mellan personer som utsätter flickorna för digitalt våld; då samma uttryck och termer används av olika personer. / The development of the Internet has created new arenas for utilizing violence. The purpose of this study is to investigate how digital violence against underage girls can manifest itself on TikTok. The data consists of comment sections belonging to underage girls. The study uses a radical feminist perspective which has the initial belief that the widespread sexual violence against women is a consequence of patriarchy and men's power over women's sexuality; thus, the study has also adopted a power-control perspective. The method for the study is Fairclough's critical discourse analysis, which has been applied to analyze how the discourse manifests in the comment sections. The results show that the digital violence expresses itself by sexualizing and in other ways violating and offending the girls, where the main distinguishing pattern of the discourse is the objectification of the girls as well as a social discourse being identified which maintains and reproduces patriarchal structures and gender power relations. There are tendencies towards a subculture that contributes to a cohesion between people who utilize digital violence against the girls; where the same expressions and words are used by different people.

The increasing trend towards digitalization has resulted in social media marketingbecoming a common practice among companies today. This new trend has openedup new opportunities for SMEs, which typically have less resources than largercompanies. One platform which has become popular amongst businesses isTikTok, and it was therefore of interest to investigate how SMEs are currentlyusing this platform in their marketing strategy. The purpose of this thesis was toinvestigate a number of SME operations in order to understand and suggest howthey can improve their current strategy on TikTok. This thesis is based on previous research on SMEs, consumer behavior, socialmedia marketing, TikTok as a marketing tool, content marketing, viral marketing,and paid advertising. Additionally, a qualitative research approach was usedwhere semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of elevenrespondents. The respondents consisted of a number of Swedish micro, small andmedium-sized firms from a B2C context currently operating on TikTok. The results of the study indicate that SMEs are present on TikTok due to sellingpurposes, interaction opportunities and because of its large reach. The maincharacteristics of the platform were the personal content, the short format videos,and the young audience. However, despite the growing presence of SMEs onTikTok the study suggests that few have a clear strategy on the platform,indicating a potential need for increased efforts to improve their success.

The video-sharing platform TikTok has gained popularity over the last few years. During the recent Covid-19 pandemic, TikTok was implemented in health communication strategies to target a younger audience. The platform's humorous and entertaining jargon is somewhat contradictory to the intentions of health communication. The purpose of this study was to provide insights into how TikTok has functioned as a forum for health communication during the Covid-19 pandemic, and whether the humorous jargon has affected users’ trust. The intention is that the results will be useful guidance for health communicators if similar occurrences are to happen in the future. To fulfil the purpose, the main question “How is the perceived credibility of health communication affected by the humorous jargon on TikTok?” was formulated. Two sub-questions were added to provide a further understanding of how the platform has functioned as a forum for health communication, and how it can be refined; “What do users think of the platform as a forum for health communication?” and “How can health communication on TikTok be improved?”. The theoretical framework consisted of two related theories which are vital in the evaluation of reliability in communication. Firstly, the theory of source credibility concerns the audience’s trust in a communicator. Secondly, message credibility refers to the audience’s trust in a message. Qualitative interviews were considered a suitable method to apply to arrive at answers to the research questions. The method allowed to gather material on TikTok users’ experiences and motives concerning the subject of study. The results from eight interviews with Swedish users aged between 19-25 revealed that the humorous jargon on TikTok lessens the perceived credibility in health communication which is presented in a serious way. However, credibility is heightened when humour is used in health communication on the platform. Moreover, the study showed that TikTok is a valuable platform to implement in health communication strategies, especially to target younger people. Additionally, the potential for improvement concerning TikTok as a forum for health communication involves a greater presence of expert sources, further implementation of humour, and platform-tailored presentation of information. / Den videobaserade sociala medieplattformen TikTok har ökat i popularitet under de senaste åren. Under coronapandemin användes TikTok i hälsokommunikationsstrategier för att nå ut till en yngre publik. Den humoristiska och underhållande jargongen på plattformen kan ses som något motsägande i relation till syftet med hälsokommunikation. Denna studie syftade till att bidra med insikter till hur TikTok har fungerat som en plattform för hälsokommunikation under coronapandemin, samt hur den humoristiska jargongen har påverkat användares tillit till informationen. Förhoppningen är att hälsokommunikatörer kommer kunna använda resultaten som guidning om liknande händelser skulle inträffa i framtiden. Till hjälp för att uppfylla studiens syfte användes forskningsfrågan ”Hur påverkas den upplevda trovärdigheten i hälsokommunikation av den humoristiska jargongen på TikTok?”. För att bidra till ökad förståelse för hur TikTok fungerat som ett forum för hälsokommunikation, och för att ta reda på vad som kan förbättras, formulerades ytterligare två forskningsfrågor; ”Vad tycker användare om plattformen som ett forum för hälsokommunikation?” och ”Hur kan hälsokommunikation på TikTok förbättras?”. Det teoretiska ramverket bestod av två relaterade teorier som anses vara viktiga i bedömningen av trovärdighet i kommunikation. Den första teorin innefattar källtrovärdighet, och handlar om publikens förtroende till källor så som kommunikatörer eller avsändare. Den andra teorin innefattar även den trovärdighet, men handlar i stället om publikens förtroende till meddelanden eller information. Den metod som ansågs mest lämplig för att kunna besvara forskningsfrågorna var kvalitativa intervjuer. Metoden tillät att samla in TikTok-användares uppfattningar och motiv gällande det studerade ämnet. Resultaten från åtta intervjuer med svenska användare mellan 19–25 år visade att den humoristiska jargongen på TikTok minskar den uppfattade trovärdigheten gällande hälsokommunikation som är presenterad på ett seriöst sätt. Vidare visade det sig dock att trovärdigheten ökar när humor är involverat i själva hälsokommunikationen. Utifrån studiens resultat kan slutsatsen dras att TikTok är en värdefull plattform att dela hälsokommunikation på, i synnerhet när det gäller att nå en ung publik. Slutligen finns en del förbättringspotential gällande TikTok som forum för hälsokommunikation. Detta innefattar större närvaro av källor som besitter expertis, mer användning av humor, samt plattformsanpassad framställning av information.

This study aims to investigate the effect, the social media app TikTok, has on the individual and what position of power the application has in that matter. By being the fastest growing social media app, TikTok offers the user an endless flow of content, personalized for the user by algorithms. In order to understand the impact TikTok has on the individual, several interviews have been conducted to increase understanding of if TikTok has the power to change people’s minds about themselves or topics of any kind. The study also aims to investigate whether the individual is aware of the impact of TikTok’s content or not. Through this, we are investigating if TikTok has the power in today's media society to influence people to think and feel things. The study focuses on talking to the respondents and letting them reflect on their use and the content they consume on TikTok. Based on previous research, we have studied algorithms and self-creation based on social media in order to be able to apply this to our own work. By supporting ourselves against previous research, we can fill a knowledge gap by discussing how social media has an impact on the individual and their awareness of this impact.   The dominant theme that emerged from the majority of the interviews was the awareness of the algorithms control, choosing what content the respondent would see. This included their own interests, but also the different ideals shown on the app and opinions expressed by content creators. What can be shown by the result was that the respondents got affected by different sorts of things. Talking about ideals, only half of the respondents felt affected by the content on TikTok and the other half choosed to ignore content of that kind. But when speaking about opinions and subjects, the respondents were more affected by the creators, talking about politics and trends. This shows that TikTok has a power to influence people on their thoughts, but there is an awareness of this impact which makes it a balanced power where both TikTok and the individual are working to be the ruler.

Toxiskt språk på internet och det som ofta i vardagliga termer benämns som näthat innefattar kränkningar, hot och stötande språk. Toxiskt språk är särskilt märkbart på sociala medier. Det går att upptäcka toxiskt språk på internet med hjälp av maskininlärning som automatiskt känner igen typiska särdrag för toxiskt språk. Tidigare svensk forskning har undersökt förekomsten av toxiskt språk på sociala medier med hjälp av maskininlärning, men det saknas fortfarande forskning på den allt mer populära plattformen TikTok. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka förekomsten och särdragen av toxiska kommentarer på TikTok med hjälp av maskininlärning och manuella metoder. Studien är menad att ge en bättre förståelse för vad unga möts av i kommentarerna på TikTok. Studien applicerar en mixad metod i en dokumentundersökning av 69 895 kommentarer. Maskininlärningsmodellen Hatescan användes för att automatiskt klassificera sannolikheten att toxiskt språk förekommer i kommentarerna. Utifrån denna sannolikhet analyserades ett urval av kommentarerna manuellt, vilket ledde till både kvantitativa och kvalitativa fynd. Resultatet av studien visade att omfattningen av toxiskt språk var relativt liten, där 0,24% av 69 895 kommentarer ansågs vara toxiska enligt en både automatiserad och manuell bedömning. Den typ av toxiskt språk som mest förekom i undersökningen visades vara obscent språk, som till majoriteten innehöll svordomar. / Toxic language on the internet and what is often referred to in everyday terms as cyberbullying includes insults, threats and offensive language. Toxic language is particularly noticeable on social media. It is possible to detect toxic language on the internet with the help of machine learning in the form of, among other things, Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, which automatically recognize typical characteristics of toxic language. Previous Swedish research has investigated the presence of toxic language on social media using machine learning, but there is still a lack of research on the increasingly popular platform TikTok. Through the study, the authors intend to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of toxic comments on TikTok using both a machine learning technique and manual methods. The study is meant to provide a better understanding of what young people encounter in the comments on TikTok. The study applies a mixed method in a document survey of 69 895 comments. Hatescan was used to automatically classify the likelihood of toxic language appearing in the comments. Based on this probability, a section of the comments could be sampled and manually analysed using theory, leading to both quantitative and qualitative findings. The results of the study showed that the prevalence of toxic language was relatively small, with 0.24% of 69 895 comments considered toxic based on an automatic and manual analysis. The type of toxic language that occurred the most in the study was shown to be obscene language, the majority of which contained swear words.