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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-119009 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Andersson, Jennifer, Carlsson, Philip |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för medier och journalistik (MJ) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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