The fastest growing social media application video-sharing social network TikTok (known as “Douyin” in China) epitomises what may be described as a second generation of social media, ensuing the first wave of the 2000s and 2010s. Compared to firs-generation social media such as Facebook and Twitter, TikTok is marked by the dominance of audio-visual content, by light-hearted and often goofy videos, dance crazes, in which users imitate the funny dance moves popularised by young celebrities and “dubsmashers”, lip-sync to the tune of famous pop music songs or participate in all sorts of video-recorded “internet challenges” and “trends”. How are video-sharing social networks such as TikTok modifying forms of online participation and sense of group belonging among youth?
To date is little systematic research about what motivates young users in using this platform and how their style of participation differs from that of first generation social media. Engaging with these questions TKTKGEN project has studied the use of TikTok and Douyin among young people in China and Italy, exploring forms and motivations of online participation and the way they relate to the new attitudes, values and forms of social experience of generation Z. By means of extensive fieldwork comprising social media analysis, interviews and a survey, the project has provided a better understanding of the transformation in the online experience of young people and its impact on identity, belonging and community. Qualitative interviews and a survey of TikTok users showed that - compare with first-generation social media, this platform is used chiefly for entertainment and distraction rather than social-networking and self-presentations. While connection to networks of friends, acquaintances, relatives and colleagues was central to first-generation social media this aspect has limited importance on TikTok.
TikTok's rise also has important consequences for online communities. Despite the platform’s notable role as an arena for the most disparate subcultures the experience of users is more individualized compared to previous social media and requires less self-exposure and self-assertion as part of a group. This contributes to nurturing online communities that are highly fleeting. Furthermore, due its focus on recommender systems which automates much access to information the platform fosters a more passive user ethos than other social media, taking more often the form of mere online content consumption than "participation" in any way or form. Yet, the very success of the platform's mode of operation should be read as a reflection of a widespread fatigue with social media, the personal exposure they entail and proneness to "flames". All in all, by generating these findings the TKTKGEN project has allowed to glean a better understanding of these important practices and their social consequences, as well as offering the PI training, career development and research networking opportunities that will enable future research on this and related issues.
