Due to the upcoming presidential election, the ever-so-tense political climate, and the housebound nature of life in the pandemic, social media has become a principal source of political debate. Despite its reputation for catchy audios and dances, the video sharing app TikTok is no exception. During the past few months, the social media platform, owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, has seemingly taken over the virtual world while receiving much attention due to President Trump’s efforts to ban it on the claim of Chinese influence. As mentioned by CNBC journalist Alex Sherman, a recent TikTok report stated that the platform attained over 100 million American active monthly users while globally nearing almost 700 million active users. TikTok has become a gateway for youth to share and converse with each other on a massive scale due to the unique layout and format of the platform.
Contrary to other major social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, TikTok is very decentralized, meaning that rather than large media groups channeling information to the platform and users circulating it, the TikTok ecosystem enables users to be the content. Although some political figures have created accounts, TikTok has banned the use of political ads.
Unlike older social media which consists of scrolling through a feed of posts from accounts followed, thereby limiting users to only see posts made in their circle, TikTok provides another option: the algorithmically generated “For You” page, which adapts over time to the user’s activity and exposes the user to a far broader range of content. This format makes it easy for a video to quickly gain traction and become viral, which has become a principal motivator for youth to post on the platform.
One of the ways TikTok users engage in political discourse is through the use of the “Duet” feature. A Duet is a response video post that replies directly to another video. Both the original and the Duet are played side by side with the original retaining its audio. Users may respond by speaking over the audio, and may also utilize facial expressions, text snippets, or images. Once a “TikToker” presents political information, this tool is a creative way for users to share the video to their own fanbase, voice their disapproval of a video, and even make a rebuttal video arguing why the person that is being Duetted is incorrect. This video can then further be Duetted by other users, creating a tree structure of audiovisual debate far more interactive than Instagram or Twitter. A study held by researchers at the Technical University of Munich mentioned that 80 percent of Duets made by Democratic users were directed at Republicans, evidence of interpartisanal debate.
On the other hand, discussion on the platform does not come without limitations. Misinformation like on any social media platform is difficult to track. Discussion can also be vulnerable to out-of-context evidence and unreliable sources, or interpretations of data perpetuating false information whether on purpose or not. For example, The Wall Street Journal reported that after President Trump was impeached by the House, some users spread information via video posts saying that, since the Senate did not convict him, Trump’s first term was nullified and he could run for President two more times. This statement is false, but received tens of thousands of views before it was taken down. Taking videos down, however, can be tricky because the user could always claim that what they stated was their opinion. Another limitation is that many duets, rather than constructively disagreeing with the opposite side and offering a counter argument, use sarcasm instead, such as dancing, smiling, mocking, and generally downplaying the competing political faction, leading to unproductive discourse. Of course, this can be expected, due to the nature of the platform’s comedic skits. One cannot forget that a major goal for most TikTokers is virality, so they ultimately put on a mini show of political entertainment.
Overall, TikTok has proven itself to be a powerful tool for political debate. As with any other social media platform, TikTok can push a wide range of political agendas users may or may not sympathize with. But one thing is certain: the platform has become an outlet for many to voice their opinions and has started an ongoing audiovisual discussion. Whether this will come to replace real-life activism with passive discourse, or if both methods will walk hand in hand to bring to light the thoughts of the public, remains to be seen.