Shaping Identity through the Mobile Media of TikTok

Abidin, Crystal and Dyer, Harry (2025) Shaping Identity through the Mobile Media of TikTok. In: The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media. Routledge, pp. 382-391. ISBN 9781003166016 (In Press)

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Abstract

Since its launch in 2017, TikTok has been the subject of much global debate, centrally focused on its high and swift uptake among young people around the world, and the allure (and concerns) surrounding its features and affordances such as its proprietary algorithm, audio memes, and visual templates. The resounding success of the short video app is also evident through the adaptation and on-boarding of TikTok’s core features by rival platforms, including Instagram’s Reels and YouTube’s Shorts. Yet, TikTok remains one of the few apps that is still centrally a mobile media platform, which in turn facilitates user norms such as a high frequency of connection, portability and spontaneous content creation, and a degree of casual and amateur-like tonalities. The mainstreaming of TikTok during the pandemic has also seen a diversification of its user base across cultures and societies, giving rise to new potentials for the cultivation and negotiation of various identities. As such, TikTok has quickly emerged as a key social arena for young people to explore notions of the self, relationality, and a sense of community. In this vein, this chapter explores how TikTok has shaped identity through its mobile media features in three case studies: (1) Identity marking by individuals, looking specifically at expressions of gender and sexuality through the audio meme ‘Here comes the ahhh’; (2) Identity building in dyads, looking specifically at recognition and alignment with role models in the ‘margins’ via the audio meme ‘Mama said’; (3) Identity socialisation within silos, looking specifically at how shared norms, values, beliefs, and behaviours are established through an aesthetic via the community #StudyTok.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	tiktok,identity,digital culture
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2025 16:30
Last Modified:	17 Jun 2025 16:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99588
DOI:	isbn:9781003166016

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