Assembling “Sides” of TikTok: Examining Community, Culture, and Interface through a BookTok Case Study

The term “side” has emerged to describe communities on the short-form video app TikTok. But what discursive work does the metaphor of side do to describe online communities? Through a case study with a textual analysis of the culture, technology, interface, and platform vernaculars present in readin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social media + society 2023-10, Vol.9 (4)
Main Authors: Maddox, Jessica, Gill, Fiona
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Community
Cultural studies
Discrimination
LGBTQ people
People with disabilities
Technology
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Summary:The term “side” has emerged to describe communities on the short-form video app TikTok. But what discursive work does the metaphor of side do to describe online communities? Through a case study with a textual analysis of the culture, technology, interface, and platform vernaculars present in reading fandom TikTok, BookTok, we explore how user practice and app features intertwine to establish sides of TikTok as relational, individualistically positioned, and exclusionary. In the process, we also present a cursory charting of the BookTok community. Unpacking the construction and implications of this metaphor matters because it shows the distinctive and exclusionary work done by the term side, not just across TikTok but within collectives as well. Who TikTok believes to be the typical member of a side has implications for discrimination and exclusion on the app, as it feeds into existing divisiveness in communities and the app’s tendency to suppress people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and disabled individuals.
ISSN:2056-3051
2056-3051
DOI:10.1177/20563051231213565