Abstract
This paper examines how TikTok impacts creativity through an investigation of the platform’s interaction and algorithmic design. Through one-on-one interviews, autoethnography, walkthroughs, and observation, this research reveals how TikTok’s design is impacting the creative processes, form, aesthetics, and topics of videos shared on the platform. The results demonstrate how both algorithmic and interaction design mediate video elements such as sounds, timing, style, language, trends, length, and more. TikTok’s “Duet” feature is taken as a case study, demonstrating that participants are engaging in certain creative forms and processes to increase algorithmic visibility, which is primed by the platform’s design. The results reveal that creators are purposefully minimising their own creativity in order to pander to perceived algorithmic tastes and subsequently enhance their visibility. As TikTok increasingly mediates cultural norms and information visbility, it is imperative to consider the platform’s design’s outsize influence on what is created and shared—and how.
Keywords
TikTok, algorithmic cultures, creators, collaboration
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.576
Citation
Herman, L.(2023) For who page? TikTok creators’ algorithmic dependencies, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.576
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
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For who page? TikTok creators’ algorithmic dependencies
This paper examines how TikTok impacts creativity through an investigation of the platform’s interaction and algorithmic design. Through one-on-one interviews, autoethnography, walkthroughs, and observation, this research reveals how TikTok’s design is impacting the creative processes, form, aesthetics, and topics of videos shared on the platform. The results demonstrate how both algorithmic and interaction design mediate video elements such as sounds, timing, style, language, trends, length, and more. TikTok’s “Duet” feature is taken as a case study, demonstrating that participants are engaging in certain creative forms and processes to increase algorithmic visibility, which is primed by the platform’s design. The results reveal that creators are purposefully minimising their own creativity in order to pander to perceived algorithmic tastes and subsequently enhance their visibility. As TikTok increasingly mediates cultural norms and information visbility, it is imperative to consider the platform’s design’s outsize influence on what is created and shared—and how.