Dancing to the Partisan Beat: A First Analysis of Political Communication on TikTok (2004.05478v2)

Abstract: TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service, whose popularity is increasing rapidly. It was the world's second-most downloaded app in 2019. Although the platform is known for having users posting videos of themselves dancing, lip-syncing, or showcasing other talents, user-videos expressing political views have seen a recent spurt. This study aims to perform a primary evaluation of political communication on TikTok. We collect a set of US partisan Republican and Democratic videos to investigate how users communicated with each other about political issues. With the help of computer vision, natural language processing, and statistical tools, we illustrate that political communication on TikTok is much more interactive in comparison to other social media platforms, with users combining multiple information channels to spread their messages. We show that political communication takes place in the form of communication trees since users generate branches of responses to existing content. In terms of user demographics, we find that users belonging to both the US parties are young and behave similarly on the platform. However, Republican users generated more political content and their videos received more responses; on the other hand, Democratic users engaged significantly more in cross-partisan discussions.

Analysis of Political Communication on TikTok: Partisan Dynamics and User Interactions

The paper "Dancing to the Partisan Beat: A First Analysis of Political Communication on TikTok" presents a thorough examination of the dynamic political environment fostered by TikTok, focusing on particial users in the United States. The research addresses the emergence and characteristics of political discourse on the platform, a field dominated by a younger demographic and distinctive interactive features not found on other social media. The paper elucidates how partisan communication unfolds on this burgeoning platform and highlights the influence of TikTok’s unique interface on political engagement.

Methodology and Data Collection

The paper employs a dataset gathered through searches for politically charged hashtags such as #republican and #democrat. A comprehensive analysis was accomplished by collecting 7,825 TikTok videos and manually classifying them as either pro-Democrat, pro-Republican, or nonpartisan based on their content. To extract various forms of information such as text snippets, demographics, and emotions, the authors utilized techniques including optical character recognition, computer vision, and natural language processing.

Findings and Insights

Key findings of the paper indicate a significant presence of political communication on TikTok, with an intriguing dominance of pro-Republican content over pro-Democrat videos. The research underscores that TikTok's interactive components, particularly the duet functionality, facilitate a novel form of political interaction that diverges substantially from traditional social media discourse.

• Interactive Structuring: TikTok endorses a tree-like communication structure, where users prominently engage through the duet feature, allowing real-time audiovisual responses to content. This feature elucidates a much deeper and direct interaction than seen with text-based comments found on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
• User Demographic and Behavior: The majority of users engaged in political discourse on TikTok are younger than 40, aligning with the app's broader demographic trends. Despite Democrats tending to be slightly younger, interaction patterns reveal distinct partisan behaviors: Republican users primarily engage within their partisan circle, whereas Democratic users frequently engage in cross-partisan discussions.
• Content Analysis: The paper explores thematic differences across captions, embedded text, and user-provided audio content. Notably, hashtags associated with different political figures and issues reveal divergent engagement tactics between partisan groups.

Implications and Future Research

The research introduces several important implications for understanding political communication on emerging social platforms. TikTok provides a public arena where partisan actors not only exchange ideas but personify and perform their political beliefs—posing both opportunities for enriched discourse and challenges associated with echo chambers and cyberbullying in youth-dominated spaces.

The paper proposes further exploration of TikTok's algorithmic impacts, which resemble YouTube's recommendation systems rather than the social graph reliant structures of Facebook and Twitter. This distinction warrants deeper analysis of potential biases and suppression of minority political views by the platform's underlying algorithms. Furthermore, the implications of this platform on misinformation dissemination and the political socialization of its largely young user base are paramount concerns for future investigation.

Conclusion

The paper pioneers the examination of political discourse on TikTok, revealing new forms of interaction and information dissemination fostered by the platform's design. While this research addresses fundamental aspects of political communication on TikTok, the findings pave pathways for subsequent inquiries into algorithmic influence, user behavior, and the broader implications of social media environments on political polarizations and participation. The resulting insights are critical for both social media researchers and policymakers aiming to understand and harness the dynamics of digital political engagement.