Pub Date : 2025-06-25DOI: 10.1177/20563051251348122
Jessica S. Robles
Social media has had a significant impact on the increasing visibility of mental health. This article draws on a digital ethnographic approach and discourse analysis of posts to the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) to examine uses of and metacommunication about the language of mental health. The analysis traces and snapshots how mental health language is being used to construct mental health, mental illness, and related subjects as a meaningful social object by participants on social media. The results focus on a particular practice around contesting the language and meaning of mental health designations, identities and language as a form of communication ritual that produces normative metadiscourse about mental health, what it means, and how we should understand and talk about it.
{"title":"The Social Construction of Mental Health Facts in Social Media Language","authors":"Jessica S. Robles","doi":"10.1177/20563051251348122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251348122","url":null,"abstract":"Social media has had a significant impact on the increasing visibility of mental health. This article draws on a digital ethnographic approach and discourse analysis of posts to the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) to examine uses of and metacommunication about the language of mental health. The analysis traces and snapshots how mental health language is being used to construct mental health, mental illness, and related subjects as a meaningful social object by participants on social media. The results focus on a particular practice around contesting the language and meaning of mental health designations, identities and language as a form of communication ritual that produces normative metadiscourse about mental health, what it means, and how we should understand and talk about it.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144513370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-25DOI: 10.1177/20563051251340579
Rahul Mukherjee
Local short video platforms in India such as Moj and Josh have encountered mixed success in wooing talented creators and new users to their platforms. Some of the challenges they have faced suggest the limits of aspirational politics which is entangled with aspects of authenticity and relatability as well as the political economy of start-up apps and platform capitalisms. I endeavor to understand TikTok’s success in India and also comprehend in what ways Indian short video platforms tried to replicate TikTok’s algorithmic logics and creator/talent acquisition strategies within the cultural context of vernacular creativity in India. The article connects discussions of the popularity of short video platforms with recruitment strategies to tap influential content creators in provincial India. The article contends that while theorizing aspirational politics, it is not enough to study (in isolation) how creators aspire to be more successful and gain more followers and influence. Aspirations are also actively fashioned and nurtured by the platform’s talent scouts, content directors, and studio heads. The Indian government along with corporations also creates aspirational discourses. I conceptualize aspirational politics and entrepreneurial limits in these slippages and ruptures across individual desires and state-corporate-platform discourses of aspiration and entrepreneurship.
{"title":"Aspirational Politics of Talent Acquisition: Entrepreneurial Limits and Indian Short Video Platforms","authors":"Rahul Mukherjee","doi":"10.1177/20563051251340579","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251340579","url":null,"abstract":"Local short video platforms in India such as Moj and Josh have encountered mixed success in wooing talented creators and new users to their platforms. Some of the challenges they have faced suggest the limits of aspirational politics which is entangled with aspects of authenticity and relatability as well as the political economy of start-up apps and platform capitalisms. I endeavor to understand TikTok’s success in India and also comprehend in what ways Indian short video platforms tried to replicate TikTok’s algorithmic logics and creator/talent acquisition strategies within the cultural context of vernacular creativity in India. The article connects discussions of the popularity of short video platforms with recruitment strategies to tap influential content creators in provincial India. The article contends that while theorizing aspirational politics, it is not enough to study (in isolation) how creators aspire to be more successful and gain more followers and influence. Aspirations are also actively fashioned and nurtured by the platform’s talent scouts, content directors, and studio heads. The Indian government along with corporations also creates aspirational discourses. I conceptualize aspirational politics and entrepreneurial limits in these slippages and ruptures across individual desires and state-corporate-platform discourses of aspiration and entrepreneurship.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144513373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-20DOI: 10.1177/20563051251339035
Anaëlle J. Gonzalez, Isra Irmak Akgün, Laura Vandenbosch
Despite the popularity of social media influencers (SMIs), little is known about how their content reflects and conveys certain values, leaving a gap in understanding their role as value intermediaries. This content analysis examined the representation of Schwartz values in the Instagram profiles of 59 of the most followed Western SMIs, celebrities, and athletes. Relying on 1256 posts and 2936 stories, the study documented the prevalence of values, modalities of representations (multimodal complexity and post-caption congruence), and differences between SMIs, athletes, and celebrities. Results revealed that 60.3% of the content portrayed at least one value, with achievement, benevolence, and hedonism being the most frequent. Multilevel analyses indicated that SMIs and athletes were more likely to post hedonism and benevolence, while celebrities were more likely to share universalism than SMIs. Most values were represented through low to medium levels of multimodal complexity, and only 15.3% showed post-caption congruence. These findings underscore the need to document how global digital platforms and actors mediate value representation, as they have the potential to shape audience values and cultural norms.
{"title":"The Values of Fame: Exploring the Visual and Textual Representations of Basic Values in Influencers’ Instagram Content","authors":"Anaëlle J. Gonzalez, Isra Irmak Akgün, Laura Vandenbosch","doi":"10.1177/20563051251339035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251339035","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the popularity of social media influencers (SMIs), little is known about how their content reflects and conveys certain values, leaving a gap in understanding their role as value intermediaries. This content analysis examined the representation of Schwartz values in the Instagram profiles of 59 of the most followed Western SMIs, celebrities, and athletes. Relying on 1256 posts and 2936 stories, the study documented the prevalence of values, modalities of representations (multimodal complexity and post-caption congruence), and differences between SMIs, athletes, and celebrities. Results revealed that 60.3% of the content portrayed at least one value, with achievement, benevolence, and hedonism being the most frequent. Multilevel analyses indicated that SMIs and athletes were more likely to post hedonism and benevolence, while celebrities were more likely to share universalism than SMIs. Most values were represented through low to medium levels of multimodal complexity, and only 15.3% showed post-caption congruence. These findings underscore the need to document how global digital platforms and actors mediate value representation, as they have the potential to shape audience values and cultural norms.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144335015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-15DOI: 10.1177/20563051251348922
Yueming Luo, Yu-Leung Ng
Sharing memes has emerged as a prevalent form of social grooming behavior on digital platforms, yet research has largely focused on the content of internet memes rather than the behavior of sharing them. This study explores whether sharing memes with different humor styles (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating humor styles) relates to subjective well-being through the mediating roles of online bonding and bridging social capital. Using survey data from a representative sample of 1000 participants in the United States, the findings showed that affiliative and aggressive meme-sharing were positively associated with psychological well-being and positive feelings via enhanced online bonding social capital. The findings could contribute to a deeper understanding of social and psychological implications of engaging with memes in online communication.
{"title":"Exploring the Mediating Role of Online Social Capital in the Association Between Sharing Memes Using Four Humor Styles and Subjective Well-Being","authors":"Yueming Luo, Yu-Leung Ng","doi":"10.1177/20563051251348922","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251348922","url":null,"abstract":"Sharing memes has emerged as a prevalent form of social grooming behavior on digital platforms, yet research has largely focused on the content of internet memes rather than the behavior of sharing them. This study explores whether sharing memes with different humor styles (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating humor styles) relates to subjective well-being through the mediating roles of online bonding and bridging social capital. Using survey data from a representative sample of 1000 participants in the United States, the findings showed that affiliative and aggressive meme-sharing were positively associated with psychological well-being and positive feelings via enhanced online bonding social capital. The findings could contribute to a deeper understanding of social and psychological implications of engaging with memes in online communication.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"207 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144290157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-14DOI: 10.1177/20563051251348917
Claudia Gerhards
Since social media influencers have become popular and monetize their content with the help of advertising deals, they have been associated with morally questionable, deceptive behavior. The list of misconduct is long. It includes, for example, not disclosing sponsored content, withholding negative experiences with promoted products, buying fake followers, and promoting false ideals of beauty. Building on the concept of “dirty work” as a theoretical framework, this article asks which strategies influencers use to soften this moral taint. Qualitative interviews with influencers living in Germany show that they are aware of their negative image in public and use various stigma management strategies. This article offers a perspective that has not yet played a role in the ethics debate about influencers. It asks how influencers, who are often associated with morally questionable practices, immunize themselves against this negative image and find a positive work identity.
{"title":"Social Media Influencers as “Dirty Workers”: An Explorative Study on How They Use Strategies to Reduce the Moral Taint","authors":"Claudia Gerhards","doi":"10.1177/20563051251348917","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251348917","url":null,"abstract":"Since social media influencers have become popular and monetize their content with the help of advertising deals, they have been associated with morally questionable, deceptive behavior. The list of misconduct is long. It includes, for example, not disclosing sponsored content, withholding negative experiences with promoted products, buying fake followers, and promoting false ideals of beauty. Building on the concept of “dirty work” as a theoretical framework, this article asks which strategies influencers use to soften this moral taint. Qualitative interviews with influencers living in Germany show that they are aware of their negative image in public and use various stigma management strategies. This article offers a perspective that has not yet played a role in the ethics debate about influencers. It asks how influencers, who are often associated with morally questionable practices, immunize themselves against this negative image and find a positive work identity.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144290160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-14DOI: 10.1177/20563051251349476
Elena Maris, Mel Monier
In this article, we critically analyze TikTok videos related to the #MelaninMansion trend and the #BlackTikTokStrike. Videos analyzed were posted during the hashtags’ peak engagement, 2019–2020, and the summer of 2021, respectively. Drawing from Black cyberfeminism and literatures on Black cyberculture, platform politics, visibility, affect, resistance, refusal, and copyright, we identified shared themes and thematic differences between the hashtags. Based on these findings, we argue #MelaninMansion and #BlackTikTokStrike illustrate two significant moments on TikTok for Black creators, and a marked change in their tactical and affective response to on-platform racism, appropriation, and content theft. We contend the messaging and imaginings found in the videos reveal Black TikTok’s negative experiences on-platform and their understanding of potential technological and policy solutions. We especially note the affective change during the strike, where Black TikTok creators turn from humorous utopian imaginings of on-platform equity and celebrations of Blackness and community, to frustrated refusal of on-platform labor and pessimistic reflections on the (im)possibilities for Black content creation. Despite the sharp turn in tactics and expectations, content from both moments reflects a commitment to Black joy and intracommunity support. We argue our findings reveal how the TikTok platform and non-Black TikTok community together create a toxic technoculture rife with the violence of racism, cultural appropriation, and creative theft. Finally, we note the centrality of Black women to these viral moments, how #BlackTikTokStrike especially centered Black women’s labor and creativity, and that despite this, Black women performed an outsized amount of labor during the strike.
{"title":"From #MelaninMansion to #BlackTikTokStrike: Black TikTok, Joy, and the Politics of Refusal","authors":"Elena Maris, Mel Monier","doi":"10.1177/20563051251349476","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251349476","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we critically analyze TikTok videos related to the #MelaninMansion trend and the #BlackTikTokStrike. Videos analyzed were posted during the hashtags’ peak engagement, 2019–2020, and the summer of 2021, respectively. Drawing from Black cyberfeminism and literatures on Black cyberculture, platform politics, visibility, affect, resistance, refusal, and copyright, we identified shared themes and thematic differences between the hashtags. Based on these findings, we argue #MelaninMansion and #BlackTikTokStrike illustrate two significant moments on TikTok for Black creators, and a marked change in their tactical and affective response to on-platform racism, appropriation, and content theft. We contend the messaging and imaginings found in the videos reveal Black TikTok’s negative experiences on-platform and their understanding of potential technological and policy solutions. We especially note the affective change during the strike, where Black TikTok creators turn from humorous utopian imaginings of on-platform equity and celebrations of Blackness and community, to frustrated refusal of on-platform labor and pessimistic reflections on the (im)possibilities for Black content creation. Despite the sharp turn in tactics and expectations, content from both moments reflects a commitment to Black joy and intracommunity support. We argue our findings reveal how the TikTok platform and non-Black TikTok community together create a toxic technoculture rife with the violence of racism, cultural appropriation, and creative theft. Finally, we note the centrality of Black women to these viral moments, how #BlackTikTokStrike especially centered Black women’s labor and creativity, and that despite this, Black women performed an outsized amount of labor during the strike.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144290158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-08DOI: 10.1177/20563051251342793
Jessica Kühn, Claudia Riesmeyer
Adolescents’ self-presentation on social media as an expression of identity development is influenced by personal norms and perceived social norms of relevant others. Snapchat is popular and widely used by adolescents to express themselves. A Bitmoji, as an alternative to a traditional profile picture, offers a wide range of self-presentation options through an avatar editor, including body stature and pose, individual facial features, and (branded) clothing. Based on 53 in-depth interviews with adolescents between the ages of 11 and 16, we investigated how Bitmojis are used for self-presentation and where the underlying action-guiding norms come from. Our study revealed the high perceived relevance of Bitmojis among adolescents who consciously use their Snapchat avatar to express themselves. True self-behavior is essential for some adolescents, evidenced by single, regular, or daily changes to Bitmojis’ hairstyles and clothing. Others engage in false self-behavior, displaying an ideal self to hide disliked body features or showing a false self to experiment with their digital identity. The perceived social norms of the peer group play an important role for adolescents as their personal norms.
{"title":"Adolescents’ Norms of Self-Presentation on Snapchat: Bitmojis as an Expression of Identity Development","authors":"Jessica Kühn, Claudia Riesmeyer","doi":"10.1177/20563051251342793","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251342793","url":null,"abstract":"Adolescents’ self-presentation on social media as an expression of identity development is influenced by personal norms and perceived social norms of relevant others. Snapchat is popular and widely used by adolescents to express themselves. A Bitmoji, as an alternative to a traditional profile picture, offers a wide range of self-presentation options through an avatar editor, including body stature and pose, individual facial features, and (branded) clothing. Based on 53 in-depth interviews with adolescents between the ages of 11 and 16, we investigated how Bitmojis are used for self-presentation and where the underlying action-guiding norms come from. Our study revealed the high perceived relevance of Bitmojis among adolescents who consciously use their Snapchat avatar to express themselves. True self-behavior is essential for some adolescents, evidenced by single, regular, or daily changes to Bitmojis’ hairstyles and clothing. Others engage in false self-behavior, displaying an ideal self to hide disliked body features or showing a false self to experiment with their digital identity. The perceived social norms of the peer group play an important role for adolescents as their personal norms.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144238097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-05DOI: 10.1177/20563051251333490
Marianne Aubin Le Quéré, Sanjay R. Kairam
In the void left by struggling local media, localized social media systems have proliferated on the web as key avenues for the exchange of location-specific information. Yet, as local ecosystems shift, there is a need to understand the types of audiences localized social media spaces attract, and whether these spaces can foster healthy communities. This article presents the results of a multi-national, longitudinal user survey of participants ( N = 2789) on the social media platform Reddit. We show, for the first time, that people who join localized social media spaces also report higher community attachment and political participation intent than users who join other social media spaces. We find evidence that these pro-community attitudes are stronger for longer-term members of localized social media and those who actively contribute through posts and comments. Surprisingly, we also identify that new residents to an area are more likely to belong to a localized social media forum than long-time residents. This article provides context for how the affordances of technology platforms influence the audiences, behaviors, and community impacts of localized social networks.
{"title":"Welcome to the Neighborhood: Assessing Localized Social Media Use and Pro-Community Attitudes in a Multi-National Survey","authors":"Marianne Aubin Le Quéré, Sanjay R. Kairam","doi":"10.1177/20563051251333490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251333490","url":null,"abstract":"In the void left by struggling local media, localized social media systems have proliferated on the web as key avenues for the exchange of location-specific information. Yet, as local ecosystems shift, there is a need to understand the types of audiences localized social media spaces attract, and whether these spaces can foster healthy communities. This article presents the results of a multi-national, longitudinal user survey of participants ( <jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 2789) on the social media platform Reddit. We show, for the first time, that people who join localized social media spaces also report higher community attachment and political participation intent than users who join other social media spaces. We find evidence that these pro-community attitudes are stronger for longer-term members of localized social media and those who actively contribute through posts and comments. Surprisingly, we also identify that new residents to an area are more likely to belong to a localized social media forum than long-time residents. This article provides context for how the affordances of technology platforms influence the audiences, behaviors, and community impacts of localized social networks.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"402 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144228475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-03DOI: 10.1177/20563051251340855
Diyi Liu
The governance of online speech is increasingly a battleground shaped by competing social expectations. This study investigates TikTok’s content moderation in Indonesia and Pakistan, two countries with vast market potential and delicate social and moral stances. Through document analysis and in-depth interviews with government officials, industry representatives, and civil society experts, it examines how stakeholders navigate normative and pragmatic considerations in global speech governance. The findings first highlight distinct regulatory approaches: Indonesia’s collaborative yet paternalistic model preferring fines over bans. It emphasizes administrative compliance through jurisdictional control over platform rules. In contrast, Pakistan’s defensive stance prioritizes infrastructure-level monitoring and restrictions, often resorting to platform bans to enforce control over moral and religious content. Unlike its Silicon Valley counterparts, TikTok demonstrates strategic compliance, deliberately sidestepping controversy by delegating sensitive decisions to state authorities and avoiding political roles. While normative consensus on appropriate content remains elusive, civil society organizations mediate crucial accountability relationships through strategic activism, coalition-building, and international networks. The study discusses the tensions and cost-benefit appraisals of each actor group, identifies essential principles for legitimate speech governance, and examines challenges in translating these principles into actionable frameworks.
{"title":"The Balancing Acts: Communicating Legitimacy in Global Speech Governance","authors":"Diyi Liu","doi":"10.1177/20563051251340855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251340855","url":null,"abstract":"The governance of online speech is increasingly a battleground shaped by competing social expectations. This study investigates TikTok’s content moderation in Indonesia and Pakistan, two countries with vast market potential and delicate social and moral stances. Through document analysis and in-depth interviews with government officials, industry representatives, and civil society experts, it examines how stakeholders navigate normative and pragmatic considerations in global speech governance. The findings first highlight distinct regulatory approaches: Indonesia’s collaborative yet paternalistic model preferring fines over bans. It emphasizes administrative compliance through jurisdictional control over platform rules. In contrast, Pakistan’s defensive stance prioritizes infrastructure-level monitoring and restrictions, often resorting to platform bans to enforce control over moral and religious content. Unlike its Silicon Valley counterparts, TikTok demonstrates strategic compliance, deliberately sidestepping controversy by delegating sensitive decisions to state authorities and avoiding political roles. While normative consensus on appropriate content remains elusive, civil society organizations mediate crucial accountability relationships through strategic activism, coalition-building, and international networks. The study discusses the tensions and cost-benefit appraisals of each actor group, identifies essential principles for legitimate speech governance, and examines challenges in translating these principles into actionable frameworks.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144210938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-05-31DOI: 10.1177/20563051251343864
Ayumi Matsuda-Rivero
TikTok has become an important digital space for solidarity among underrepresented groups. However, it is also a space where stereotypes and offensive jokes are proliferated through unique affordances such as “Use This Sound.” For this study, I focused on Black-Asian multiracials known as “Blasians” and how they used TikTok. I analyzed 56 videos, 47 by Blasian creators and nine by non-Blasian creators, using content analysis and Berger’s typology of 45 humor techniques to uncover common themes and strategies employed by Blasians and non-Blasians on TikTok. Three major findings emerged from the data: First, unlike most social media platforms, the majority of my sample was created by Blasians themselves, with more than half of these videos directly or indirectly referencing racist experiences the creator had encountered using techniques like facetiousness, stereotypes, and wordplay suggesting that a Blasian-specific culture is emerging on TikTok, mirroring elements of Black Twitter. Second, Blasians often relied on monoracial Black and monoracial Asian stereotypes in their videos, demonstrating the multiple dimensions of how they are targeted. Third, non-Blasians relied on Blasian-specific stereotypes, highlighting novel ways in which other minoritized racial groups are racializing Blasians. Taken together, my study sheds light on the racialization process of a growing racial group, the emergence of a digital Black-Asian multiracial culture, and how TikTok united a diverse and broad ethnoracial group.
{"title":"Clapping Back on TikTok: Black-Asian Multiraciality and Humor","authors":"Ayumi Matsuda-Rivero","doi":"10.1177/20563051251343864","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251343864","url":null,"abstract":"TikTok has become an important digital space for solidarity among underrepresented groups. However, it is also a space where stereotypes and offensive jokes are proliferated through unique affordances such as “Use This Sound.” For this study, I focused on Black-Asian multiracials known as “Blasians” and how they used TikTok. I analyzed 56 videos, 47 by Blasian creators and nine by non-Blasian creators, using content analysis and Berger’s typology of 45 humor techniques to uncover common themes and strategies employed by Blasians and non-Blasians on TikTok. Three major findings emerged from the data: First, unlike most social media platforms, the majority of my sample was created by Blasians themselves, with more than half of these videos directly or indirectly referencing racist experiences the creator had encountered using techniques like facetiousness, stereotypes, and wordplay suggesting that a Blasian-specific culture is emerging on TikTok, mirroring elements of Black Twitter. Second, Blasians often relied on monoracial Black and monoracial Asian stereotypes in their videos, demonstrating the multiple dimensions of how they are targeted. Third, non-Blasians relied on Blasian-specific stereotypes, highlighting novel ways in which other minoritized racial groups are racializing Blasians. Taken together, my study sheds light on the racialization process of a growing racial group, the emergence of a digital Black-Asian multiracial culture, and how TikTok united a diverse and broad ethnoracial group.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144193071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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