Abstract
Social media platforms are a place where people look for information and social support for mental health, resulting in both positive and negative effects on users. TikTok has gained notoriety for an abundance of mental health content and discourse. We present findings from a semi-structured interview study with 16 participants about mental health content and participants' perceptions of community on TikTok. We find that TikTok's community structure is permeable, allowing for self-discovery and understanding not found in traditional online communities. However, participants are wary of mental health information due to conflicts between a creator's vulnerability and credibility. Our interviews suggest that the "For You Page"is a runaway train that encourages diverse community and content engagement but also displays harmful content that participants feel they cannot escape. We propose design implications to support better mental health, as well as implications for social computing research on community in algorithmic landscapes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | CHI 2023 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems |
Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781450394215 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 19 2023 |
Event | 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023 - Hamburg, Germany Duration: Apr 23 2023 → Apr 28 2023 |
Publication series
Name | Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings |
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Conference
Conference | 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023 |
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Country/Territory | Germany |
City | Hamburg |
Period | 4/23/23 → 4/28/23 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 ACM.
Keywords
- Community
- Interview
- Mental Health
- Social Media
- TikTok