"I See Me Here": Mental Health Content, Community, and Algorithmic Curation on TikTok

Ashlee Milton, Leah Ajmani, Michael Ann Devito, Stevie Chancellor

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

25 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCHI 2023 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9781450394215
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 19 2023
Event2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023 - Hamburg, Germany
Duration: Apr 23 2023Apr 28 2023

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityHamburg
Period4/23/234/28/23

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 ACM.

Keywords

  • Community
  • Interview
  • Mental Health
  • Social Media
  • TikTok

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