COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and shaming on TikTok: A multimodal appraisal analysis

Abstract

This paper explores the issues of vaccine hesitancy and shaming which arose in response to the implementation of World Health Organization COVID-19 recommendations, on the social media platform of TikTok. By extending Appraisal theory to include the use of visual attitudinal appraisals, the study examines how TikTok users employ the semiotic resources at their disposal within the overarching context of the pandemic. A total of 254 videos expressing pro- and anti-vaccination viewpoints, predominantly posted by American and Australian users, between 1 January 2021 and 31 January 2022, were extracted from the social media application and subjected to a computer-assisted multimodal appraisal analysis. It is shown how speakers from both groups primarily aim to elicit a strong emotional response from like-minded users, promoting polarisation. The findings further reveal an ideological clash between the objective structure of governmental healthcare protocols and the subjective orientation of the anti-vaccination group’s habitus. Since the pro-vaccination group’s own subjectivities hinder the effective sharing of information on COVID-19 via TikTok, the paper recommends the use of non-judgemental language and gestures in videos targeting a vaccine-hesitant audience.