GIVING CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE: CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM PATTERNS OF #BLACKTIKTOKSTRIKE ON TIKTOK

Abstract

While the overwhelming flow of content on social media platforms allows for an ease of access to information and entertainment, it also blurs the lines for the original content creators to receive the proper credit to their intellectual property. With TikTok’s success among other social platforms, many TikTok dances were reused and their owners did not receive credit for the choreography, specifically when created by minority groups. As a result, the black TikTok community has gone on a content strike on the app and refused to create any new dances. The strike is a form of social media activism and as such, all users participating are creating awareness content under the hashtag #BlackTikTokStrike. The aim of this study is to analyze the patterns of social media activism in the videos shared under the mentioned hashtag. The study uses a purposive sampling method to selectively pick the sample. All videos were analyzed in reference to (a) storytelling analysis, (b) audio and music, (c) technical elements, and (d) protest paradigm. The findings illustrate patterns in all aforementioned themes of social media activism in the TikTok strike movement. Users of the hashtag often resorted to a humorous tone of storytelling. The videos also shared a song for the same artist across many videos. Additionally, participants of the social media movement shared mostly raw and uncut videos although more than half of said videos include graphics like images, infographics, and text. Lastly, users took to the platform to call out artists, redirect credit to original creators, and call for immediate action.