Sensemaking and public intimacy on TikTok: How viral videos influence interpersonal relationships offline

Abstract

Digital communication technologies transform social relationships by networking strangers into mediated intimate publics. Guided by the question of what happens when displays of public intimacy go viral, I analyze communicative methods within intimate publics on TikTok through an exploratory, qualitative case study of the viral “couch guy” meme. Results indicate that users on TikTok participate in intimate publics through the uploading of original content, duplication and replication of content, commenting, and lurking. Utilizing sensemaking as an analytic, first, I demonstrate how TikTok’s platform affordances transform displays of public intimacy into public extimacy, transforming TikTok into a space where social scripts and relationship expectations are negotiated. Second, I offer a preliminary organizational structure of communicative actions within the “couch guy” public on TikTok. Overall, this article concludes that participation in mediated publics has the potential to influence interpersonal relationships offline.