PURPOSE: In the U.S., TikTok surged in popularity as the COVID-19 virus spread nationally. TikTok posts may both reflect and shape young people's perceptions of the pandemic. This mixed methods study applied a uses and gratifications framework to a systematic analysis of trending TikToks related to COVID-19, with attention to changes over a 2-month period. METHODS: Analyses are based on an original data set of 2,675 TikToks (529 unique videos across 68 COVID-relevant hashtags) viewed over 2,840,347,014 times. TikToks were tracked daily for 65 days after the beginning of U.S. stay-at-home orders (March 17 to May 20, 2020). A thematic analysis used 28 content codes and nine codes related to subject(s) to examine content patterns. Chi-square tests facilitated analyses of changes over time. RESULTS: Trending TikToks related to COVID-19 most often featured details of everyday circumstances and/or relatable commentary on Pandemic Life. These posts were similarly prevalent in Months 1 and 2. Health-Promoting TikToks outnumbered those exhibiting Risky or Concerning Health Practices (58:13) and were more common in Month 1. Advertisements and sponsored campaigns also shaped trending COVID-relevant content during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: On TikTok, public health information appears to coexist with an abundance of commentary about everyday life during the pandemic. Posts arguably reflect documented social media use goals such as information seeking/sharing, archiving, and self-expression. Yet, TikToks during the pandemic period perhaps most often connect to another previously undocumented use goal: a digital search for common humanity in seeing difficult experiences as part of a larger human experience.
Shelter in Place, Connect Online: Trending TikTok Content During the Early Days of the U.S. COVID-19 Pandemic