Takes one to know one! An ethnographic experience with TikTok

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE
Author/s Elisabetta Zurovac
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2024/68
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 83-101 File size 183 KB
DOI 10.3280/SC2024-068007
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Drawing on a critical perspective of algorithm studies, this study analyzes the possible algorithmic harms caused by TikTok’s For You Page (FYP). Through a year and eight months long ethnographic study, this paper delves into the complex relationship between the researcher and the algorithm, resulting in autoethnographic reporting of data. In doing so, the study proposes 4 main phases of FYP’s interaction with users: generalization, deviation, synchronization, and intuition. This research underscores the dual nature of TikTok’s algorithmic mediation: it can provide a personalized, engaging experience, but it also presents risks related to bias, social harm, and loss of agency.

Keywords: TikTok; algorithm studies; algorithmic ethnography; algorithmic harms; algorithmic practices; digital media.

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Elisabetta Zurovac, Specchio riflesso! Un’esperienza etnografica con TikTok in "SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE " 68/2024, pp 83-101, DOI: 10.3280/SC2024-068007