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be/1pOssRSE6NQ
Script:
Henry Jenkins Participatory Culture and TikTok
It would be wrong to say that TikTok hasn’t taken the world by storm since it was first
released in 2016. Starting off from three second clips to improving the features to allow up to 10
minute videos, from silly trends to full on news reports, and highly saturated overlay filters to AI
selfie generator filters, TikTok has developed and grown tremendously since its initial release.
TikTok sticks itself out from any other social media app that is on the market by its power
of a differentiated algorithm system. There’s no question on how TikTok’s algorithm works due
to the company’s commitment to transparency; a highly individualized ‘For You’ page curated
by the videos we interact with, the settings you have enabled, age restrictions, and video
information of the content we interact with. Not only that, but TikTok’s algorithm allows for
communities to gather together into one. You could lip sync, dance, participate in trends, or
debate the future of major films or storylines like in Stranger Things. For users who don’t intend
on using TikTok as a form of entertainment like they would the television, the app is flooded
with various news accounts that highlights recent tragedies or deep dives into the prior life and
the small details of real-time crimes.
The app is also great at allowing users to interact with each other in ways better than
liking or commenting. If a TikTok immediately conjures some sort of emotion or creative
inspiration from a viewer, they are able to “stitch” the video immediately with their own
response video if they believe their contribution will add value or they believe the creator needs
to hear their opinions. This works for comments, too. In 2022, the app released a repost feature
much like its competitors, where users could share the content to their followers, friends, and
mutuals, allowing new content to be generated onto our ‘For You’ pages and the chance to
interact with new people.
TikTok’s success can be credited to it being a participatory culture, a term coined by
media scholar of the University of South Carolina Henry Jenkins. According to Jenkins, a
participatory culture is a society in which everyone has the ability to produce, share, and engage
in media. Without the participation of the one billion users on the app, they’d likely only have a
fraction of the success they have today. When applied to TikTok, one can see that the app's
foundation lies in the participation of its users. And participation is more than just posting a
video or commenting. What Jenkins calls “invisible” participants are users who like content,
view content, or save the content. They’re invisible because we may not consider their actions as
“participatory”, but they’re still spreading the content they are seeing and engaging with it in
some sort of unseen way.
One thing that intrigued Jenkins during his research was the creative capabilities and
youthful success of YouTubers during its peak. Before YouTube, theory analyses and movie
overviews could only be found on blogs or in published essays, and childhood stardom
originated from young modeling gigs or appearances on Disney Channel. Once YouTube was
released and gaining popularity, thousands of videos based on infamous conspiracy theories or
personal movie reviews began flooding the website. Young children and teenagers had their
chance in the fun, too, with people like Lucas Cruikshank gaining fame from his eccentric,
original character–FRED. Cruikshank’s fame from YouTube got him far in life, landing a feature
in Nickelodeon’s iCarly and starring as the character in three films.
If Jenkins had TikTok during his research and observations of participatory culture, rather
than YouTube, it’s safe to assume he would’ve had a heyday with TikTok with the creative
innovation in today’s youth and the success their creativity and fun has brought. If anything, he
would claim that YouTubes so readability in content and content creation is what allowed TikTok
to be where it is today. Charli D’AMELIO is TikTok household name, with over 150 million
followers and one of the biggest trendsetters since her viral video dancing to Renegade. As
Charli’s fame and popularity rose over time, she began doing sponsorships with big brands,
reaching nearly 48 million followers on Instagram, and starring in her own Hulu show. Her
imagination and artistry isn’t the only creative soul on the app.
Some users have taken inspiration from childhood TV shows or books to connect with
the audience through familiarity to get their point across like bikini.bottom.news, while others
have taken to dramatic readings or podcastings of Reddit threads or personal shared stories.
In the end, TikTok proves to be a perfect embodiment of participatory culture. Jenkins
claimed over ten years ago that we are going to reach an age where media will no longer be
shared through broadcasting but through the means of one another.
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