Management of emotions online: content creators’ perspectives on navigating TikTok

Short video form as a means of public communication allows diverse individuals to document and show invisible experiences, share hidden knowledge, and engage with alternative narratives and aesthetics. The project TikTok (Anti)Democracies: Self-making, Skepticism, and Political Expression among Young People examines how content creators utilize short videos to express themselves in algorithmically curated and socially regulated space of TikTok. In TikTok’s affective economy, making video content means practicing complex emotional management. 

Short video creation, TikTok’s affective economy, and emotional management are tackled in our research project in two case studies, both of which use ethnographic observation and interviews as methods. In this blog post, we will focus on the case study about the narratives of migrant content creators, who discuss their life in Finland on TikTok. 

Being visible on social media is, on one hand, a powerful position to speak up, but on the other hand, a position that exposes the creator to possible negative reactions on their content, behavior and personality. The range of emotional experiences gained on TikTok affects mental health, societal belonging, and most obviously the content itself. The work of algorithms and TikTok’s content flow make the contexts of consumption and the audience of videos unpredictable, as well as their reactions. Depending on their goals and personal preferences, content creators learn forms of emotional management, including control of their content, reactions, and privacy, as well as attempts to tame TikTok algorithms to reach a loyal audience.

Control of the content

Content creators quickly learn what triggers different viewers’ reactions, therefore they can predict and curate the behavior of the audience by controlling their own content. For example, many migrant content creators try to make neutral statements and avoid controversy, comparisons, and judgements in their story telling. 

Insecurities that migrant status brings to their lives also affect the way they represent themselves online, so often they try not to generalize but speak only about their own experience that they can rely on. This strategy helps to raise important issues to some extent and connect to other users, but at the same time avoid emotionally intense discussions in the comment sections. 

Another way to reduce possible negative affects is to use humor as a subversive technology within the content. Humor plays with meanings and allows content creators to be critical and discuss vulnerable topics indirectly. Humor also gives content creators more control over interpretation of their messages as one research participant said to us: they (commentators) can’t hurt me if I already laughed at this myself first.

Control of own reactions and attitude

Focusing on one’s own attitudes and reactions is also a method of emotional management. Content creators actively choose how deeply they want to engage with negative comments or messages. One of the popular ways to implement this method is to think that negative comments are rooted in the commentators’ own emotional weaknesses and problems, not their content. 

Some content creators also talked about dismissing the negative comments as empty and indifferent trolling.  This usually leads to ignoring and removing these kinds of comments. Another strategy is to critically engage with negative comments and if they are harmful, try to defend oneself through using different tactics such as personal responses, public humiliation, or institutional complaints, when it’s possible. It helps content creators feel more satisfied that justice has been served.

Control of privacy

The third method to regulate emotions on social media is to control one’s privacy through, for example, reducing feedback channels. Some content creators choose to turn off comments or private messages, so they actively control who can contact them. The same can be said about information the content creators disclose about themselves. 

Tame TikTok algorithms to reach loyal audience

Content creators also try to “train algorithms” to be shown to the users, who are potentially interested and loyal, instead of other groups, which can have some, but not necessarily positive relation to the content. In case of migrants, it could be, for example, the users of older age groups, who might be interested in the content about migration, but do not take videos made by young people seriously and leave depreciating comments. In that case, content creators might try different options to be exposed to different audiences such as using other hashtags, introducing new formats, following trends, etc.    

All in all, research demonstrates how emotional work and management are an inseparable part of content creation and sociality on TikTok. Importantly, there is also an emotional reward for content creators to being visible online. The support and engagement of the audience, emerging connections and friendships as well as practical tips and recommendations constitute another end of the emotional spectrum that encourages content creators to continue their online presence. 

However, while some negative comments can be bypassed with personal methods and strategies, some of our research participants have also voiced concern over how intentionally negative and harmful commenting potentially limits the topics and opinions voiced in TikTok’s public space.

The project TikTok (Anti)Democracies: Self-making, Skepticism, and Political Expression among Young People investigates the intersections of TikTok and democracy in two ethnographic case studies: narratives of migrants, living in Finland, and everyday feminisms and gender politics in TikTok’s short videos.