On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings

TikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its founding in September 2016, TikTok has seen widespread distribution, in particular, attracting young users to engage in viewing, creatin...

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Main Authors:	Christian Montag, Haibo Yang, Jon D. Elhai
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-03-01
Series:	Frontiers in Public Health
Subjects:	TikTok DouYin musical.ly personality uses and gratification social media
Online Access:	https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.641673/full

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spelling	doaj-5b2e3c6b3bb3486794265256fb73f9512021-03-16T04:56:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652021-03-01910.3389/fpubh.2021.641673641673On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical FindingsChristian Montag0Christian Montag1Haibo Yang2Jon D. Elhai3Jon D. Elhai4Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, GermanyThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United StatesTikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its founding in September 2016, TikTok has seen widespread distribution, in particular, attracting young users to engage in viewing, creating, and commenting on “LipSync-Videos” on the app. Despite its success in terms of user numbers, psychological studies aiming at an understanding of TikTok use are scarce. This narrative review provides a comprehensive overview on the small empirical literature available thus far. In particular, insights from uses and gratification theory in the realm of TikTok are highlighted, and we also discuss aspects of the TikTok platform design. Given the many unexplored research questions related to TikTok use, it is high time to strengthen research efforts to better understand TikTok use and whether certain aspects of its use result in detrimental behavioral effects. In light of user characteristics of the TikTok platform, this research is highly relevant because TikTok users are often adolescents and therefore from a group of potentially vulnerable individuals.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.641673/fullTikTokDouYinmusical.lypersonalityuses and gratificationsocial media
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Christian Montag Christian Montag Haibo Yang Jon D. Elhai Jon D. Elhai
spellingShingle	Christian Montag Christian Montag Haibo Yang Jon D. Elhai Jon D. Elhai On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings Frontiers in Public Health TikTok DouYin musical.ly personality uses and gratification social media
author_facet	Christian Montag Christian Montag Haibo Yang Jon D. Elhai Jon D. Elhai
author_sort	Christian Montag
title	On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings
title_short	On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings
title_full	On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings
title_fullStr	On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings
title_full_unstemmed	On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings
title_sort	on the psychology of tiktok use: a first glimpse from empirical findings
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
series	Frontiers in Public Health
issn	2296-2565
publishDate	2021-03-01
description	TikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its founding in September 2016, TikTok has seen widespread distribution, in particular, attracting young users to engage in viewing, creating, and commenting on “LipSync-Videos” on the app. Despite its success in terms of user numbers, psychological studies aiming at an understanding of TikTok use are scarce. This narrative review provides a comprehensive overview on the small empirical literature available thus far. In particular, insights from uses and gratification theory in the realm of TikTok are highlighted, and we also discuss aspects of the TikTok platform design. Given the many unexplored research questions related to TikTok use, it is high time to strengthen research efforts to better understand TikTok use and whether certain aspects of its use result in detrimental behavioral effects. In light of user characteristics of the TikTok platform, this research is highly relevant because TikTok users are often adolescents and therefore from a group of potentially vulnerable individuals.
topic	TikTok DouYin musical.ly personality uses and gratification social media
url	https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.641673/full
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On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings

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