Communication Currents

New Series, Vol. 1, No. 6

TikTok is a fast-growing, highly political, and identity-centric platform for information gathering and political engagement. Historically marginalized populations (e.g., racial minorities in the U.S.) may turn to platforms like TikTok due a deep mistrust of mainstream media outlets and formal political processes because of systemic inequalities, such as racial stereotyping in media and voter suppression. Unsurprisingly, young Black Americans are statistically more likely to use TikTok more frequently than their white counterparts.  

This correlational study sought to identify relationships between Black Americans’ TikTok use and certain cognitions and behaviors, including political consumerism, Black activism orientation, and Black racial identity. It is one of the first studies to quantitatively analyze relationships between TikTok use, political consumerism, activism, and marginalized audiences while accounting for media and political antecedents (e.g., participants’ political efficacy).  

Political consumerism is when individuals engage in political activism by basing purchase decisions on social and political stances—that is, intentionally buying or not buying products or services from companies or brands due to political alignments and exercising buying power for political and/or economic purposes. Previous research has revealed positive associations between social media use and sub-political behaviors like political consumerism engagement, especially among marginalized communities in unequal political power structures, as an alternative to participation in bureaucratic politics. Furthermore, social media use also allows people to form networks with others who share the users’ beliefs and cultural identities, which can help mobilize aligned collective action and political participation. 

Social media effects are typically researched from three perspectives: 1) social media as a tool for information gathering from one’s network; 2) characteristics of one’s online networks and social ties as leading to an individual building either a more or less diverse online network; and 3) social media as impactful for both online and offline discussions, behaviors, and information gathering. According to the Modality-Agency-Interactivity-Navigability model, emerging technologies, like TikTok, can reshape how content is perceived through its unique features and properties, so it is important to consider these specific features—or affordances—of social media platforms. For instance, TikTok’s creative, participatory, and cultural affordances as well as network characteristics of diversity, politicalness, and authenticity may more strongly influence certain forms of political engagement compared to other social media platforms. 

The relationships between TikTok use and identity-specific, Black activism behaviors were also of empirical interest in this study. Black activism has three dimensions: 1) low-risk activism orientation, which refers to willingness to enact political behaviors like signing a petition; 2) high-risk activism orientation, which refers to willingness to enact political behaviors which may result in negative physical or psychological consequences (e.g., defying police orders); and 3) formal political activism orientation, which refers to willingness to participate in established political structures and systems (e.g., campaigning for a political candidate).

Also of interest was the relationship between TikTok use and various, complex aspects of Black identity, which were Black centrality (i.e., Blackness as essential to sense of self and fundamental identity), nationalist identity (i.e., defending the Black community through methods like political and cultural participation), and assimilation (i.e., to whiteness in America). According to the Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity, centrality focuses on how Blackness relates to one's personal identity, whereas Black nationalism and assimilation examine how individuals situate Blackness within the context of the wider community. 

A series of hierarchical ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were conducted to analyze the statistical relationships between TikTok use and network characteristics with political consumerism, Black activism, and Black racial ideology among a sample of 311 Black U.S. TikTok users aged from 18 to 69. OLS regressions allow researchers to analyze the impact of independent variables on a dependent variable by adding variables in stages to assess the incremental effect of each set of predictors, which were 1) demographic variables, 2) political and media antecedents, 3) TikTok network environment perception, and 4) TikTok use in information gathering. Participants were mostly women (72.3%), identified as Black and/or African American, but also Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish Origin (4.2%), white (3.9%), American Indian or Alaskan Native (1.9%), Asian American/Pacific Islander (0.6%), or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (1%), in addition to being Black, and were overall politically moderate. Participants were predominantly from urban communities (49.2%), with 57.2% having at least some college education, and 67.5% having a household income of $49,999 or below. 

Participants' use of TikTok for information gathering was positively related to their political consumerism, including boycotting and buycotting behaviors. However, the perceived diversity, authenticity, and political nature of their TikTok networks were not significantly correlated with these behaviors. TikTok use for information gathering was also positively associated with formal political activism but not with low-risk or high-risk activism. Network diversity was positively associated with both low-risk and formal political activism, while network politicalness was positively associated with formal political activism and not associated with high-risk activism. Perceived network authenticity was also not related to high-risk activism. Additionally, TikTok use for information gathering and network diversity were positively associated with Black centrality and nationalist ideology, but not with assimilation ideology. Network authenticity and politicalness were not related to aspects of Black racial ideology. 

These findings help illuminate TikTok's potential impact on marginalized communities by revealing relationships between Black people's use of the platform and their politics, cultures of resistance, and Black identity within the dominant culture; consumer and activist behaviors, and identity among racial minorities while also acknowledging the economic power of minority consumers. Intercultural communicators, political strategists, or community leaders may find these insights useful when seeking to reach and mobilize Black Americans through TikTok.  

Limitations of the study identified by the author include the following: it does not account for the influences of time and political climate changes; it does not address algorithmic biases against marginalized identities on TikTok or control for political knowledge due to inadequate existing measurements; it overlooks variations within the African diaspora and is based predominantly on responses from Black women—although this reflects the distribution of TikTok users. The study also uses a single-item measure for perceived TikTok network diversity. 

Communication Currents Discussion Questions 

1. How might systemic inequality influence distrust of mainstream media and formal political processes among racial minorities in the U.S.? What historical context might be helpful to more deeply understand such mistrust? 
2. Think about your own social media network. Who are the content creators that you follow and how are their beliefs and cultural identities similar to or different from your own? Can you identify ways that your social media use might influence some of your social or political beliefs and behaviors or vice versa? 
3. What strategies might be effective for countering algorithmic biases and fostering more inclusive digital spaces for marginalized communities on platforms like TikTok? How can raising awareness among users about the existence and impact of algorithmic biases contribute to creating a more inclusive platform? 

For additional suggestions about how to use this and other Communication Currents in the classroom, see: https://www.natcom.org/publications/communication-currents/integrating-communication-currents-classroom  

About the Author 

Minjie Li is an Assistant Professor in the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 

This essay, by R. E. Purtell, translates the scholarly journal article, Minjie Li (2024): TikTok and Black political consumerism: Investigating how TikTok use is linked to Black Americans’ activism and identity, in the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 17(2): 145–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2024.2320928