Tik Tok: A Study in Digital Identity and Social Effects

At first glance, the expression, both linguistically and onomatopoeically, unmistakably refers to the increasingly elusive and extremely fluid dimension of time, paraphrasing Bauman, who evokes the restricted sociality peremptorily sanctioned by virtual bonds and algorithmic actions, today the driving force of any social practice. An anachronistic time that marks the plurality of identities of beings who seek to "be in the world" virtually, constructing ephemeral realities to be there but, in effect, to depose themselves in factual reality.

But what is it, in this case, TikTok?

It's one of the most downloaded apps in the world. A Chinese social network that has gone global, it allows users to create music videos ranging from 15 to 60 seconds long, adding filters or changing the playback speed. It was born in September 2016 and launched under the name Musical.ly , known in China as Douyi , and became TikTok in 2018.

This is the work of the Chinese company Byte Dance, which produces technology platforms dedicated to entertainment and education, which they claim, span cultures and languages. Byte Dance has invested a whopping €750 million to create a joint venture between the two digital platforms Musical and Tik Tok , with the aim of increasing its global following and user base. It is estimated that the social network has around 800 million users and that more than 12 million videos are uploaded daily from all over the world and in all languages.

Essentially, it's a social network similar to its Facebook and Instagram counterparts , but with a few important differences. You don't need an account to use the service; you can view videos without registering. The app's widespread reach makes videos public, so you don't need to register to view them. With the exception of so-called followers , whose presence requires an account.

Leisure time

An application that doesn't limit itself to creating synchronized videos, demonstrating social actors' leisure time practices or scenes from everyday life, not to mention the choral singing and dancing practices that many users engage in; it goes further by triggering very specific behavioral responses. Its mission , in fact, is to create interactions in the form of videos (which you can't comment on unless you're registered), activate a stimulus-response mechanism, and create " imagined communities " that are virtually cohesive but, in reality, disintegrated, as we'll see.

According to the technology company that created it, its purpose is: "To help users explore and discover creativity and knowledge [...] We create a safe, healthy, and positive environment for our users." An application that is attentive to the user's needs, encouraging proactivity rather than passive consent or lack of agency, which motivates and pushes them to take action. A social network that monitors and measures users' desires through the use of targeted algorithms. In this case, artificial intelligence records users' interests and preferences in order to personalize the proposed content.

The “challenging” component

The determining factor of social media, however, is another and is characterised by a sui generis specificity which, in fact, establishes the difference with its counterparts/ competitors , that is, the possibility of activating/participating in a challenge , literally: challenge.

Like other social media , used by digital natives, young and very young, but also adults, it is possible to create and post content using a common data point called #hastag , post hearts instead of likes , but only on TikTok is it possible to create duets, for example, emulating or singing a song with your favorite singer, and it is always and only on TikTok that it is possible to create and/or participate in a challenge; one which, as we will explore further, establishes the dividing line between virtual and real, decreeing policies of manipulation and joking, as well as deviant practices of social actors. A sort of social Darwinism that, by activating very specific behavioral responses, establishes who lives and who dies, and not just virtually.

Biosecurity and geopolitics of social: what dangers?

Bentham's panoptic vision, concerning the controlled nature of reality, as well as Orwell's image of "Big Brother" represent, par excellence, the extension of those devices of social effectiveness and control that are increasingly present as technologies of power. The process of biopolitics of being, or, otherwise known as the biopolitics of bodies, implemented by social and communication technologies is well known to experts. To describe the mediatic and boundary-setting role that social devices fulfill today, the term "biosecurity" is used.

In the age of social distancing, the need for security and the fear of the Other, as well as the instrumental use of technology as a medium for producing identity and controlling social actors, are now well known. The pervasiveness of technological power, to paraphrase Foucault, permeates the fabric of the microphysics of power. Plural, identity-based, and social images, fragments of everyday life, memories, value-based practices, and shared beliefs become valuable material for the melting pot of cyberspace. Heterotopic worlds characterized by the multiple scopic regimes entrusted with the function of presenting/representing and objectifying media content.

What then are the advantages conditioned by the social use of such devices?

It would be enough to consider the seemingly aggregating function, the peer group we rely on to be present in society, but it would also be enough to argue about the fluidity and extemporaneity of the plural and fragmented self; of the sharing of increasingly virtual social spaces and the notorious shortening of distances. What are the disadvantages, then, in the era of cybersecurity? Hundreds of pages are blocked every day by the Postal Police; violent content and deviant practices are the targets of the agents fighting this vile and insidious phenomenon. Behind the rhetoric of social networking lies the intentional and enduring effects of the media format that aims to present to the world life practices practiced by Homo Ludens (McQuail: 1993). Moments of apparent conviviality and tuneful tunes actually conceal clear lines of demarcation between life and death, as well as questionable illegal practices such as incitement to prostitution and child pornography.

So, what are the problems triggered by such devices?

Multiple and concerning user privacy, national security, censorship, and the geopolitics of emotions. In this case, the superpowers are implicated in the issue of national security. China and the United States find themselves in this political arena that uses data and virtual identities. The issue of American security arises because the Chinese platform controls user data (there are approximately 110 million Americans) and is required to comply with Chinese laws. American intelligence , in fact, has raised concerns regarding biosecurity issues regarding the Chinese social network 's content sorting and posting processes . If there is an algorithm that moderates content, who manages user information and data?

Numerous complaints of identity theft or censorship have highlighted Byte Dance's lack of neutrality in its management policies. One such censorship practice concerns the diatribe between supporters and opponents of Hong Kong. An investigation by the Guardian into this issue found that videos and content about Hong Kong are not censored, but rather the percentage of videos on the platform that concern protest videos is reduced. User data, in fact, as well as content decisions, are the direct responsibility of the Chinese government.

Emblematic cases

A case in point is the viral video, subsequently blocked, made by 17-year-old Femoz Aziz from New Jersey, who denounced Chinese repression in Xinjiang. A young Asian American student also reported identity theft. However, according to the journalists who conducted the investigation, there's something behind it. Chinese apps are being used to monitor data. According to the information provided by the investigation, many of these videos were used to track, for example, the tastes and lifestyles of American soldiers.

The geopolitics of social media is complete. The Guardian 's investigation unequivocally reveals that TikTok instructs its moderators to censor videos, particularly those containing mentions of Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, or the banned religious group Falun Gong. According to documents collected by British journalists, the Chinese platform's guidelines for moderating viral content coincide with the warnings that underpin decisions regarding China's foreign and domestic policy. The Guardian writes :

“[…] Tik Tok, the popular Chinese-owned social network, instructs its moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, or the banned religious group Falun Gong, according to leaked documents detailing the site's moderation guidelines ”.

The Washington Post has also opened an investigation and, to demonstrate the veracity of the widely investigated and debated claims, has decided to conduct a test , debunking the idea that the social network 's sole purpose is to entertain, as claimed by the platform's executives, but rather to use it for political purposes. Simply enter the word "Trump," and the story unfolds. Entering the hashtag "Trump," reveals that content that benefited the 2016 election campaign is being displayed. The banned content refers to two sections: one relating to privacy violations and those concerning offenses committed by minors, but there are suspicions that the site is playing with user data.

Dangers of Tik Tok

TikTok has posed numerous dangers, including numerous complaints for child pornography and pedophilia. It is estimated that approximately 30% of its users are minors, under the age of 18. In India and Bangladesh, TikTok has been fined for soliciting child pornography and improper use of images of minors, and has been banned by Google, which has blocked the app from the Play Store . The Federal Trade Commission has also fined the digital platform $5,7 million for collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent. The dangers raised are not limited to ageism or sexual violence, but also to the spectacularization of children's lives.

New TikTokers , as they're called, are emerging. Baby influencers who adopt vulgar postures and mimic/emulate women who have even been reported, like the 48-year-old Sicilian woman, for soliciting child prostitution. In this way, they cause reputational problems and also spread fake news . As analysts note, there's no clear presence of debunkers , those who debunk false news, thus creating a significant amount of misinformation.

The political use of Tik Tok

The political and even perverted use of social media is further demonstrated by the propaganda function it serves for terrorist organizations. Even ISIS has used videos posted on TikTok for its recruitment campaign. The most serious accusation against the company, however, is that of incitement to violence.

As we'll see, many videos and challenges incite people to commit dangerous acts, too often resulting in predicted tragedies. Just think of the death of little Antonella in Palermo, who decided to participate in an online challenge that resulted in her death by suffocation, or the poor child whose body was torn apart by a train in Bari, just to prove she was up to the task. But what does the challenge consist of ? What are the dangers it most triggers? It's a challenge/competition involving social media users , which, like a mechanical automatism, determines the strength of the new follower and the new leader of the social network . The prize at stake is the influencer throne , tokens to buy content, or other algorithmic nonsense, but often, too often, a place in heaven.

Types of Challenges

What are the most dangerous challenges ? Unfortunately, there are countless. The latest is the so-called " Bright Eye Challenge ," which involves placing a mixture of bleach, disinfectant, and shaving cream in a bag and placing it on your eye, with the sole purpose of causing a change in the color of your iris. This challenge, which turned out to be fake, has been shared 25 times. Numerous minors have died from various challenges.

Colbert Munoz, a twelve-year-old Chilean boy, died after participating in the " Suicide Tik Tok Challenge, " which encouraged him to self-harm. The " Skull Breaker Challenge , " also known as the " headbreaker ," requires one child to jump and two others to trip him, causing him to fall and causing serious injuries to the skull and entire body. The " Benadryl Challenge," a challenge that peremptorily requires taking an antihistamine until it causes hallucinations. A fifteen-year-old, Cloe Phillips, dies in Oklahoma City of a drug overdose.

Next comes the most common, the " Salt Challenge ," which requires swallowing quantities of salt until vomiting occurs, resulting in everything from dehydration to convulsions, and even death. Then comes the " Bird Box Challenge ," which requires performing blindfolded actions; and finally, the " Tide Pods Challenge, " which requires chewing detergent pods. All these unrealistic practices cannot be compared to the one performed by parents, which, in addition to being profoundly deviant, is an unequivocal source of suffering for children, reiterated by those who should be setting an example; yet another practice of spectacularizing death. This challenge requires parents to play dead in front of their children and resist as much as possible. Beyond the uselessness and counter-educational nature of this challenge, the question we must ask ourselves, from a sociological perspective, is: what is happening?

Anomic social practices, mechanical solidarity and perception of the phenomenon

Today's liberal-democratic society, that is, the so-called postmodern, liquid, and communications society, pushes individuals to weave virtual relationships within organizational routines that, in effect, activate mechanical solidarities, since they are algorithmic, standardized social practices and ephemeral relationships. Media, technologies, and social media are part of the scopic regime within which digital natives live, which normalises the lifestyle of homo ludens , inserting it into a logic typical of gamification processes.

Within this context, however, we perceive an anomie of being that passively adheres to social norms, to the point of activating a behavioral response dedicated to absolute self-denial. This too, Durkheim would argue, is a social fact. Indeed, this phenomenon cannot fail to be deconstructed within the social sphere. What are the determinants of such practices? Why do young people, and too often children, become both recipients and producers of identity, belonging, and even funereal rituals?

The intentionality of the social actor

That the process of social identification occurs through the generalized Other is, in this case, self-evident. Can one decide to reiterate self-harm or kill oneself, thus leading to suicide, in order to be part of a group? Durkheim, in Le suicide. Étude de Sociologie (Paris, Alcan 1897), defines suicide as: "anything involving death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act committed by the victim himself, fully aware of producing this result."

This presupposes the intentionality of the actor who, in order to identify socially, or perhaps, precisely because of a lack of sociality, wanting to be part of the peer group, or waiting for and seeking out charismatic leaders, as Weber put it, emulates them and decides to take his own life; effectively challenging himself and the restricted sociality of this "imagined community." We could say, paraphrasing Durkheim, that we are witnessing different forms of suicide related to group membership. Being part of TikTok means entering what is today the hyper-technological and extremely ephemeral, yet enduring and enduring peer group. sociologicamente decisive.

Durkheim and suicide

In a group, Durkheim argued, ideas, emotions, and thoughts are exchanged, providing moral support. However, it can also give rise to a form of possessive individualism in which the solipsistic dimension of the Simmel-esque " homme blasé" takes over. The individual is insufficiently integrated into society and struggles to cope with the stimuli coming from an increasingly sterile environment.

Isolation, derived from the need to belong, establishes boundaries and even leads to death. We could define these practices as egoistic/anomic suicide . According to Durkheim, this circumstance is determined by the fact that society is not sufficiently present in the individual. People, in fact, are less socially regulated and the individual is insufficiently integrated into society. But Durkheim's analysis is useful with a more pertinent case of suicide for our purposes: altruistic suicide . I kill myself, I commit dangerous actions that could lead to death, because I am part of a group.

There are three types of altruistic suicide: obligatory, voluntary, and acute. These are different forms of suicide identified by the sociologist through a diachronic-comparative approach in the various societies he researches; however, in this case, the most appropriate one for TikTok is voluntary suicide. Unlike the former, it is not obligatory, but is seen within society as an act owed to the group to which one belongs. Indeed, it is valued positively. Consider the Indians, whose honor and integrity, as well as belonging to the group, are contingent on their own killing themselves, for example, in matters related to marital jealousy. Could it be that the same motive guides the choices of young people? I risk death, and I die because I want to be part of this community?

Perception of the phenomenon and presentation of the results   

To understand the level of perception of the phenomenon investigated in this paper, I interviewed a simple, stratified, and probabilistic sample of 30 respondents, mostly young women and men, aged between 30 and 45, using a qualitative and quantitative methodology that involved the use of opinion polls and structured and semi-structured interviews as a survey technique. This sample was composed of a group of 30 respondents, mostly young women and men, aged between 30 and 45. Of these, approximately 5% were single men with at least a first-level university education, unmarried, and without children. Ten percent were young women, and 3% were women with at least a high school education, working, married, and mothers.

The remaining 7% of the sample is made up of women with a high school education, married and mothers. The other 10% is made up of men with a high school education, married and with children. In all cases, these are parents of children between the ages of 10 and 15. Finally, 5% are single men with at least a first-level university education, unmarried and without children. The survey was divided into three sections, each with different themes.

Tik Tok social analysis

The first part aimed to understand the relationship between social media , specifically TikTok, and young adults. The second part investigated the variables correlated between the analysis of TikTok and the relationship between parents and children, seeking to understand the attitudes and resolution approaches proposed by them. The final part focused more on the perceptual dimension of the phenomenon under investigation and posed a series of postulates concerning the relevance of the social perception of the " Challenge " phenomenon by parents, or adults in general. It also explored the possibility, through targeted questioning, of proposing solutions and examining the motivations that might drive children to commit these brutal acts.

It's important to note, for the purposes of the investigation, that this contribution occurred before the authorities in charge blocked some videos and banned the accounts of unauthorized minors from the social network ; although it appears that registration still requires a person's age, which can easily be falsified.

Research questions

What do parents think about TikTok ? Are they familiar with it? What is a challenge ? What drives young people to emulate unknown individuals, in practices that can lead to death?

The data shows that all members of the sample are familiar with social media . Of the 30 interviewees, 17 stated they do not use it. These were mostly women, workers, and mothers. Therefore, use of the technology platform appears to be negatively correlated with socio-demographic variables of an economic and social nature. The remaining 13% stated they use it, but sparingly.

To the question: What do you think about the relationship between young people and technology? How would you define it? 27% stated that "It's important in the age of communication, but should be used wisely and sparingly." These respondents included both mothers and young single men. Therefore, the appropriate use of technology is negatively correlated with the parenting variable. Indeed, both those with children and the single group consistently stated that, in light of recent events involving the loss of many children, they would/have discussed the situation with their children, trying to explain the dangers of social media-related events.

Do you know what a challenge is?

When asked, "Do you know what a challenge is ?" 25% answered yes. Only the remaining 5% stated they neither knew its meaning nor could they foresee its effects. The sample of respondents who confirmed their familiarity with the social network was made up of women, married, mothers, and educated individuals. The variables involved, therefore, indicate that educated and employed individuals have greater knowledge of the phenomenon. I later asked them if they had ever participated in a challenge, and they all answered 30/30 negative.

The final round of sessions sought to understand the motivations that drive young people to perform such actions and the consequent solutions that could be proposed, as well as understanding why these technologies are used.

According to 25% of the sample, the reason for using the platform can be traced to the loneliness experienced by young people: "Because they live online, but in reality they are isolated." The remaining 5% state that they use it to "join their peer group."

The final question of this survey required an open-ended answer and asked: “ What drives a young person to emulate others, risking or, unfortunately, even taking their own life?

The majority of responses came from women, including married mothers and working women. Men, both single and married, with and without children, abstained. This indicates a negative correlation between perceptions of the phenomenon and gender identity. Women demonstrated greater awareness and a pragmatic, as well as dialogic, approach.

Reasons found

Here are some of the reasons given:

1. – “They use them to get attention”;
2. – “They need attention, affection. They should talk, first and foremost, with their parents, and then there should be a lot of peace at school.”
3. – “The loneliness that exists within each of us, believing we can fill it by staying connected”;
4. – “We live in a liquid reality in which all points of reference have disappeared, values ​​and real life experiences have been replaced by a screen, a virtual reality experienced as absolute. We need to reconnect and play in the street;
5. – “They do it because they need attention and affection. They feel lonely. They want to fill the void left by their busy parents. Families are no longer there, they are only apparent.

In essence, not only is the danger deriving from the misuse of these technologies more acutely felt by women/mothers, but it is also appropriately articulated. The most frequently used words are: attention , solitude , virtual , affection . These, in fact, appear to be the determinants of young people's behavioral responses. Solipsisticity, disaffection, the absence of family reference figures, and, consequently, a search for identity and ephemeral/liquid aggregations. The solutions seem to emphasize the genuineness of friendships to be rekindled and recreational practices that had ritual spaces and times: the streets.

Valeria Salanitro

Bibliography

• J. Bentham, Panopticon or the inspection house, Marsilio Library, Venice, 2002.
• DE The suicides. Étude de Sociologie, Paris, Alcan, 1897.
• Mr. Foucault, The order of speech, Little Einaudi Library, Turin, 2004.
• D. McQuail, Mass communications, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1993.
• G. Orwell, 1984 Mondadori, Milan, 2016.

Sitography

• https://palermolive.it/tik-tok-social-tutti-ma-nasconde-estremi-percicoli/
• https://www.ma-e.it/news-elezione/tik-tok-italia-e-la-sfida-dei-suicidi-già-due-vittime-denunciata-unnfluencer/
• https://www.agendadigitale.eu/sicurezza/privacy/tutti-i-pericoli-di-tik-tok-il-nuovo-social-che-spaventa-gli-usa/