Approaching the Consumptive Curation Practices of TikTok Users

The next session at this AoIR 2024 conference is on elections, and starts with a paper by Carlos Entrena Serrano, whose focus is on the use of TikTok for political and social issues content. He begins by noting that social media were initially advertised as a space for social connection, but with the move to a video-first social media experience this has shifted considerably towards the algorithmic curation of content experiences for users. Users still have some agency in this, however, and this scan be understood as a process of consumptive curation, where networked individuals navigate pools of data in a deliberate way.

This operates in the nexus between user practices, technical artefacts, and social arrangements, and relies especially on the sociotechnical affordances available on specific social media platforms – it is a relational process. These technical features apply varying levels of pressure on their subjects, also depending on users’ digital literacies. In navigating these social spaces, users produce content signals that are processed by the platforms in various ways; and of course platform designs and interfaces are critical in establishing this environment for consumptive curation.

TikTok, then, is designed to be fully usable without ever leaving the main feed; even before following any accounts it is possible to consume content – in principle, the For You page provides all the engagement an ordinary user would need. More clicks/taps on the interface actually generate more friction; this privileges simple forms of interaction, perhaps, and more complex forms of action and interaction are hidden several menu levels down.

This project is aiming to work with seasoned and regular TikTok users, conducting two rounds of interviews with these users to explore how they understand and use the platform and its features, which affordances they prefer or are unaware of, and how they curate their content consumption experiences. It will also encourage these users to donate their engagement data, which will inform the second round of interviews.