Our research was conducted over several weeks. During those weeks we held interviews with 8 content creators via video chat and Instagram direct messenger. It may be worth noting that none of the interviews were conducted over Tik Tok, as Tik Tok has a policy that prohibits people who are not following each other to directly message one another. 

 

We identified those who we term “Tik Tok Educators” (TTE) based on a number of criteria. We looked for creators who have a high number of followers, who post videos regularly, and who have a profile with a narrow focus where the majority of videos are made with the intent to inform. It was especially telling that someone was an educator if they promoted themselves as such in their bio.

 

Our interviews consisted of several structured questions such as “What motivated you to share on this platform?” and “Do you consider yourself an educator?” However, our video interviews proved to be much less structured and were more similar to a conversation than a Q&A. 

 

About half of our interviewees were officially educated in their field of expertise, having received academic degrees or professional experience related to their subject. The other half had either received education in a different area or did not have official experience. However, every interviewee noted that they had relevant past experience that qualified them to be an educator on Tik Tok.

 

Beyond the interviews, we conducted Participant Observation on Tik Tok in order to collect data about the way the app functions and the types of videos that are suggested. To do so we browsed the “For You” page, looking at videos and comments, and interacted with the “Discover” page, paying close attention to new trends and hashtags that arose.