TikTok as The New Tumblr: How Social Media (Overtly) Counters The Body Positivity Movement
Description
TW: This episode contains discussions about body image, weight loss, disordered and restrictive eating, self harm and other topics that listeners may consider traumatic.
In this week's episode, I explore how TikTok's algorithm and early platform priorities primed the app to overtly counter the body positivity movement and why some believe that Gen Z's favourite app has become as toxic as 2000s Tumblr.
Timestamps:
4:00 A brief history of body positivity content online: An illusion of inclusivity
7:10 How TikTok shattered this illusion
8:25 TikTok’s algorithmic bias feedback loop
14:00 Sienna Mae Gomez as one of TikTok’s first body positivity creators
15:45 How Tumblr glamourised self-harm, EDs, and mental illness in girls and young women
21:36 Comparing 2000s Tumblr and TikTok today
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Sources:
https://www.vox.com/22697168/body-positivity-image-millennials-gen-z-weight
https://netzpolitik.org/2019/discrimination-tiktok-curbed-reach-for-people-with-disabilities/
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/16/tiktok-app-moderators-users-discrimination/
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50645345
https://staff.tumblr.com/post/18132624829/self-harm-blogs
https://www.nylon.com/beauty/tumblr-eating-disorder-content-is-on-tiktok-how-to-navigate-it
https://theconversation.com/should-pro-ana-websites-be-criminalised-in-australia-79197
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144523000852?via%3Dihub
https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/tiktok-body-checks-49350628
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22832827/manifesting-tiktok-astroworld-conspiracy-qanon-religion
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/well/move/tiktok-legging-legs-eating-disorders.html
https://www.tiktok.com/community-guidelines/en/mental-behavioral-health#2
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legging-legs-trend-tiktok-social-media-experts/
United States
