First, it was the Barbie dolls that came to young girls and convinced them that they can’t be considered beautiful if they don't possess unrealistic body proportions with blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. When they grew older, they were then bombarded with perfectly photoshopped bodies in saturated, aesthetic pictures on social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. Now that TikTok is here, it has decided to rise to the occasion and ensure that only the “attractive” earn a place in the platform and an audience - deeming others unworthy.
From posts and pictures which initially garnered users’ attention, we now have 30-second TikTok videos which deliver quick punchlines, offer information, and more commonly revolve around Tiktok trends or challenges. The endless content that users can scroll through and the instant gratification that they get from each video makes it highly addictive. Hence, TikTok has become a game-changer in the type of content that the viewers consume. However, the potential that this new, unique platform had for transparency and authenticity has been quickly replaced with problematic content.
Several trends on TikTok revolve around body image and perpetuate the same Eurocentric beauty standards. Some examples are the Silhouette challenge, checking the face symmetry after flipping the camera, the side profile challenge, posting pictures before and after "glow-ups", and the infamous Don’t Judge Me challenge.
Some trends motivate highly triggering content to be posted, like the #WhatIEatInADay trend, where users shared with others what they ate in a day. While on the surface level it may seem harmless, much of the trend endorsed ridiculous diets that potentially triggered eating disorder-related behaviors or prompted a relapse for those recovering from disorders. People left comments where they joked about how little they ate, how much they hated their bodies, or the methods they used to starve themselves. The trend altogether accrued almost 3 billion views. Its impact was detrimental and widespread.
A lot of these issues can be traced back to the algorithm that TikTok has been notorious for. Certain internal documents from Tiktok, that were published by The Intercept, exposed the moderators’ decision to suppress videos that featured users with “an abnormal body shape”, “chubby”, “too thin” and “dwarf, acromegaly”.
The document further delved into the details of what is considered ugly and not worthy of being featured on the For You Page on TikTok, like – “too many wrinkles, facial scars, crooked mouth and other disabilities”. The environment or background of the video were also taken into consideration and anything that subtly suggested poverty like cracks on the wall, was considered unattractive for users and not shown to the majority. Musical artist Lizzo’s tweet on Twitter is a strong testament to this. She publicly called Tiktok out for flagging her videos by tweeting, “Tiktok keeps taking down my videos with me in my bathing suits but allows other videos with girls in bathing suits. I wonder why?”.
Their reason for such blatant discrimination is that attractive people in attractive environments bring in new users and retain them, because of which the platform grows exponentially.
When an algorithm is designed to expose you to an infinite amount of content, all showcasing conventionally beautiful and perfect bodies and faces, it eventually becomes internalized as a standard of comparison and leaves you to discover yet another insecurity to be ashamed of, resulting in poor self-image.
Studies have shown that girls who regularly use social media are 6 times more likely to engage in unhealthy weight control behaviors whereas boys are four times more likely to do so.
The comment section, often gone unregulated, only adds fuel to the fire as several users hunt for the opportunity to find a stretch mark, or a wrinkle that they can shame the content creators for by passing disparaging remarks on their bodies. This further prevents people outside the “conventionally pretty” box from making content, which leads to a saturation of the same type of content. This rigid environment created both by the algorithm and toxic users prevents any room for diversification and acceptance. This gives rise to poor self-image for countless others that feel unrepresented.
While much of the guidelines that the algorithm abides by remains unknown, we can say with great certainty that Tiktok thrives on community engagement provoked by the entertainment or shock value of content. Nonetheless, we can do our bit in making the online community less toxic and more accepting, by allowing and cherishing diverse creators who embrace and celebrate uniqueness and thereby help us all do the same.
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