COVID-19 on TikTok: harnessing an emerging social media platform to convey important public health messages

Abstract

Objectives: TikTok is a popular social media platform, especially among those who are 13-24 years of age. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe the content of COVID-19 material on TikTok.

Methods: A total of 100 videos posted under the hashtag #Coronavirus were included in this study along with all (n=17) posts uploaded by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Results: Overall, these videos were viewed 1,194,081,700 times. The most commonly cited topics included anxiety (14.5%) with more than 190.6 million views and quarantine (10.3%) with 106.6 million views. Fewer than 10% of videos mentioned how the virus is transmitted, symptoms, and prevention. WHO videos more often focused on viral transmission and symptoms but covered these topics in fewer than 10% of the videos.

Conclusions: Although research suggests that cases of COVID-19 may be less severe in those under 18 years of age, social distancing remains paramount due to the possibility of transmission even in those with minimal or no symptoms. For young adults in particular, the WHO suggests staying connected through social media and making every attempt to stay positive. TikTok has the potential, not only to convey important health information, but to address these aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well.

Keywords: COVID-19; TikTok; adolescents; social media.