The impact of Tiktok contents on students’ social perceptions and lifestyles during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tiktok rose in the COVID-19 pandemic as a platform for video-sharing that ensures community connection and prevention of pessimism during social distancing. It is of special importance to thoroughly understand its potential in providing information and lockdown optimism, and its potential to cause harm on impressionable young users who occupy a great part of the Tiktok community. This research is implemented in order to learn more about young users’ behaviours and their reaction towards common Tiktok contents which depict Tiktok impacts. We developed a survey using both quantitative and qualitative questions, concentrating on user habits, well-known content categories on Vietnamese Tiktok and how they may affect users’ perception. 253 participants aged 16-22 in Mekong Delta, Vietnam were involved. Data revealed that young users had higher awareness of toxic contents than was assumed by previous academic works, and eager to diminish these harms. Qualitative answers provided notions about several toxic and inappropriate contents that were not previously addressed. The research also noticed a slight hint of “Tiktok prejudice” which was the fixed concept that Tiktok was negative, inspiring future extensive research.