TikTok use among people with and without eating disorders

Social media can negatively impact body esteem, especially among people with existing body insecurities. TikTok is the most popular social platform among young people. It uses sophisticated algorithms to deliver personalised content to its users, capturing their interest and attention for extended periods. While research has demonstrated the potential harms of TikTok for body esteem, basic questions around how people use TikTok remain unanswered.

This research aims to provide a descriptive account of time spent on TikTok using data from people with and without eating disorders. The data captures one month of participants' TikTok use, including time-stamped URLs of viewed videos, hashtags, and comments. We have also linked TikTok user data with participants’ survey responses on demographics and psychological measures related to body image.

Key questions this project seeks to address include how often people use TikTok throughout the day and week, and how use varies based on individual differences, such as an eating disorder diagnosis.

This information can help identify how TikTok integrates with the lives of young people and high-use periods during the day and week.

This research could aid researchers and policymakers in developing interventions to reduce TikTok use and support eating disorder treatment. Descriptive statistics on TikTok time-use are also needed to inform potential policies like Australia's proposed social media ban for under-16s.

MDAP's specialised technological and coding expertise will enable efficient analysis of the large social media dataset, examination of time-based variables, and creation of clear data visualisations to communicate findings effectively.