Date of Submission
3-2022
Type of Work
Exegesis and Creative Work
Principal Supervisor
Dr. Toby Wren
Keywords
TikTok; Interactive storytelling; Participatory culture; Modern filmmaking; Online content creation; Video content creation; TikTok storytelling
Audience
General (G) - suitable for everyone
Abstract
In 2006 Henry Jenkins commented how the media landscape will be reshaped by a bottom-up energy of media created by amateurs (Jenkins, 2006). This prediction can be seen when comparing traditional screen productions with the user-created content on platforms such as TikTok. Social media continues to prove Jenkins’s foresight, stating in 2012 how stories are shaped by teenagers “… wanting the media they want, where they want, how they want it, in the form they want it when they want it,” (Jenkins, 2012). TikTok shows a current platform evolved from the predictions Jenkins saw regarding participatory culture since the mid-2000s. This natural progression also stems from Toffler’s prosumer work starting from the 1970s (Kotler, 1986) and Bruns’s produser work from the late 2000s (Bruns, 2008). This is then progressed further into viewser, a term coined to detail a subset of produsers found during the research component of this study. Combining these theories provides evidence in the importance of continuing to engage young audiences through media platforms they are engaging with, but also in the way these audiences use these platforms. This research investigates methods for creating interactive episodic content on TikTok, with the intention to expand each episode’s narrative based on how audiences engaged with the previous episode.
TikTok continues to grow in popularity within Australia. The Digital 2022 Australia Report, sponsored by We Are Social and Hootsuite, shows the growth in TikTok across the last few years. While the app is not necessarily the top-rated app for Australian users at the start of 2022, data shows an increase in approximately 6 hours and 20 minutes per month on the Android version of the app in comparison to 2021 (We Are Social, 2022). Whereas other social apps such as WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook have received relatively the same number of hours per month (We Are Social, 2022). More statistics are explored regarding TikTok and its comparisons to other social media app usage within Australia. Vann-Wall of Screen Hub notes “…the platform seems to be good at finding an audience that will be interested in your subject matter no matter how nerdy or seemingly unpopular it may be,” (Vann-Wall, 2022). The Digital 2022 Australia Report shows the increase in audiences on TikTok, and paired with Vann-Wall’s observations, it begins to show filmmakers the need to consider TikTok as a viable option for reaching new audiences.
Notes
The below link allows readers of the written component to engage with all the video components in one space. Direct links to the TikTok videos are provided underneath each blurb to allow the reader to review the original comments directly on the TikTok video.
Recommended Citation
Chapman, K. (2022). The evolution of participatory culture through interactive storytelling on TikTok [Masters dissertation, SAE University College]. Creo.