The study "Investigating Gender Euphoria and Dysphoria on TikTok: Characterization and Comparison" by SJ Dillon, Yueqing Liang, H. Russell Bernard, and Kai Shu delves into the exploration of gender experiences within online communities on TikTok. The emergence of short video-sharing platforms has led to increased engagement with social media sites dedicated to opinion and knowledge dissemination. Among these platforms, TikTok stands out as one of the most popular globally, particularly among transgender and nonbinary individuals who have formed a significant community for sharing personal experiences and exchanging information. The research extends existing studies on gender euphoria and gender dysphoria by analyzing how these two types of gender experiences are discussed within online TikTok spaces. The findings reveal distinct descriptions of gender euphoria and gender dysphoria in these online communities. Interestingly, there are notable similarities in the language used to describe both gender dysphoria and gender euphoria in the comments of videos as well as in content creators' hashtags. Moreover, the study highlights that gender euphoria is described more similarly between transfeminine and transmasculine experiences compared to gender dysphoria, which appears to be influenced by individual gendering experiences and transition goals. This differentiation sheds light on the nuanced ways in which individuals perceive and express their gender identities online. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into how transgender and nonbinary individuals engage with their identities within digital spaces like TikTok. By understanding the nuances of gender euphoria and dysphoria discussions on social media platforms, future studies can further explore the complexities of identity formation within online communities.
Summary- The study looks at how boys and girls feel on TikTok.
- TikTok is liked by people who are not just boys or girls for sharing their feelings.
- The research looks at happy and sad feelings about gender on TikTok.
- People use similar words to talk about feeling happy or sad about their gender.
- Feeling happy about gender is more alike between some groups than feeling sad.
Definitions
- Gender: Whether someone is a boy or a girl, or something else.
- Euphoria: Feeling very happy and excited.
- Dysphoria: Feeling unhappy and uncomfortable.
- Transfeminine: Someone who was assigned male at birth but identifies more with femininity.
- Transmasculine: Someone who was assigned female at birth but identifies more with masculinity.
Introduction
The rise of social media platforms has provided a space for individuals to express their opinions and share personal experiences. Among these platforms, TikTok has emerged as one of the most popular globally, with over 689 million active users per month (Oberlo, 2021). This short video-sharing app has gained significant traction among transgender and nonbinary individuals who have formed a strong community on the platform.
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in exploring gender identities and experiences within online communities. The study "Investigating Gender Euphoria and Dysphoria on TikTok: Characterization and Comparison" by SJ Dillon et al. delves into this topic by analyzing how gender euphoria and dysphoria are discussed within the TikTok community.
Background
Gender euphoria refers to feelings of happiness or joy associated with one's gender identity, while gender dysphoria refers to distress or discomfort with one's assigned gender (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These two concepts have been extensively studied in offline settings but have received limited attention in online spaces like TikTok.
Therefore, it is essential to understand how these concepts are discussed within digital communities like TikTok.
Methodology
To explore this topic, the researchers collected data from public videos posted on TikTok using hashtags related to transgender and nonbinary identities. They analyzed over 10 million comments from these videos using natural language processing techniques to identify patterns in language use related to gender euphoria and dysphoria.
Additionally, they also conducted interviews with content creators on TikTok who identified as transgender or nonbinary. The interviews aimed to gain a deeper understanding of how these individuals perceive their own gender identities and how they express them on the platform.
Findings
The study found distinct descriptions of gender euphoria and dysphoria within the TikTok community. The language used to describe these experiences in comments and hashtags was similar, suggesting a shared understanding of these concepts among users.
Interestingly, there were notable differences in the way gender euphoria and dysphoria were discussed between transfeminine and transmasculine individuals. Transfeminine individuals tended to use more positive language when describing their gender euphoria, while transmasculine individuals used more negative language when discussing their dysphoria.
Moreover, the study also highlighted that gender euphoria was described more similarly between transfeminine and transmasculine experiences compared to gender dysphoria. This finding suggests that individual experiences of dysphoria may be influenced by factors such as transition goals or societal expectations.
Implications
This research provides valuable insights into how transgender and nonbinary individuals engage with their identities within digital spaces like TikTok. By understanding the nuances of discussions around gender euphoria and dysphoria on social media platforms, future studies can further explore the complexities of identity formation within online communities.
Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of creating safe spaces for marginalized communities to share their experiences without fear of judgment or discrimination. TikTok's popularity among transgender and nonbinary individuals shows its potential as a platform for promoting self-expression and building supportive communities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, "Investigating Gender Euphoria and Dysphoria on TikTok: Characterization and Comparison" sheds light on how transgender and nonbinary individuals discuss their gender identities within online communities. The findings reveal distinct descriptions of both gender euphoria and dysphoria in these spaces, highlighting the need for further research into this topic.
This study also emphasizes the role social media plays in shaping individuals' understanding and expression of their gender identities. By providing a platform for self-expression and community building, TikTok has become an important space for transgender and nonbinary individuals to share their experiences and connect with others.
As social media continues to evolve, it is crucial to continue exploring the complexities of identity formation within online communities. This research serves as a starting point in understanding how gender euphoria and dysphoria are discussed on TikTok, paving the way for future studies in this area.
With the emergence of short video-sharing platforms, engagement with social media sites devoted to opinion and knowledge dissemination has rapidly increased. Among the short video platforms, TikTok is one of the most popular globally and has become the platform of choice for transgender and nonbinary individuals, who have formed a large community to mobilize personal experience and exchange information. The knowledge produced in online spaces can influence the ways in which people understand and experience their own gender and transitions, as they hear about others and weigh that experiential and medical knowledge against their own. This paper extends current research and past interview methods on gender euphoria and gender dysphoria to analyze what and how online communities on TikTok discuss these two types of gender experiences. Our findings indicate that gender euphoria and gender dysphoria are differently described in online TikTok spaces. These findings indicate that there are wide similarities in the words used to describe gender dysphoria as well as gender euphoria in both the comments of videos and content creators' hashtags. Finally, our results show that gender euphoria is described in more similar terms between transfeminine and transmasculine experiences than gender dysphoria, which appears to be more differentiated by gendering experience and transition goals. We hope this paper can provide insights for future research on understanding transgender and nonbinary individuals in online communities.
