FROM ‘FOR YOU’ TO ‘FOR RESEARCH’: ETHICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES ON TIKTOK

Abstract

This paper presents some of the ethical and methodological challenges of conducting research on the TikTok platform, grounded in a theoretical and practical framework. It seeks to reflect on issues such as: to what extent should anonymity be ensured in an environment where users themselves publicly expose their content? How should researchers deal with the platform’s privacy policies, which hinder data extraction and may reinforce forms of data colonialism? I also problematize the impact of algorithms on the replicability of research and on the ephemerality of data, considering the rapid circulation, removal, and disappearance of content. Another issue related to algorithms and addressed in this paper is the researcher’s own participation in the field. Furthermore, I question how inequalities of access and representation, shaped by differences, affect what becomes visible or absent in the empirical field. Finally, I propose reflecting on the adaptation or creation of methodologies in response to the complexity of emerging objects in this context. From this perspective, I consider it timely to reflect on these entanglements within the TikTok field, establishing a situated ethics to guide our practices, actions, and methodologies in this environment.