ABOUT

TikTok has become a critical conduit for channelling and suppressing attention online, and for how users enact personal agency to circumvent the limitations and restrictions of social media platforms. This book adopts a digital anthropological approach to consider voices and stories from the grassroots, especially from the Asia Pacific region. It takes interest in the youth cultures that unfold on TikTok, how the features of the platform foster specific community practices, how it generates recognizable visual templates and communicative norms over time, and what impacts these might have in the spaces we inhabit.

Purchase via Emerald Publishing (discount code ‘EME30’ valid as of 24 March 2026) or Amazon.

See dedication and a backstory.

RESOURCES

• <Podcast> “BBC Trending: The cost of an addiction to Somali TikTok battles.” BBC The Documentary Podcast, 30 October 2024.
• <Podcast> “TikTok’s superstar economy – how live-streaming is turning social media into a game played for money.” ABC RN, 25 February 2024.
• <Radio from 12:06> “How TikTok’s ‘filters for good’ could change the way activists use social media.” Triple J Hack, 22 November 2023.
• <Podcast | YouTube> “The ADHD diagnosis wave: is TikTok overselling neurodivergence? (Part 1).” ABC Everyday, 16 May 2023.
• <Podcast | YouTube | Spotify> “The Future of TikTok.” The Future Of, 16 May 2023.
• <Teaser | Podcast> “TikTok is more than just a frivolous app for lip-syncing and dancing – Podcast.” The Conversation, 2 June 2022.
• <Radio> “Fashion Influencers and TikTok hauls.” ABC Radio Melbourne, 15 November 2021.
• <Keynote> “TikTok, Youth Cultures, and the East Asian Influencer Industry.” Connected Learning Summit 2021, 30 July 2021.
• <Podcast> “Internet Ethnographer and researcher Crystal Abidin talks on TikTok and Douyin, Social Video virality and the social relationships extended through the networked body.” Print Screen, 22 March 2021.
• <Roundtable> “TikTok and short-form screendance before and after COVID.” Roundtable, International Journal of Screendance Online Symposium, 13 March 2021.
• <Podcast> “TikTok: The Platform, The Public, The Politics.” ANU Policy Forum & Learning Communities, 22 September 2020.
• <Seminar> “Influencer cultures on TikTok.” ACAT, CCAT, Curtin University. 3 September 2020.
•  <Panel> “ICA2020 panel on TikTok and Douyin.” International Communication Association Conference 2020, Gold Coast. 21-25 May 2020.
•  <Radio> “Students are fighting climate change, one TikTok video at a time.” ABC Online, 19 September 2019.

BOOK TALKS

• 23 March 2026: “Publishing Roundtable.” Invited roundtable at AANZCA WA, Murdoch University.
• 26 February 2026: “Content Creation and the End of Social Media.” Invited panel at DISCO Network, University of Michigan.
• 27 November 2025: “Choose Your Own Adventure: Studying the Anything and Everything of Social Media Cultures.” Keynote at Australian & Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association (AANZCA) Conference 2025, Queensland.
• 13 October 2025: “Freedom of Expression and Safety.” Invited industry panel at TikTok Global Advisory Council Summit 2025, Singapore.
• 20 September 2024: “Australia, according to TikTok: Algorithmic ethnographies and multicultural folklore.” Keynote at Multicultural Algorithmic Spaces in Australia Symposium, Technology and Culture Research Group (University of Sydney), Sydney.
• 6 October 2023: “The Voice Referendum Roundtable.” Closed-door discussion at APAC Outreach & Partnerships, Trust & Safety Team, TikTok.
• 11 September 2023: “TikTok, Internet celebrity, and Small business cultures.” Guest lecture at Cultural and Contextual Studies, BA Design Communication, LASALLE College of the Arts.
• 5 September 2023: “TikTok Cultures Research Network.” Invited talk at Directions & Destinations Symposium, MCASI, Curtin University.
• 26 April 2023: “TikTok as ‘English Douyin’: Cross-platform curation, Cross-cultural brokers, and Cross-knowledge conduits.” Invited talk at Institute for Global Communications and Integrated Media, School of Journalism, Fudan University.
• 16 November 2021: “TikTok, Internet celebrity, and Small business cultures.” Keynote at Digital Transformations, HUMlab, Umeå University, Sweden.
• 12 November 2021: “Researching Social Media Pop Cultures & TikTok.” Postgraduate Students’ Masterclass, Department of Communications & New Media, National University of Singapore.
• 4 October 2021: “TikTok, Youth Cultures, and the East Asian Influencer Industry.” Invited talk at Communication and Media Research Speaker Series, University of Zurich.
• 4 November 2021: “TikTok, Visibility labour, and Social movements.” Keynote at 5th New Media Studies National Congress, Turkey.
• 30 July 2021: “TikTok, Youth Cultures, and the East Asian Influencer Industry.” Keynote at Connected Learning Summit 2021.
• 12 May 2021: “Communicating on TikTok.” Guest lecture in Global Communication in a Digital Age, MA Programme, RMIT, Melbourne.
• 13 March 2021: “TikTok and short-form screendance before and after COVID.” Invited roundtable, International Journal of Screendance Online Symposium.
• 3 September 2020: “Influencer cultures on TikTok.” ACAT, CCAT, Curtin University.
• 30 September 2019: “Knowledges on Douyin vs. TikTok: Platforms, Populism, and Performance.” Invited talk at Open Literacy: Digital Games, Social Responsibility and Social Innovation, Curtin University, Perth. 

CONTENTS

Preface

CHAPTER ONE: Origin Stories and Platform Wars
>Predecessor origin stories
>Short video apps in the Asia-Pacific region
>Emergent global interest
>TikTok’s early market entries
>Case study: TikTok’s entry into South Korea
>Platform wars: Instagram vs TikTok
>Conclusion

CHAPTER TWO: Visibility and Engagement
>Visibility labours on TikTok
>Ownership practices
>Algorithmic practices
>Interactive practices
>Legacy practices
>Engagement strategies
>Conclusion

CHAPTER THREE: Memes and Capital
>Memetic practices
>Niche capital: Duet chain relays
>Subcultural capital: Tech skills and talents
>Cross-cultural capital: Blended cultures
>Discursive capital: Social movements and social justice
>Cross-platform capital: ‘Syndicated’ content and plagiarism
>Conclusion

CHAPTER FOUR: Creators and Genres
>The evolution of sociocultural norms in influencer culture
>From influencer culture to creator culture
>Creator culture in the age of TikTok
>Creator labour
>Case study: Digital begging
>Conclusion

CHAPTER FIVE: Small Business and Marketplace Cultures
>Platformed commerce
>Small business ‘templates’
>Small business ethos and issues
>Case study: Morning routines
>Case study: TikTok hauls
>Case study: De-influencing and underconsumption core
>Conclusion

Epilogue
>Curtain calls
>The migration
>The settling in
>The bait
>The rapture
>The remains
>The return
>The aftermath

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026.