{"id":220,"date":"2022-07-24T15:01:29","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T07:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mojomanual2022.flywheelsites.com\/?page_id=220"},"modified":"2022-10-16T18:02:15","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T10:02:15","slug":"using-tik-tok-for-investigative-journalism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mojo-manual.org\/digital-investigation\/using-tik-tok-for-investigative-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Using TikTok for Investigative Journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Important TikTok Facts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Tik Tok was the world\u2019s fastest growing social media platform and the most downloaded app worldwide. Endless hours of content are being shared and consumed by approximately one billion users every day. It is a source for entertainment and information, as well as disinformation and conspiracy theories. Its impact on people’s lives cannot be denied. If used rightly however, it can be a treasure trove for journalists<\/strong>. It can provide us with new ideas, insights into recent trends, and grant us access to user generated content that can\u2019t be found elsewhere. This guide will provide you with the most important skills to get to know the platform and use it for critical reporting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Solen Feyissa<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How to Access TikTok Safely  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can access TikTok via a web browser of your choice or via the mobile app. Since it was created as a mobile app, browser-only research is not recommended<\/strong>. You can\u2019t use all the features and you will miss out on important information that is not available in the browser.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you access the app for research, use a fake account with a username unrelated to you.<\/strong> TikTok is regularly criticized for its issues with data-privacy and when you are looking into sensitive topics, you should be cautious. In the past users could also see who visited their profile. While this feature has since been deactivated, it might reappear in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which is led by members of the Communist Party. Due to Chinese security law, ByteDance is required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence agencies and must hand over user data to the authorities<\/strong> if requested. For that reason, avoid installing TikTok on a device that you use for sensitive communication. If you are using TikTok on your laptop, you can further protect your privacy by running it in a browser that hides your user information. In our chapter on safe reporting<\/a> you can find a more comprehensive guide about online safety for journalists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting to Know TikTok <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you are unfamiliar with the app, setting up an account for exploration is the best way to get you started. This learning-by-doing approach takes some time but it will help you understand the platform better, and will make things easier when you start using it for research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the landing page, when you open Tik Tok in your browser.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you are using TikTok you should always be aware of the algorithm<\/strong>. Whether you are doing purposeful research, or whether you are just exploring the app: the algorithm will influence what you see. It will learn quickly on which videos you linger, which TikToks you are watching several times, and which ones you are skipping. TikTok will use that information to predict which content is most likely to interest you and keep you engaged the longest. This can distort search results and you might end up in bubbles. To work against that and start a new search with a clean slate and a \u201cneutral\u201d algorithm, reinstall the app and log in with a completely new profile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Use TikTok for Journalistic Research <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your approach to research with TikTok should depend on what you want to know. We will start with techniques to better explore the app in general and search for topic-related content, before explaining how to investigate specific user profiles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going Down the Hashtag-Rabbit-Holes <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hashtags are an important part of topic-exploration and story hunting on TikTok. Creators put them in the description of their videos to help the algorithm identify what their content is about. Hashtags often follow a certain slang and use intentional misspelling to either avoid censorship or to serve as a \u201ccoded-language\u201d for people interested in certain topics. \u201cc0vid\u201d for example might be used instead of \u201cCovid-19\u201d or \u201cCovid\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To find these coded hashtags you can type in keywords into the Hashtag-Tab of the search function<\/strong>. TikTok will suggest hashtags to you that are similar to your keyword. Even more helpful are the hashtags under videos that deal with your topic of interest. Pay close attention to unusual spelling or possible code words and find out if they lead you to more interesting content.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research TikTok Hashtags on Google  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can use Google to look for videos with a certain hashtag or to look for hashtag variances that you don\u2019t know yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find videos that use a certain hashtag you can just type the following URL into your browser: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

tiktok.com\/tag\/hashtag_of_interest<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The result could look like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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If you are looking into a topic and want to explore the variety of hashtags people are using for it, you can type the following line into Google\u2019s search field.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
tiktok.com\/tag Buzzword of Interest <\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Google will then produce results with hashtags that are either similar or related to the buzzword that you typed into the search field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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If the search for hashtags doesn’t provide useful results, Google\u2019s \u201cintext\u201d operator is another option to search for videos that use certain keywords or phrases in the description text of Tik Tok\u2019s and not only in hashtags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Results can look like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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If you want to look for some of that information without directly accessing TikTok or without using the google operators, TikTok Quick Search<\/a> is a helpful browser-based tool that you can use to explore the platform without feeding it any information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Watch Out for Misinformation <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Be aware that not everything on TikTok is true. There is a lot of misinformation circling on the platform and you should always try to verify it as best as you can. Head over to our chapter on Video-Verification<\/a> to learn more about verification. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upload Verification  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An important and relatively simple way to check one aspect of a TikTok\u2019s candidacy is its upload time. If a video that supposedly shows a certain incident was uploaded before that incident even took place, then it is clearly false. TikTok only provides the date of an upload but this tool<\/a> by Bellingcat returns the exact time of the upload when you give it the URL of a video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Investigate TikTok Profiles <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Knowing who is behind a TikTok profile can be important for many reasons. You might want to verify the content a user has posted or want to learn more about a user’s general activity on the internet and their connection to other users. This can become particularly relevant when you are reporting on fake-news, hate campaigns, conspiracy theories or scams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Profile Information:  <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
TikTok profiles provide you with different pieces of information that you can use to learn more about a certain user. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Source: tiktok.com\/@googlemapsfun<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The distinction between these items is important because you can use each of them to search for different information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n