Hidden in Plain Sight: Exploring the Intersections of Mental Health, Eating Disorders, and Content Moderation on TikTok

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Bickham, Charles, Kazemi-Nia, Kia, Luceri, Luca, Lerman, Kristina, Ferrara, Emilio
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Bickham, Charles
Kazemi-Nia, Kia
Luceri, Luca
Lerman, Kristina
Ferrara, Emilio
author_facet Bickham, Charles
Kazemi-Nia, Kia
Luceri, Luca
Lerman, Kristina
Ferrara, Emilio
contents Social media platforms actively moderate content glorifying harmful behaviors like eating disorders, which include anorexia and bulimia. However, users have adapted to evade moderation by using coded hashtags. Our study investigates the prevalence of moderation evaders on the popular social media platform TikTok and contrasts their use and emotional valence with mainstream hashtags. We notice that moderation evaders and mainstream hashtags appear together, indicating that vulnerable users might inadvertently encounter harmful content even when searching for mainstream terms. Additionally, through an analysis of emotional expressions in video descriptions and comments, we find that mainstream hashtags generally promote positive engagement, while moderation evaders evoke a wider range of emotions, including heightened negativity. These findings provide valuable insights for content creators, platform moderation efforts, and interventions aimed at cultivating a supportive online environment for discussions on mental health and eating disorders.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_15457
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Hidden in Plain Sight: Exploring the Intersections of Mental Health, Eating Disorders, and Content Moderation on TikTok
Bickham, Charles
Kazemi-Nia, Kia
Luceri, Luca
Lerman, Kristina
Ferrara, Emilio
Social and Information Networks
Social media platforms actively moderate content glorifying harmful behaviors like eating disorders, which include anorexia and bulimia. However, users have adapted to evade moderation by using coded hashtags. Our study investigates the prevalence of moderation evaders on the popular social media platform TikTok and contrasts their use and emotional valence with mainstream hashtags. We notice that moderation evaders and mainstream hashtags appear together, indicating that vulnerable users might inadvertently encounter harmful content even when searching for mainstream terms. Additionally, through an analysis of emotional expressions in video descriptions and comments, we find that mainstream hashtags generally promote positive engagement, while moderation evaders evoke a wider range of emotions, including heightened negativity. These findings provide valuable insights for content creators, platform moderation efforts, and interventions aimed at cultivating a supportive online environment for discussions on mental health and eating disorders.
title Hidden in Plain Sight: Exploring the Intersections of Mental Health, Eating Disorders, and Content Moderation on TikTok
topic Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.15457