MEDIA & CULTURE
Changing Trends: Body Positivity on TikTok
Can TikTok change for the better?
WRITTEN BY SOFIA CIPRIAN // ILLUSTRATED BY VICTORIA CRABB Social media has always had a contentious relationship with body image. The new trendy social media app, Tik Tok, is no different. In fact, it has taken “thinspo” to a whole new level. The “for you page” curates a feed for every user full of videos that are deemed “desirable.” AKA: videos of people with bigger bodies, disabilities or other “abnormalities” were often censored and removed from the app because they were not deemed “desirable” enough. Many Tik Tok users have also shared that when they look at their “for you page” all they see are “thin, white women.” This has become problematic because impressionable users of the app are then given a very limited representation of what bodies can and should look like.
my body.” Meanwhile, fourth-year psychology major Meg Huffman mentions that “Tik Tok makes me want cosmetic procedures done because of all the transformation videos that glorify changing your body.” Huffman also notes that the popular trend where users use a filter that fattens then slims their face so that they can “feel better” about their thinner face is “definitely toxic.” Therefore, each person’s experience with Tik Tok is catered to their interests, but also to their insecurities. The good news is that it seems like Tik Tok is trying to improve their practices. A recent update from Tik Tok states that they are “coming together to support body positivity” and lists steps it will take to improve its platform, including the restriction of ads that promote negative body image or dieting. While this is a great change, a lot of the visible progress seen on the app seems to be coming from body positive Tik Tok users and allies who have been expressing their contempt with the app’s censorship. There has been a surge in the number of users who post videos embracing body positivity, with the hashtag #bodypositivity amassing 2.9 billion videos.
Especially given how each person has a unique “for you page,” there is no cohesive Tik Tok experience, each person’s feed is curated. For example, fourth-year international relations major Emma Wyatt says, “I never was into the type of videos such as ‘how to get skinny quick’ to begin with, so then the algorithm never showed me those videos again and as a result the app has not impacted how I view
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