Project
TACTik: The Transformation and Consequences of News on TikTok
The TACTik project studies how news is produced and understood on TikTok. Funded by the Swedish Research Council through the Social Consequences of Digitalization program, this three-year research initiative explores the entire lifecycle of news on the platform. Researchers examine how journalists adapt their reporting styles for younger audiences, how influencers and far right alternative media shape the news environment, and whether platform-based journalism changes how credible people believe news to be. Overall, the project aims to understand how TikTok is transforming both the production and consumption of information in today’s media landscape.
Research Methods and Evidence
TACTik uses a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative research.
- Ethnographic studies analyze TikTok journalists’ creative practices and professional self-perception.
- Computational analysis of large video datasets identifies storytelling techniques and their relationship to truth claims.
- Biometric testing and interviews explore how young adults emotionally and cognitively respond to TikTok news.
The project also collaborates with organizations such as the Funk Initiative and the Fojo Media Institute, while conducting semi-automated narrative analysis of social media news videos. These methods provide peer reviewed style evidence about how digital storytelling influences audience interpretation.
Research Team:
- Principle Investigator: Chiao-I Tseng (University of Gothenburg)
- Co-investigator: Beate Schirrmacher (Linnaeus University)
- Co-Investigator: Kristoffer Holt (Linnaeus University)
- Co-Investigator: Katja Schupp (University of Mainz, Germany)
Research assistants:
- TBA – This project is still ongoing and will most likely change in the future.
External Collaborators
- Media and Democracy at Science Park, Lindholmen,Gothenburg
- Mirco Liefke, (Freie Universität Berlin
- Ralph Ewerth (Marburg University & Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence)
- Eric Müller-Budack (Computer Science, TIB, Hanover)
- Tuomo Hiippala (Digital humanities, University of Helsinki)
- John Bateman (Multimodal semiotics, University of Bremen)
- Manuel Burghardt (Computational Humanities, University of Leipzig)
https://www.chiaoitseng.de/projects