TikTok as a peer playground: Understanding how children in middle childhood use TikTok to shape their peer relations

Despite TikTok’s extensive popularity among children below the age of 12, there remains a significant gap in our understanding of how they use this platform for social purposes. We therefore ask how children between the ages of 8 and 12 shape their peer relations through their uses of TikTok. Through longitudinal observations of children ( n = 84) in the context of afterschool care, we found that children use TikTok to develop and employ digital, cultural and social practices. Examples of such practices are referencing popular content to connect with weak tied peers, managing their online presence to prevent scrutinization in offline social contexts and using humoristic trends and knowledge of TikTok to achieve social status and popularity. Employing these practices across on- and offline spaces can support and facilitate their development of social capital. Following these findings, we argue for initiatives and methodologies that support and explore children’s social and digital development.