TikTok as an Identity Building Microsystem: A Thematic Analysis in Adolescence

Currently, identity formation is undertaken in hyper-individualized virtual microsystems, such as TikTok. Here, content creators set the boundaries of adolescents’ identity exploration and construction. However, few studies have engaged with the content adolescents actively choose to follow to understand the behaviors and messages that are circulated and modeled by TikTok creators. To bridge this gap, 127 TikTok videos from accounts that a sample of 328 Romanian adolescents (Mage = 16.99, SDage = 0.78; 60.4% male) reported following were thematically analyzed. This resulted in a novel codebook that went beyond surface-level content typologies to reveal exposure to positive content, such as awareness raising, family values, and motivational videos, as well as negative content, such as age-inappropriate behaviors, materialistic values, and gender stereotypes. Results suggest that master and alternative narratives are portrayed by TikTok creators, generating tensions between conforming to norms that might be potentially harmful and following less common identity scripts.