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TikTok as a platform for environmental communication : an analysis of content, creators and consumers
Summary
If you're learning about environmental issues like plastic pollution from TikTok, be aware the platform tends to oversimplify things—blaming individuals and pushing product fixes rather than showing the bigger social and political forces at play. A study of 2,250 Canadians found that general TikTok users actually scored lower on environmental knowledge, while those following environmental content felt more anxious about the planet's future, even though both groups reported doing more eco-friendly actions. The takeaway: TikTok may make you feel more engaged with environmental causes, but it's not necessarily making you better informed, so it's worth double-checking what you learn there against
TikTok has emerged as a popular platform for environmental communication, positioning itself as a space for environmentalism and supporting users’ knowledge and awareness. In this three-study dissertation, I examine the platform across three primary areas of analysis in environmental communication: Study 1 focuses on the message, Study 2 on the sender, and Study 3 on the receiver. In Study 1, I use content analysis to examine how plastic pollution is framed in the most-viewed TikTok videos. I find a significant disjuncture between experts’ perceptions of plastic pollution and how the issue is presented on TikTok. Specifically, TikTok videos individualize the causes and solutions to the challenge, foreground technological fixes, and primarily frame the issue ecologically, whereas experts agree that plastic pollution is subject to social and political powers and issues beyond this narrow depiction. In Study 2, I examine the role of eco-influencers in marine conservation communication, drawing on 12 key-informant interviews and netnographic observations. I find that while eco-influencers help portray marine conservation as a transdisciplinary field, TikTok’s perceived capitalist-oriented algorithm obscures consumption as conservation. In Study 3, I examine whether TikTok use is associated with users’ environmental knowledge, emotions, and behavior, using a validated questionnaire administered to 2,250 Canadians. I conduct a regression analysis controlling for potential confounders (e.g., age), comparing three groups: general TikTok users (users who do not consume environmental content), environmental TikTok users, and non-TikTok users. I find that general TikTok users are associated with lower environmental knowledge scores. Environmental TikTok users report both higher eco-anxiety and nature connectedness. Lastly, both general and environmental TikTok users report higher levels of pro-environmental behavior than non-users. Drawing on these three studies, I suggest that TikTok overstates its positive environmental impact and, in reality, the platform causes harm in the human-environmental relationship through its a) simplified and unnuanced content, b) capitalistic platform governance and algorithm, and c) negative psychological associations (knowledge, anxiety). From this, I further argue that TikTok is not a socially productive social media platform that facilitates connections and learning among users on environmental issues, but mainly a content-consumption platform designed for e-commerce.