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Opaque algorithms disseminate and mediate the content that users consume on online social media platforms. This algorithmic mediation serves users with contents of their liking, on the other hand, it may cause several inadvertent risks to…
Recommender systems on social media increasingly mediate how users encounter mental health content, yet it remains unclear whether they distinguish help-seeking from distress expression. We conduct a controlled 7-day audit of TikTok's "For…
TikTok, a popular short video sharing application, emerged as the dominant social media platform for young people, with a pronounced influence on how young women and people of color interact online. The application has become a global space…
Digital technologies and social algorithms are revolutionizing the media landscape, altering how we select and consume health information. Extending the selectivity paradigm with research on social media engagement, the convergence…
Whether genuine communities can form on algorithmically-driven short-form video platforms like TikTok remains an open question, given that user interactions are often brief, dispersed, and difficult to trace. Building on theories of tie…
While prior work has investigated the benefits of online health communities and general purpose social media used for health-related purposes, little work examines the use of TikTok, an emerging social media platform with a substantial user…
Social media platforms actively moderate content glorifying harmful behaviors like eating disorders, which include anorexia and bulimia. However, users have adapted to evade moderation by using coded hashtags. Our study investigates the…
TikTok is a music-based video sharing social media app famous for users creating short meme and dance videos. TikTok videos are largely based on popular song snippets, which is why lip syncing and dance moves evolve as significant user…
TikTok has skyrocketed in popularity over recent years, especially among younger audiences. However, there are public concerns about the potential of this platform to promote and amplify harmful content. This study presents the first…
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are used for social activism purposes, and TikTok is no different. We conducted 9 qualitative semi-structured interviews with social activists who recently posted their videos on TikTok to…
Online communities such as drug-related subreddits serve as safe spaces for people who use drugs (PWUD), fostering discussions on substance use experiences, harm reduction, and addiction recovery. Users' shared narratives on these forums…
Social media platforms face escalating challenges in detecting harmful content that promotes muscle dysmorphic behaviors and cognitions (bigorexia). This content can evade moderation by camouflaging as legitimate fitness advice and…
Opioid and substance misuse is rampant in the United States today, with the phenomenon known as the opioid crisis. The relationship between substance use and mental health has been extensively studied, with one possible relationship being…
Representation shapes public attitudes and behaviors. With the recent advances and rapid adoption of LLMs, the way these systems are introduced will negotiate societal expectations for their role in high-stakes domains like health. Yet it…
Early substance use during adolescence increases the risk of later substance use disorders and mental health problems, yet the emotional and contextual factors driving these behaviors remain poorly understood. This study analyzed 23000…
Opioid and substance misuse is rampant in the United States today, with the phenomenon known as the "opioid crisis". The relationship between substance use and mental health has been extensively studied, with one possible relationship…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, health-related misinformation and harmful content shared online had a significant adverse effect on society. To mitigate this adverse effect, mainstream social media platforms employed soft moderation…
We present TikTok StitchGraph: a collection of 36 graphs based on TikTok stitches. With its rapid growth and widespread popularity, TikTok presents a compelling platform for study, yet given its video-first nature the network structure of…
The advent of social media transformed interpersonal communication and information consumption processes. This digital landscape accommodates user intentions, also resulting in an increase of offensive language and harmful behavior.…
TikTok currently is the fastest growing social media platform with over 1 billion active monthly users of which the majority is from generation Z. Arguably, its most important success driver is its recommendation system. Despite the…