TikTok: uses and motivations among teenagers in Portugal

ABSTRACT

During the first months of lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, TikTok was the most downloaded app worldwide, and conquered, just in Portugal, half a million new users, which requires an attentive look from Media Studies. Using the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) as framework, this study aims to map the practices of Portuguese teenagers (13-16) on this platform, exploring the differences between users and content producers. For that purpose, we conducted an online survey to a non-probabilistic sample of 263 TikTok users. Our findings show that 44,5% of the users create content, and they act more strategically, focusing on self-promotion and on the expansion and dynamization of their online community.