TikTok and Researcher Positionality: Considering the Methodological and Ethical Implications of an Experimental Digital Ethnography

Abstract

In this article I examine the opportunities and challenges arising from an experimental digital ethnography I conducted as a digital content creator in response to social restrictions during COVID-19. To explore the perceptions and performances of masculinity among young Uzbek men in Uzbekistan, I created 50 TikTok videos between 2021 and 2022. These videos received more than 300,000 likes in total, not only significantly broadening the reach of my research recruitment but also serving as a substantial source of ethnographic data during the pandemic. Throughout the creation of these digital videos, I assumed a dual role as an agent in the research and an object of observation. This dual role underscores the agency of both researchers and the researched in navigating the digital platform, which allows for the challenging of conventional research gazes and relationships. This digital approach also unveils the complex spatial dynamics that underlie interactions in both online and offline realms, shedding light on how digital platforms can both enhance and constrain research efforts. Moreover, this article delves into the ethical implications of this experimental digital ethnography, which revolve around potential physical and mental risks to researchers, challenges related to the re-definition of research participation, and issues pertaining to obtaining informed consent. The findings provide insights and make contributions to problematising the conceptualisation of digital spaces, online communities/publics and digital ethnography. I conclude by offering insights for researchers who face restrictions in field access or are interested in studying youth culture on social media platforms, particularly in the role of a content creator, an area that has been relatively underexplored in previous research.