In a world where social media is taking over and people are glued to their phones and keyboards during commutes or before going to bed, a generational controversy is at large. For years, the ethical implications of social media have fuelled debate in academic, professional and everyday conversations, with it soon to be the topic of historical case studies. The reason for it being on such a pedestal is that it comes with so many controversies. Despite its ability to bring joy and connect friends, and offer endless crafting and cooking tutorials, there is also a very dark side to this online eutopia.
One platform currently taking storm is the Chinese-owned app TikTok. Previously known as ‘Douyin’, in the East, it merged with popular Western world site Musical.ly in 2016. A move that sparked a meteoric rise. As of August 2024, TikTok has around 1.6 billion users globally. TikTok has become the birthplace for some of today’s biggest influencers, allowing them to make a living through their content and mass following and sponsorship deals. Some of these well-known names include the likes of Khaby Lame, Charli Damelio and Zach King, just to name a few. Even celebrities like Will Smith and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson share over 160 million followers on the site.
Despite the viral dances and extravagant promotions, a big question is asked: What real and positive changes are these influencers making today?
Cyberbullying is a growing problem in our online world. With social media becoming more accessible, it creates new avenues for online abuse. TikTok especially enables bullying through public comments, private messaging and the ability to widely share content. However, some creators out there use their platform to create safer and more supportive communities.
One creator is David, known on TikTok as Davflix, has become a leading voice for anti-bullying and inclusivity. Originally posting humorous videos inspired by “dad jokes” (influenced by his 19-year-old daughter), the content David produced took a more advocating turn.
“I realised that the LGBTQ+ community weren’t getting enough support on the platform”, he said. “I couldn’t believe that parents were chucking their kids away for coming out.”
David’s desire to help people sparked from his 13-year career in working with people with severe learning difficulties and autism, coinciding with his own experiences in being a victim of bullying. David’s content is made up of short, heartfelt videos and various livestreams, with some attracting thousands of viewers. His most watched anti-bullying livestream took in around 2,500 viewers.
As the content supporting the LGBTQ+ community began to thrive, David noticed more vicitms of various forms of bullying reaching out to him which solidified his identity as an anti-bullying creator. “A lot of straight and ethnic minority people are victims of bullying too”, he noted.
When asked about how David uses insight to gather as many views as possible, he explained how he likes to also time his life for when from America would be more susceptible for viewing. “The American market is huge, which is why the threat of TikTok being banned in the US would be so detrimental to the future of my content”.
Talking about his thoughts on the larger and more famous influencers earning significant income through sponsorships and the TikTok creator fund, David didn’t hold back. “It’s sad they choose not to despite the large following”. He expressed his disappointment that many users are leaving themselves in serious debt and spending massive amounts of money on gifting creators who, as David put it, “mime and dance to other people’s music”.
I asked David if one day he could see a future where he can make a career from his type of content creation. He simply followed with: “It’s sad and hard to admit that to be successful on something like TikTok, you have to be good looking enough, and sponsors have to want you in their clothes”. “TikTok and a large amount of our social media consumers, simply don’t care enough about supporting those who can make a real change and tackle larger societal issues such as bullying, homophobia, racism etc.” David closed our insightful conversation by saying: “TikTok is showing more care about the shallower people in this world and open up a platform for haters and ‘trolls’ to add to our cyberbullying epidemic and neglect those who care about making our world on the internet a safer and more positive place.”
From speaking to David, there is a loud call for more people make their voices heard in tackling a crisis of this nature and its important for those who suffer to engage in communicating and networking with others in hope that one day, those care about making a change, like David and his channel, are put higher up in online algorithms and are seen to be more supported by the large social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube etc. Stay tuned to this positive community of networking and anti-bullying content creators as they continue to fight the ongoing prejudices of this generation.
