This program was brought to you by the algorithm: Rethinking television via TikTok

Abstract

The days of television have repeatedly been deemed over. Today, we are told, television is a dying medium replaced by viral and new digital platforms like TikTok where millions gather every day to consume content. This paper is an extended literature review of television and TikTok scholarship to highlight similarities and differences amongst key concepts in both fields. By focusing on political economy, textual analysis, and audience/reception studies, we unpack the connections and tensions between TikTok and the visual styles, aesthetic elements, cultural configurations, intertextual references, and genre formations that have established television as a recognizable technology and cultural form. We also draw on a case study of TikTok therapy content and television talk shows to further demonstrate how these entities occur. Moreover, the paper outlines the analytical benefits of considering digital platforms such as TikTok as a continuity of prior media developments, rather than being fundamental disruptions.