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#Theatrekids: Finding community through the
TikTok platform during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Madison Burkett
Abstract:
The international arts and theatre communities have suffered greatly due to the continued
shutdown of the industry as response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the
way that these offline communities have found a home on the social media platform TikTok.
TikTok offers a unique set of affordances which allow globally dispersed users to form
common interested based communities, which includes existing social media features such
as friending and hashtag and distinctive functions such as duet and stitch. Through the
examples of the stage management TikTok communities who use the identifying hashtags of
#stagemanagers and #stagemanagersoftiktok, and the collaborative musical creations of
Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical and Bridgerton the Musical, this paper will explore the way
that #theatrekids are using this platform to replace their physical theatre communities with an
online theatre community in a time of social distancing, unemployment and lockdown.
Keywords: TikTok, social media, online communities, music theatre, #theatrekid,
#stagemanager, #stagemangersoftiktok, #RatatouilleMusical, #bridgertonthemusical
Paper:
On the 12th of March 2020, Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, announced that
Broadway theatres would be shutting down in response to the growing number of COVID-19
cases in the state (Benbrook, 2021). This announcement was quickly followed by the
shuttering of theatres across the world, including the West End and throughout Australia.
Twelve months later, while the Australian industry is slowly beginning to recover (Galvin &
Muller, 2021), the majority of international theatres are still closed with many individuals
waiting to return to work (Thomas, 2021). The ongoing unemployment and various lockdowns
in different countries has seen many individuals turn to the social media application TikTok as
a place for escapism and amusement (Omar & Dequan, 2020, p. 130). Since its launch in
2018 the TikTok platform has seen exponential growth (Weimann & Masri, 2020, p. 4) due to
its unique set of affordances. By utilising existing social media elements such as friending and
hashtags, and offering distinctive features such as duet and stitch, TikTok has become a place
Madison Burkett Communities & Social Media Stream Page 1where users are able to form or join online communities. Through the examples of #stagemanager, #stagemanagersoftiktok, #RatatouilleMusical and #bridgertonmusical, it is evident those affected by the arts shutdown have found a place of community online through TikTok. The unique affordances of the TikTok platform allow globally dispersed users to form communities based on common interests, as evident in the stage management and music theatre communities that have emerged on the platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media platforms create a space for the formation of online communities based on shared interests. Traditionally, communities were formed and maintained in close, personal circles as it was difficult to communicate and travel beyond an individual’s immediate network (Hampton & Wellman, 2018, p. 646). Through the invention of the Internet individuals are now able to connect and interact with others without the limits of geographical location (Keles, 2016, p. 320). Lumby (2010) suggests that social networking sites specifically “provide a platform for members to rekindle a sense of community, there are possibilities for new communities to be formed by people who have not met in the material world” (p. 69). Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have become places where social media users can discover others who share their hobbies, interests and passions. “These platforms have their own culture, language, idioms, and styles which needs to be reflected in their content” (Haenlein et al. 2020, pp. 11-12). Hampton and Wellman (2018) suggest that “social media is fostering networked, supportive, persistent, and pervasive community relationships” (p. 649). While the communities existing on older and more established platforms have been more extensively studied by academics, the amount of research that exists regarding communities that are be formed on TikTok is slowly increasing as the popularity of the platform has increased. The TikTok platform has become home to many online communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched to a western audience in 2018, TikTok is a social media platform based on the Chinese app Douyin, which allows users to upload videos of three to sixty seconds in length (Abidin, 2020, p. 77). These videos are consumed by other users through an algorithmically created feed called the ‘For You’ page (Munger, 2020). In July 2020, TikTok became the most downloaded app (Munger, 2020) with some suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic has exponentially accelerated the download rate (Abidin, 2020; Ellison, 2020; Li et al., 2021). Some individuals use the platform as a place to share COVID-19 related information (Basch et al.; 2020, Li et al., 2021; Ostrovsky, 2020), some use it for political conversations and activism (Serrano, 2020; Subramanian, 2021) and others use it as a space to express themselves creatively (Kennedy, 2020; Omar & Dequan, 2020). Although their uses may be varied, these global dispersed users have turned to the platform to find companionship and Madison Burkett Communities & Social Media Stream Page 2
community with others who share their interests during a time of uncertainty (Epperly, 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic many TikTok communities have emerged, therefore it is worth analysing how the unique affordances of this platform have helped these communities come into existence. TikTok has adapted many common social media features which helps users to communicate and form communities on the platform. Kaye et al. (2020) states that “TikTok includes social features, such as sending friend requests, the ability to like or comment on videos, a messaging system, and cross-platform connectivity to share videos using other apps” (p. 11). Similarly, Omar and Dequan (2020, p. 124) suggest that TikTok has adopted many of the features that are common to the Instagram platform. One such common affordance that has been utilised by TikTok is the ability to ‘friend’ other users. Through the act of friending, individuals are able to communicate with others who share their interest. Additionally, the function of friending can be used as an endorsement that a user is a member of a specific community (Lumby, 2010, p. 71). By friending other users on the TikTok platform, an individual is able to expand their social network (Montag et al., 2021, p. 2) and cement their position as part of community of like-minded people. Possible connections can be discovered through the curated ‘For You’ page or through a search of a specific hashtag, another existing social media feature which the TikTok platform utilises. By creating and searching for common interest hashtags, TikTokers are able to discover like- minded individuals and communities on the platform. When posting a video to the TikTok platform, users are able to caption their post with descriptive hashtags (Serrano et al., 2020, p. 258). Additionally, users are able to search for all videos that have been tagged with a particular hashtag (Weimann & Masri, 2020, p. 9). One such hashtag that is popular for theatre-related videos is #theatrekid. As of April 2020, there has been 3.6 billion views related to the videos that have been posted using this tag (TikTok, 2021). Other hashtags that have been created in relation to the above tag, include: #TheatreKids with 2.9 billion views, #musicaltheatrekid with 146.8 million views, #TheatreKidCheck with 102.7 million views, and #theatrekidproblems with 21.2 million views (TikTok, 202). By including the #theatrekid hashtag on a video, users are able to position themselves as part of the theatre community on TikTok and increase the odds of their video being liked by other members of the community (Li et al, 2021, p. 8). By searching for videos with this hashtag, a user will be able to find like- minded individuals to ‘friend’ and connect with. This is usability of the hashtag feature is demonstrated by the stage management community that has formed on TikTok through then use of hashtags such as #stagemanager and #stagemanagersoftiktok. Madison Burkett Communities & Social Media Stream Page 3
A community of global-dispersed theatre stage managers has emerged on the TikTok platform, who can be identified by the #stagemanager and #stagemanagersoftiktok hashtags. Many individuals and communities have turned to TikTok as a place of support (Herrick, 2020) during times of crisis. As with numerous others in the international arts community, theatre stage managers have found themselves unemployed and purposeless during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some have been able to pivot into other industries for employment opportunities (Hewitt, 2021), many stage managers have turned to the TikTok platform to find an online community as a substitute to their physical theatre community. Through the use of hashtags such as #stagemanager and #stagemanagersoftiktok, these individuals have been able to locate and communicate with other users who are sharing their experience of lockdown and unemployed. The shared experience of watching the industry that they love be shuttered has helped form a bond between a global community of like-minded individuals. Jackson et al. (2020) suggests that finding an online community of people that share your lived experience can provide “important emotional and psychological support” (p. 1876). Through the act of friending, liking, commenting, duetting and stitching videos of other stage managers, users are able to become a part of this community and find support in this time of uncertainty. The duet and stitch features of TikTok offer users a unique way to interact and collaborate with other users. Su et al. (2020) suggest that a “unique facet of TikTok is its configurable or copycat culture - it is common to reappropriate an existing clip by mixing additional visual effects or layering atop in a newly recorded video” (p. 441). The ability to interact with other users’ videos through a duet is a unique affordance on the TikTok platform (Schellewald, 2021, p. 1449). “Duets juxtapose videos side by side and can be viewed in tandem, and are often used by TikTokers to ‘react’ to or ‘reply’ to an original video, whether replicating it for comparison, or adding commentary as compliment or critique. (Abidin, 2020, p 80). By duetting with a popular video or well-known individual, a user is able to contribute to and be acknowledged by others within the community. This feature creates a participatory culture where all members within the community are able to actively engage within the community. Similar to the duet feature, the recently added stitch function allows individuals to collaborate “by taking clips from other users’ TikToks and ‘stitching’ them to [their] own original content” (Grant, 2021, para. 2). TikTokers ask their followers and friends to duet or stitch their videos as a way of encouraging communication and collaboration with their posts. (Abidin, 2020, p. 89). This type of collaboration was a crucial component of the community-created Ratatouille and Bridgerton TikTok musicals. By using TikTok’s unique set of affordances, the music theatre community on this platform came together to collaboratively create Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical and Bridgerton the Madison Burkett Communities & Social Media Stream Page 4
Musical. In a recent interview general manager of TikTok UK and EU, Rich Waterworth (Theil, 2021). stated that “unique product features such as duet on TikTok have facilitated and enabled original musicals such as Ratatouille and now Bridgerton to grow across the global TikTok community” (para. 14). Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical was born from a single video posted by elementary teacher Emily Jacobson where she confessed her loved for the rodent star of Disney’s Ratatouille movie (Reinstein, 2021). Through the affordances of the TikTok platform, including the ‘For You’ page and the duet feature, this video was discovered by many other TikTokers who added their own creative embellishment to this initial song (Buzzfeed Video, 2020). Furthermore, users composed additional songs that resulted in a digitally streamed Broadway-style production that raised over 2 million dollars with proceeds being donated to the Actor’s Fund (Seymour, 2021). A similar style musical is currently being developed by the TikTok music theatre community based on the popular Netflix series Bridgerton. With over 168 million views on the #bridgetonmusical hashtag (TikTok 2021), this TikTok musical phenomenon has grown from a concept video by musical duo Barlow and Bear into a global community of like-minded individuals (Theil, 2020). Curran suggests that “what is particularly refreshing is the warm community atmosphere surrounding Bridgerton the Musical that emanates enthusiasm and understanding; each creation is motivated by a simple love for one’s craft rather than a shallow desire for fame or recognition” (para. 3). These two examples demonstrate how the TikTok platform provides a space for users to locate and join online communities based on their shared interests. Through the introduction of the internet and social media platforms, globally dispersed users have been able to form and join communities based on common interests. During the COVID- 19 pandemic, many such communities have found a home on the TikTok platform due to its unique set of affordances. By adopting existing social media features from more established platforms, such as friending, commenting, liking and a direct messaging system, TikTok creates a sense of familiarity for new users. Additionally, by allowing users to hashtag their creations and search for content by hashtag, TikTok makes it easy for users to find other like- minded individuals and community groups. One such community group is the theatre stage managers who use TikTok as a platform and can be discovered through the #stagemanagers and #stagemanagersoftiktok hashtags. These individuals have turned to their online TikTok community as a place for support during the uncertainty that has been caused by the arts shutdown due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Another way for users to interact and collaborate within their online community is through the duet and stitch features, which are unique to the TikTok platform. Using these unique features, the music theatre TikTok community were able to create Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical and Bridgerton the Musical through a process of communication and collaboration with other community members. Madison Burkett Communities & Social Media Stream Page 5
Although a relatively new platform, TikTok has proven itself to be a space where online communities can come together to support and engage with each other in a way that is different to existing platforms. It will be interesting to see if the platform continues to be popular with arts communities when the theatres around the globe are able to reopen in a post-COVID world. Madison Burkett Communities & Social Media Stream Page 6
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