Keywords

Digital Identity * Social Media * TikTok * Identity Construction* Voyant Tools * Critical Discourse Analysis

Subject Categories

Communication | Mass Communication | Social Media

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how news media construct narratives about TikTok and its role in shaping digital identity. While existing scholarship has examined issues such as privacy, marketing, and entertainment, less attention has been given to how identity is represented, negotiated, and understood within public discourse. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) combined with computational text analysis through Voyant Tools, this study analyzes a corpus of 111 news articles published between 2020 and 2025 that explicitly reference TikTok and identity. The analysis identifies prominent keywords, topics, and rhetorical patterns across media texts. Furthermore, the research demonstrates a critical analysis of popular understandings of digital identity performed on social media, using TikTok as a case study. Rather than focusing directly on users, the study examines how journalism frames TikTok as a site of self-presentation. News coverage is not neutral; it reflects and reinforces dominant cultural norms. By tracing discursive patterns, rhetorical strategies, and thematic framing, the project Findings reveals two dominant frames: Identity-as-Empowerment and Identity-as-Risk, illustrating how media narratives position digital identity as both an opportunity for self-expression and a source of vulnerability. shows how media narratives construct TikTok as both a space of creativity and cultural empowerment and as a site of social threat and moral concern. This matters because media representation has real-world consequences. How TikTok is portrayed influences public perceptions of legitimate self-expression, shapes cultural debates about youth and morality, and informs policymaking around regulation and digital freedoms. At a broader level, these narratives about TikTok spill over into how similar short-video platforms are understood across digital culture. The study highlights the role of news media discourse in shaping public understanding of digital identity by presenting TikTok as a platform where identities are continuously created, displayed, negotiated, and evaluated. Findings reveal two dominant frames: Identity-as-Empowerment and Identity-as-Risk, illustrating how media narratives position digital identity as both an opportunity for self-expression and a source of vulnerability. Ultimately, this research contributes to the interdisciplinary field of Texts and Technology by demonstrating how media discourse shapes contemporary understandings of identity in an increasingly digital society.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Stanfill,MEL

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Dean's office

Format

PDF

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

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