TikTok: The Young Saudi Females’ Village

Abstract

In recent years, TikTok has gained significant popularity among Saudi youth. This study examines how Saudi adolescents of both genders use the platform to shape their identities by exploring various forms of self-presentation to shape an answer to the question of who I am as an individual within a society, which is a crucial part of adolescents’ identity development. To explore this phenomenon, a survey was conducted with 1,074 TikTok users from all 13 regions of Saudi Arabia, gathering data on social media usage, self-presentation practices, and demographic information. Results showed that Saudi adolescents use this platform to interact with friends, acquaintances, and meet new people. There were differences between the self-presentation of both genders, where females were keen to present their true selves more than males. Young Saudi females are the most engaged in using and posting on TikTok, indicating that they use the platform as a third place to negotiate offline boundaries while navigating their identity away from adults’ observation.