Abstract

In less than five years, TikTok has gone from an obscure online niche for lip-syncing teens to the definitive global platform for short-form video content. With over a billion users worldwide, TikTok prides itself in providing a wellspring of entertaining, inspiring, and imaginative content through an endless feed that feels curated just for you. This thesis examines TikTok’s meme culture and considers the app as a site for the platformization of cultural production. Drawing on meme studies and platform studies, and using methods influenced by ethnography and political economy, I analyze its creative affordances, its monetization pathways, and conditions of discoverability. What I find is that TikTok is giving rise to an algorithmic meme culture which incites participation in trending memes by rewarding creators with increased visibility. I also consider the unique challenges that arise for creators labouring within an algorithmic platform economy, and the strategies available to them for success. I conclude by considering the implications for the continued relevance of the meme on a platform which seemingly erodes its conceptual boundaries by incorporating its logics within the platform architecture.