In 1969, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance or NAAFA, was created to gain equality for heavier set people in a society that favored thinner people. As the years went on more people began to hear of this movement and either accepted and supported it or went against this movement. Some people were in favor of the movement so people with heavier body types could gain more acceptance among society while others claimed this organization was unhealthy and promoted the idea of obesity. Nonetheless, the movement continued and in the early 2000’s when the internet and social media gained traction, the body positivity movement also became more prominent. The body positivity movement was founded on the basis of fat acceptance and the internet has turned this movement into continuing to support bigger bodies while also supporting thinner body types as well. Social media, especially Tik Tok in recent years, has played a major role in how the body positivity movement has transformed into as it has created both a supportive and toxic environment all at once. Examining how this social media platform has affected body image is crucial as women and young girls continue to develop eating disorders, health problems and lower self-esteem, often stemming from their use of social media. (“From New York to Instagram: The history of the body positivity movement” 2022).
Tik Tok has become an overwhelmingly popular social media platform that gained traction fairly quickly. One of the first video’s to go viral on the platform showed a gummy bear with Adele’s song “Someone Like You” playing in the background. The video then pans out to see a crowd of hundreds of other gummy bears facing the original “singing” gummy bear. This video racked up millions of likes and created an explosive trend with other users copying this idea and thus bringing more traction to Tik Tok. Before this platform was called Tik Tok, there were two other variations of this app that came first; Musical.ly and Douyin. Musical.ly first launched in Shanghai in 2014 with strong US business ties and a key market within the West. In 2016 it was then transformed into Douyin by a giant Chinese tech company called ByteDance which attracted a more Chinese and Thai audience. Since Douyin was becoming very successful, ByteDance wanted to rebrand to attract a wider audience and become more successful. The company bought Musical.ly out and Tik Tok was born. (Tidy, Smith Galer: 2020)
Tik Tok created an algorithm that pulls together an individual’s interests and portrays videos that the intended audience would enjoy. This algorithm is why I wanted to focus on Tik Tok specifically as it targets young adolescent girls with people on their feed that are representative of ideal body type stereotypes. Influencers who promote the body positivity movement are also shown throughout people’s themes. Young girls who spend time on this app are constantly exposed to body types that reflect society’s standards and feel as though they have to conform to these body types. However, has this ideal changed because of the body positivity movement since influencers have started to embody this message and share it with the public? With the emergence of social media, the body positivity movement has been able to gain more traction and Tik Tok has portrayed a lot of influencers who are for the body positivity movement. These influencers try to spread self-love and let people know that their body is beautiful the way it is. Tik Tok has rapidly evolved in recent years along with the body positivity movement so I feel as though this relationship is important to examine as both have affected one another in positive and negative ways.