Humor in TikTok: a case study of five Spanish content creators

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2024.i64.09

Keywords:

Humour, humour videos, TikTok, social media, generation Z

Abstract

The aim of this research is to analyse the use made of humour on the social network TikTok, because the content published on this platform, which incites laughter, attracts a large audience, but not all videos choose the same way of making comedy, nor do they make use of the same technical resources. Therefore, this study has been approached using a quantitative approach. At the first level, an empirical analysis of data from twelve months (1st October 2021 to 31st September of 2022) of the TikTok accounts of the content creators in the sample was carried out (n=914). The following variables were prioritised: number of posts, views and audience interactions. On a second level, a content analysis of their publications was carried out (n=70). The Spanish content creators chosen for this deadpan are: animalize21, badbixsamantha, jorgeamor, gersanc_ and whereisleto. It is concluded that the most successful type of humour on TikTok is affiliative humour that makes comedy out of everyday situations. Additionally, this type of videos are especially dynamic, as all the technical elements that compose them work to accelerate the pace because the audience and the platform demand it.

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Author Biography

Antonio Díaz-Lucena, King Juan Carlos I University

Antonio Díaz Lucena es Doctor en Ciencias de la Información (Comunicación Audiovisual) por la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid. Ha sido realizador y técnico de los telediarios en directo para el canal de noticias económicas de Bloomberg TV en Londres. Ciudad en la que ha residido durante cinco años pudiendo acceder al Master en Fine Arts (2003) especializado en cultura visual en la Universidad Middlesex. Defendió su tesis doctoral en 2014 sobre el primer largometraje del director de cine danés Lars von Trier Forbrydelsens element (El elemento del crimen, 1984) con Lorenzo Torres Hortelano como director. Desde entonces ha publicado diversos artículos sobre el cineasta en revistas españolas: Trama y Fondo o THÉMATA. Revista de Filosofía. Actualmente es profesor ayudante doctor de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) donde se está especializando en la comunicación en redes sociales (RRSS). Sus investigaciones más recientes han sido publicadas en Communication & Society y Latina de Comunicación Social. Imparte las asignaturas de "Investigación de Audiencias", "Estructura del Sistema de Medios", "Guion Audiovisual" y "Proceso Audiovisual". Pertenece al grupo de investigación de alto rendimiento INECO - Innovación, Educación y Comunicación (IP: Belén Puebla, URJC). Autor de los capítulos de libro: "Las oquedades en el cine de Julio Medem" (Fragua, 2021), "Tamaño Natural (1973) o la Nueva Pandora" (Tirant lo Blanch, 2023) y "Retrato de vida y de muerte en Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1995) en Trama y Fondo, 2023".

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Published

2024-04-15

How to Cite

Díaz-Lucena, A., & Molina-Fuster, J. (2024). Humor in TikTok: a case study of five Spanish content creators. Ámbitos. Revista Internacional De Comunicación, (64), 155–171. https://doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2024.i64.09

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