Links to TikTok videos that influenced my project: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwsTK54/
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwG2vj8
I knew that I wanted to create a TikTok that discussed the history of Trinity College rowing, so I began my search on the platform with the term “History of Rowing.” I assumed that there likely wouldn’t be any TikToks that specifically addressed my topic, so I was looking for videos that outlined the history of the sport in general and could provide some context for my videos. The majority of the search results were videos of rowing races from the last ten years or “story time” videos where rowers talk about their training/racing experience or drama that happened on their team. I found a result from @themOARyouknow where the creator gives a 30-second video that explains how old the sport is, where it originated from, and its development into an Olympic sport. This will be the video that I tag when creating my own TikTok. I didn’t love the style that this creator used to tell the history, so I thought that I could look at how history is told about other sports, like baseball. I found a video from @tutorly.ai where the creator splits the screen with himself on top, and the bottom flips through a series of historic slides to help illustrate his point. Further, the creator speaks in a much more engaging tone, which I hope to emulate in my video.
My narrative argument is to reassert Trinity College’s rowing team as one of the first competitive programs in New England through popular social media platforms. The TikTok algorithm is aware when rowers “like” rowing-themed videos, so I intend to use many hashtags to make sure that it ends up in their “For You Page. Additionally, I hope that this TikTok ends up on people who are fans of sports in general with the hopes of promoting rowing’s visibility as a more mainstream sport that has a deep history in collegiate athletics.
Going through the list of anthropological ethics, it is clear that each point is crucial to consider while making community oriented TikToks.[1] For “Do no harm”, I need to make sure that I don’t use offensive language or show images that could be potentially triggering for my audience. For “Being honest about my work” I will need to make sure to cite my sources and write in the caption or comments if I drew inspiration from other scholars while making this video. For “Obtaining informed consent”, I will not use privileged information that I learned from my coach or other parties over the years, as they do not know about my project. When thinking about “ethical obligations and affected parties,” I know my work will primarily focus on men’s rowing, but that is due to the limited sources that I am working with and lack of public information about women’s rowing. For “making my results accessible,” this one doesn’t need a lot of consideration for TikTok, as anyone with the internet can view these videos without an account…but if someone is citing a paper that they have written, maybe the creator should publicize that online as well. For “maintaining respectful professional relationships,” I will do my best to make sure that I am not directly stealing ideas or copying other TikTok creators, but if anyone responds to my video in the comments section, I will do my best to engage in a professional conversation.
I must acknowledge that I am posting on an app where its main purpose is to keep the user entertained and continue to scroll to the next video. It is inherently anti-social. One of the issues that I must consider is how I am contributing towards this development of an addictive app…does it help if I am teaching a history on the app rather than doing a “disgusting food eating challenge” or showing “epic fail compilations”?[2]Additionally, I am putting my face on the internet and associating myself directly with this history. If people chose to disagree with me or don’t like what I am saying, it will be easier for them to find me on the internet.
[1] Anthropological Ethics,” The American Anthropological Association, May 9, 2024, https://americananthro.org/about/anthropological-ethics/.
[2] Sierra Gillies, “TikTok’s Addictive and Unethical Algorithm,” Medium, March 10, 2022, https://medium.com/si-410-ethics-and-information-technology/tiktoks-addictive-and-unethical-algorithm-3f44f41f1f3c.
Links to final Tik Tok Creations:
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