Rolling through TikTok: An analysis of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-related content.
Jai Whelan, Geoffrey E Noller, Ryan D Ward
Drug and alcohol review January 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1111/dar.13640 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMost TikTok videos about MDMA portray the drug neutrally (40.6%) or positively (34.9%), with intoxication presumed in 40.2% of videos. Humor was the most common theme (80.5%). Only nine out of 498 videos contained harm reduction content, which together were viewed nearly one million times. The findings suggest that unrestricted access to MDMA-related content on TikTok may shape perceptions of the drug, and better monitoring or promotion of harm reduction material could help offset potential harms.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 498 |
| Population | MDMA-related videos on TikTok |
| Topics | MDMA |
| Keywords | Social media |
| Key finding | Most MDMA-related TikTok videos depict the drug neutrally or positively, with humor as the dominant theme and very few containing harm reduction content. |
Abstract
TikTok has quickly gained popularity through its platforming of large amounts of short video content. Given its widespread popularity, unrestricted access and poor content monitoring may allow 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-related content to influence perception of MDMA use. We aimed to investigate how MDMA-related videos are portrayed on TikTok and explore MDMA-related harm reduction content. MDMA-related hashtags and sounds were utilised to collect data from TikTok (n = 498). Video views, likes, comments and shares were recorded and quantified, and videos were coded for depiction/sentiment towards MDMA and thematic content. The total sample view count was 82,413,781. Videos had a median view count of 28,900 (SD = ±561,645), median like count of 2269 (SD = ±102,904), median comment count of 52 (SD = ±755), and median share count of 34 (SD = ±3292). Most videos depicted MDMA neutrally (40.6%), while 34.9% were positive. MDMA intoxication was presumed in 40.2% of videos. The analysis produced seven themes, of which humour was the most common (80.5%). Harm reduction content was present in nine videos, viewed 999,700 times, and consisted of mixed subject matter. Similar themes and issues surrounding drug-related content on TikTok are relevant to MDMA, and intoxication was present in a significant portion of the sample. Better monitoring or regulation of content could potentially offset harm that may arise from consumption of such content. Promotion of harm reduction content could also be trialled to minimise harm.