Gateway into Politics: Hidden Ideological Signals in TikTok

This paper explores the implications of incidental exposure to political content on popular social media platforms like TikTok. The inherent challenge lies in the captivating nature of TikTok content, where entertainment takes precedence. Users, particularly those who are politically inattentive, engage on these platforms primarily for entertainment purposes, thereby creating a pathway for incidental exposure to political content. Through the presence of ideological cues—ranging from symbols like the rainbow flag to representations of polarizing subjects such as guns—these challenges become a subtle vehicle for the transmission of political messaging. We contend that these cues within entertaining content have the potential to shape the political views of followers, especially those who are politically disengaged or inattentive. The mechanism at play is akin to the well-documented influence of self-perception and well-being, where subtle cues and environmental factors subtly mold one's beliefs and attitudes. We use an original dataset of 2500 TikTok videos posted by U.S. social media influencers in the health and gaming niche, and code them for political cues using a multimodal annotation pipeline. In particular, we separate the visual from the textual, and scale the visual political cues within the ideological spectrum. By examining the impact of these cues on their followers, comments, and subsequent sharing patterns, the paper aims to provide insights into the subtle yet significant role that entertainment-centric platforms play in shaping political ideologies.