followers , comments and shares ; video information tagged to the video in the form of captions , sounds and hashtags ; and device and account settings in terms of location and language habits ( ibid ., 699 ). This information creates unique " for you " pages for users , which are continually populated with new content .
With regard to the aspect of massive data collection by the app owner and surveillance practices in this way , the working mechanism is reminiscent of corporate social media , of which Robert W . Gehl ( 2019 , 331 ) mentions Facebook , X / Twitter or Google +, among others . As users provide data by liking , sharing or creating content , they facilitate the creation of user profiles . In addition , he states that the sale of user data to advertisers and marketers is a particular feature of CSMs ( Gehl 2015 , 3 ), who , citing Langlois , resumes that CSMs have been absorbed by information capitalism . The question here is whether TikTok functions more as a CSM or as an Alternative Social Media ( ASM ). Following Gehl ' s lines of critique to distinguish ASM from CSM , I would like to draw attention to one of the technical aspects of CSM . The collection of data , not only on the respective platforms but also through the possibility of logging in to many other websites via Facebook or Google , is centralised in CSM , " increasingly closed and opaque " ( Gehl 2019 , 332 ). Regarding the political-economic line of critique , it should be mentioned that the main economic beneficiaries of the users ' " free labor " ( Gehl 2019 , 334 ) are the marketers and advertisers , who generate profits through the sharing of personal information and the production of user-generated content . Given the young nature of its primary audience , it seems morally responsible for TikTok to adopt these surveillance practices , as other CSMs do . Finally , it seems important to question who has power in this kind of media . There is a tension between the fact that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that uses algorithms and provides data-driven personal timelines that shape a user ' s reality , and the fact that young users feel free to produce content whenever they want , which could empower young people ' s ideas and need to express themselves . But it is precisely this mode of operation that attracts anti-democratic content creators who want to spread their ideas quickly and easily . Lehmann ( 2023 ) points out that TikTok is part of the cross-media strategies of right-wing extremist media producers . Videos can be designed to attract more attention and make viewers want to watch more . The content is rather moderate at the moment so as not to attract attention . Viewers are redirected to other platforms that do not operate according to national legal standards , such as " Bitchute , Odysee or Telegram " ( Lehmann 2023 ).
After a first look at the structural aspects of Tik Tok , the medium seems to be classified outside the alternative media landscape . However , in order to answer the research question comprehensively , the content of the selected account will be analysed qualitatively below .
The Tik Tok videos were recorded with an external camera as they could not be downloaded . They were then transcribed semantic-contextual into German using MXQDA software . The data material obtained consisted of
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