Mapping the Climate Change Landscape on TikTok

TL;DR

This paper presents the first comprehensive analysis of climate change discussions on TikTok, revealing dominant themes and potential pathways to engage broader audiences in climate action.

Contribution

It introduces a large TikTok dataset on climate topics and maps the platform's climate discourse using topic modeling aligned with a new climate taxonomy.

Findings

TikTok climate discussions mainly focus on lifestyle and dietary choices.

Identified non-climate 'gateway' topics that can attract new audiences.

Mapped semantic connections between climate and non-climate topics.

Abstract

Social media platforms shape climate action discourse. Mapping these online conversations is essential for effective communication strategies. TikTok's climate discussions are particularly relevant given its young, climate-concerned audience. In this work, we collect the first TikTok dataset on climate topics. We collected 590K videos from 14K creators along with their follower networks. By applying topic modeling to the video descriptions, we map the topics discussed on the platform on a climate taxonomy that we construct by consolidating existing categorizations. Results show TikTok creators primarily approach climate through the angle of lifestyle and dietary choices. By examining semantic connections between topics, we identified non-climate "gateway" topics that could draw new audiences into climate discussions.