Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Recreation

First Advisor

Jason Page, PhD

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand how people perceive the authenticity of nature-based TikTok content by analyzing the comments left on videos that featured the hashtag #naturecore. Comments posted on relevant videos were observed using qualitative content analysis to evaluate how people use comments to express perceptions of authenticity. Prior literature on the perceived authenticity of mass-oriented computer mediated communication was used to inform decisions made during data analysis. Of the 138,389 comments collected as data, 1,031 were identified as relevant for this scope of this study. The final sample was analyzed using constant comparison to establish codes and themes. Using thematic analysis, it was concluded that TikTok users who commented on aspects of perceived authenticity did so in three ways: 1. discussing whether content was real or fake; 2. making judgements of the content with criticisms or questions; and 3. comparing the #naturecore content to other things. This study could provide insight into how TikTok is used to portray nature, as well as how other people view nature-based social media content. Additionally, this thesis highlights some of the obstacles surrounding the use of TikTok as a source of data in academic research and provide some potential solutions for future researchers.

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