Bridging the Self's Worlds: Young Girls' Creative TikTok Expressions of Multimodal Literacy during COVID-19
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| Title: | Bridging the Self's Worlds: Young Girls' Creative TikTok Expressions of Multimodal Literacy during COVID-19 |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jue Wang (ORCID |
| Source: | Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. 2026 26(1):195-213. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 19 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education Early Childhood Education Grade 1 Primary Education |
| Descriptors: | Young Children, Females, Social Media, COVID-19, Pandemics, Empowerment, Femininity, Multiple Literacies, Self Concept, Elementary School Students, Grade 1, Foreign Countries, Language Skills, Popular Culture |
| Geographic Terms: | China |
| DOI: | 10.1177/14687984241270820 |
| ISSN: | 1468-7984 1741-2919 |
| Abstract: | This study investigates three young Chinese girls' active play on TikTok as a way to engage in global communication during the COVID-19 lockdown in China. In particular, this paper aims to navigate how the girls position themselves in TikTok multimodal literacy play, as well as to inquire into how they practice literacy to deny, negotiate, and/or accept the beauty norms in TikTok virtual space. Situating and exploring these young girls' stories, the author shares findings from multiple rounds of virtual interviews during the pandemic that highlight the girls' creativity through multimodal literacy engagement on TikTok; their playful thinking that adopted the pandemic as a way of life and empowered the girls despite uncertainties, doubts, and tensions; and their complex beauty values negotiations embedded in the experiences of the girls' vibrant interactions on TikTok. Inspired by the girls' literacy practices and gender negotiations, TikTok's influences on norms of beauty and feminine appearance are discussed. Interrogating the limits of this platform, this work recognizes the possibilities of young girls' multimodal literacy experiences while encouraging further negotiations, reimaginations, and growth in their celebrations of social media like TikTok. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1499141 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This study investigates three young Chinese girls' active play on TikTok as a way to engage in global communication during the COVID-19 lockdown in China. In particular, this paper aims to navigate how the girls position themselves in TikTok multimodal literacy play, as well as to inquire into how they practice literacy to deny, negotiate, and/or accept the beauty norms in TikTok virtual space. Situating and exploring these young girls' stories, the author shares findings from multiple rounds of virtual interviews during the pandemic that highlight the girls' creativity through multimodal literacy engagement on TikTok; their playful thinking that adopted the pandemic as a way of life and empowered the girls despite uncertainties, doubts, and tensions; and their complex beauty values negotiations embedded in the experiences of the girls' vibrant interactions on TikTok. Inspired by the girls' literacy practices and gender negotiations, TikTok's influences on norms of beauty and feminine appearance are discussed. Interrogating the limits of this platform, this work recognizes the possibilities of young girls' multimodal literacy experiences while encouraging further negotiations, reimaginations, and growth in their celebrations of social media like TikTok. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1468-7984 1741-2919 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/14687984241270820 |
