Audiovisual Languages for Health. Social Representations of Obesity on TikTok: A Case Study

Authors

  • Francesca Romana Lenzi Università degli Studi di Roma Foro Italico https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3591-6380
  • Ciro Clemente De Falco Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
  • Ferdinando Iazzetta Sapienza University of Rome
  • Vincenzo Esposito Sapienza University of Rome
  • Maria Elena Capuano University of Rome Foro Italico

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13136/isr.v14i10S.747

Abstract

Actors in the digital public sphere contribute to the public discourse on health and well-being by producing big data in various ways. User-generated health data are natural digital traces that social networks, wearable devices, health apps, and search engines can generate. The proliferation of user-generated content impacts the production, circulation, and consumption of health news, ensuring a vibrant public sphere on the topic. In today’s world, it is crucial to identify how new health-produced datasets can be used to assess Social Determinants of Health (SDH). SDH includes non-medical factors that influence health outcomes, such as the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age and what shapes the conditions of daily life. Health technologies hold great promise for developing digital health skills and improving health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases. Contemporary societies have undergone an epidemiological transition that has seen infectious-predominant diseases transform over the years into chronic-degenerative diseases.

Social media provides an open forum for communication between individuals, and content creators on TikTok are progressively changing the way audiovisual texts are produced and enjoyed, following a logic that tends towards media convergence and intermediality. This article aims to conceptualize how influencers providing public health information promote knowledge related to the obesity debate. Based on a sample of TikTok videos, we can gather insights and interpretations that help analyze the messages and themes conveyed by social media influencers. This analysis can help us to identify information and dimensions relevant to health advocacy and shed light on the underlying discourses and themes in their content.

Author Biography

Francesca Romana Lenzi, Università degli Studi di Roma Foro Italico

Francesca Romana Lenzi, Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of Rome “Foro Italico. Doctorate in History and Cultures of Europe awarded by Sapienza University of Rome. Rector delegate for Gender themes and for UniPeace Network, member of CUG. She is the author of more than 80 publications. Between them, 37 articles of which more than 10 included in WoS and SCOPUS database and 6 professional monographs. Research interests: sociological theory and methodology of social research applied to social identity and urban health, social determinants of health vulnerabilities and inequalities, social peripheries. Orcid 0000-0002-3591-6380

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Published

28.07.2024

How to Cite

Lenzi, F. R., De Falco, C. C., Iazzetta, F., Esposito, V., & Capuano, M. E. (2024). Audiovisual Languages for Health. Social Representations of Obesity on TikTok: A Case Study. Italian Sociological Review, 14(10S), 787–808. https://doi.org/10.13136/isr.v14i10S.747

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 10S (2024)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Francesca Romana Lenzi, Ciro Clemente De Falco, Ferdinando Iazzetta, Vincenzo Esposito, Maria Elena Capuano

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