P2.A014: Gendered Perceptions of Hazing on TikTok

Background: Hazing is typically associated with college organizations, and can take on various forms. Fraternities tend to haze via physical means or substances while sororities may belittle members’ body and personality. College hazing is discussed on TikTok, a short-form video sharing platform with over 50 million daily active users. TikTok comments may be examined to determine the potentially different ways males and females react to this content. This study examines the associations between gender and attitudes towards hazing on TikTok.

Methods: TikToks were found by searching “Hazing” and “Greek life hazing” on TikTok, and were randomly scraped for comments. Only 320 comments were appropriate for analysis. For each, the following data was collected: TikTok content, the creator’s and commenter’s gender, and the comment’s attitude. Two main genres of TikToks were found: anti-hazing posts and hazing news reports. Commenter attitudes were identified as neutral, pro-hazing, or anti-hazing; others suggested that hazing is a choice and could even be a good thing; others questioned why hazing is a common practice. Descriptive analysis was performed in Python.

Results: A total of 18 TikToks and 320 comments were analyzed. Of the 18 TikToks, 11 were created by males and 7 by females. 16 TikToks had an anti-hazing sentiment; the remaining 2 were neutral reports. Of the 320 comments, 131 were left by males, 95 by females, and 94 were unidentifiable. 120 comments were neutral, 61 made fun of the creator and their views, 48 were anti-hazing, 24 indicated being hazed is a choice, 22 expressed dismay at hazing’s existence, 19 were pro-hazing, 18 indicated hazing has benefits, 3 equated hazing with torture, 2 equated it with tradition, 2 expressed that hazing is an outlet for hazers, and 1 said hazing is too intense. Female commenters had a more anti-hazing attitude compared to male commenters (χ2 = 65.128, df = 2, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Female users expressed a greater anti-hazing sentiment than their male counterparts. They were more sympathetic towards hazing victims and more condemning of those who haze. A small number of commenters justified hazing’s existence, trumpeting that it is a choice and has benefits. This attitude is dangerous for pre-college adolescents.While there are organizations that function this way, most do not, which puts this person in a precarious situation. Understanding the views of hazing on social media can better inform educators and they can leverage this to better prepare adolescents who may be soon exposed to acts of hazing.