South Africa: How South African Women Navigate Gender Issues on TikTok

The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) has released its latest report, Gender-Based Violence and Misogyny TikTok Analytics and Narrative Update in South Africa, on the online conversation regarding gender-based violence and misogyny.

The report provided an overview of the emerging themes and most popular posts within the TikTok conversation. It examined dominant themes, topics, influential accounts, and trends shaping the debate.

The trends and narratives from January 1 to November 2024 were examined.

The study identified four distinct peaks where conversations increased in volume. According to CABC, there were two peaks in March, while the other two occurred in April and September 2024. The most popular posts within these peaks focused on cheating and its impact on relationships, marriages and motherhood.

The highest reach was achieved by a post promoting a Dove campaign to address men’s mental health. CABC reports that while comments on the TikTok video were disabled, comments to the videos on YouTube suggested that it is important to open these spaces for men to talk as well as see the strength in vulnerability.

On TikTok, a post about Sizwe Ngema, a Durban metro police officer who allegedly stabbed his girlfriend Yolanda Khuzwayo (who was also an officer), received high reach.

Three keywords dominated the search.

Women were used in posts about women living in fear and how they must always be alert for danger. Love, with posts ranging from age gaps to infidelity, and Marriage, which included debates about whether it gives women social status and legal protection.

The report provided an overview of the emerging trends and popular posts within the TikTok conversation.

Based on the report, TikTok differentiates itself from traditional social media platforms, which historically were text-based, by offering short-form video content and challenges. Through trends and challenges, users can share videos centered around specific prompts or themes with others around the world.

However, TikTok can sometimes blur the line between societal issues and humour, “sometimes to an inappropriate extent”.

CABC reports that the platform has grown significantly in the past few years, allowing spaces to be created for the discussion of important societal issues.

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