zoë natalia cullen

This study explores how TikTok’s “For You Page” (FYP) algorithm shapes not just what people see, but how they communicate and connect with others. Through interviews and screen-sharing sessions with TikTok users, we found that people treat personalized recommendations as social tools: sharing videos that express who they are (“this is me”), recognize others (“this is you”), or highlight shared experiences (“this is us”).

This study examines what counts as research data “misuse” and how it can be prevented or mitigated. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature and cases, we identify how data can go wrong in practice—ranging from methodological errors and misinterpretation to unauthorized reuse, privacy harms, and manipulative presentation—and we outline concrete strategies to reduce these risks through better documentation, governance, curation, and community norms.