TikTok Design and Experience: A Semiotic Technology Approach

Abstract

This article proposes a multimodal semiotic analysis of the TikTok application, exploring how its infrastructure shapes user experience and meaning production. Drawing on the tradition of semiotic technology (Poulsen et al., 2018; Zao et al., 2014), we examine how TikTok’s technical features influence user and creator interactions, offering a complementary social semiotic perspective on the platform’s success. We consider the TikTok application and the TikTok videoclip as semiotic artefacts and the application design as a semiotic practice, generating, on a second level, the user-viewer, respectively the user-creator, experience and practice. All these dimensions, artefacts, and practices are interrelated. Through semiotic analysis, we investigate TikTok’s functionality, and the addictive qualities simulated by its design, employing a comparative approach with other social media design (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn or YouTube). Our analysis reveals TikTok’s deliberate design choices that prioritize visual engagement and seamless interaction. By minimizing linguistic elements and prioritizing immersive video content, the application fosters a continuous scrolling experience akin to an endless movie, compelling users to spend extended periods on the platform. The absence of frames or limits further reinforces the idea that the video content is paramount, drawing users into a self-contained digital world. We argue that TikTok’s addictive nature stems not only from its algorithm, but also significantly from its interface design, which shapes the user experience.