This study looks at how mourning is expressed using the hashtag #grief on the social media app TikTok using qualitative content analysis. In a dataset of 100 TikTok videos, this article explores how the TikTok ranking algorithms, which orders content based on previous user engagements, may connect people in mourning across the platform and how these platform-enabled interactions may shape grief expressions. The study shows how grief was narrated on TikTok, which sociotechnical templates (such as duets, stitches, and audios) were incorporated into such expressions, and how these expressions of grief challenged societal mourning norms. This article ends with a discussion about how different subcultural norms on TikTok are linked to the way in which ranking algorithms create social connections across the platform. This study proposes that the “algorithmic closeness” of TikTok users in grief allows them to challenge societal mourning norms in imagined safe spaces, shaped by the algorithmic ranking systems on the platform.

本研究通过定性内容分析，研究如何在社交媒体应用 TikTok 上使用标签#grief 表达哀悼。在包含 100 个 TikTok 视频的数据集中，本文探讨了 TikTok 排名算法（根据之前的用户参与度对内容进行排序）如何将整个平台上的哀悼者联系起来，以及这些支持平台的互动如何塑造悲伤的表达方式。该研究展示了如何在 TikTok 上讲述悲伤，将哪些社会技术模板（如二重唱、缝合和音频）纳入此类表达，以及这些悲伤表达如何挑战社会哀悼规范。本文最后讨论了 TikTok 上的不同亚文化规范如何与排名算法在整个平台上创建社交联系的方式相关联。