Connor DeWolfe, a content creator, uses TikTok as a platform to create an online community that connects people living with the symptoms of medical-professional diagnoses and self-diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

 

Social media use, among the younger generations, has had enormous growth within the last decade and particularly within the last few years. Online networks via social media platforms are an incredibly powerful tool for communicating ideas and concepts to a large variety and further reach. . More notably, social media network platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have continued to grow in engagement and content upload over the last few years. Social media platforms such as TikTok, play a vital role in the spread of information and as a tool for communication between networks and communities. TikTok was launched in China in 2016, and then in Australia in 2018, where it almost immediately gained popularity. We saw an uphill trend of the popularity and usage of TikTok which was then heightened in late 2019 due to the rise of COVID and the implications, as a result meaning many more people were online (Volkmer, 2021). Although a relatively new social media platform, TikTok “has seen rapid adoption by adolescents and young adults, becoming the most downloaded social media application” (Yeung, 2022). In Australia, TikTok is the seventh most used social media platform, as of October 2022 (SM Perth, 2022).

 

The success of TikTok, as a social media platform, can be said to be due to the abilities of the content creators to build their own online communities where they can interact and engage with their followers directly without any sense of physical barrier (Volkmer, 2021). According to Volkmer (2021), “social media platforms have become major globalised influential communication spaces”. Online communities, created via social media platforms such as TikTok, have been a catalyst in sharing information on mental and health disorders and creating a space to encourage advocacy for people living with disorders and the struggles that they face. In a study by Jacobs, et al. (2022), TikTok was noted as a platform where videos were more easily accessible for learning new information than other platforms.

 

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, which will henceforth be referred as its acronym ‘ADHD’, is a neurobehavioural disorder that affects around 6%-7% of the Australia population as per a recent study (Neurocare, 2023) and is suggested as being one of the most common disorders in adults, in Australia (Deloitte, 2019). ADHD is characterised with symptoms that are prominent and impairing, that span from childhood and into adulthood. (Wilens, et al, 2010). Historically, ADHD was referred as a disorder that would primarily or only affect children, and in particular male children, however it is now becoming increasingly common in adults and females.  Symptoms of ADHD, as noted by Willens et el (2010) are categorised by inattention (difficulty retaining attention, mental effort, forgetfulness, distractibility), hyperactivity (fidgeting, excessive talking, and restlessness) and impulsiveness (interrupting, doing thing without thought, difficulty with patience).

 

Direct from TikTok Creative Centre, the current statistics for #ADHD in the last 7 days lies at 11million views for content that uses the corresponding hashtag. With 23B Views on #ADHD content overall in all regions in the last 7 days alone (TikTok Creative Centre, n.d.). The ADHD section of TikTok, which is known as ‘ADHDTok’, is a community in which people are freely able to connect and talk about living with ADHD. One way to access or find ADHDTok is found by searching ‘#ADHD’ in the search tool on the application. As mentioned before, ADHD has 23.4 billion views, with some of the most popular content being from creator Connor DeWolfe. TikTok Influencers and creators such as Connor DeWolfe have allowed ADHD and the symptoms and life events associated with the condition, to be expressed freely on the platform. Conor DeWolfe is known as ‘the ADHD guy’ within the TikTok community.

 

DeWolfe publishes content that is based around his own diagnosis of ADHD and the symptoms that he, himself, experiences in his day-to-day life and how these symptoms affect him personally. However, it could be said that his main purpose is not to document his own personal experiences but to raise awareness for other viewers who may be experiencing these symptoms, whether they already have a diagnosis or whether they are using these videos to understand the condition prior to receiving their own diagnosis. Members of a community sometimes needs to see themselves reflected in a community before they are inclined to join it themselves. TikTok users are able to look at DeWolfe’s videos and they have a sense of representation within his community. DeWolfe’s content is usually lighthearted and it would be easy for someone outside of the community but wishing they were in it, to join in on the lightheartedness of his page by joining in on the discussions within the comment section. As he continually insinuates that there are many forms of ADHD, it’s apparent that his community can build their own self-presentation easily without feeling like they must be exactly like him to fit in. His community he has made is very versatile and doesn’t reflect one specific type of characteristic as other communities may do.

 

DeWolfe has successfully created a community of over 5.6 million in following with only one theme in mind: ADHD and its effects on daily life. Viewers are constantly engaging with his content to comment on how they relate to the symptoms and events that he is posting. Common comments on posts include:

“I thought everybody did this. I should get tested.”

“This is me all over.”

“Omg I do that.”

“LITERALLY ME”

“You are me and I am you.”

DeWolfe regularly mentions in his profile that his videos don’t replace the need for a medical diagnosis from a professional and has not recommended that viewers of his videos are to self-diagnose. His role is to raise awareness and be an advocate for the ADHD community. However, it could be said that TikTok videos, like the ones that DeWolfe publish on the platform, could potentially encourage viewers to use the information as a self-diagnostic tool. Not only had DeWolfe allowed a community to grow based on connecting through a shared condition and the symptoms related, but it can be seen in his content comment section that he is also creating a positive community that not only engage with him directly, but with each other. In terms of networking, DeWolfe’s comment section is inundated with comments asking for advice or for other to let the commenter know if other relate to their experiences of ADHD, such as:

“ (@chrisgrey13, TikTok, 2023)

Comments like these, which received several responses back, have been met with replies of useful information and people connecting with a shared symptom, who then comment with their own personal experiences and advise on the topic at question. Other comments below the original content by DeWolfe included,

“Am I the only one who zones out, realises mid-way that I am zoned out and then thinks about how I am zoned out for like 10 minutes?”

Not only is the comment in itself an example of contributing to DeWolfe’s community but it actually forms its own community as it receives 90 replies with a variety of responses around suggestions and in agreeance with the original commenter.

The top comments on the most recent of his video, as dated from 10th April 2023, average at 70 replies. Although the aim of his profile is not to have individuals self-diagnose, it can be seen throughout the content comment that it is increasing the interest of self-diagnoses. Comment such as:

“I have never felt so goddamn seen by a video.”

“Me starting to think I have ADHD.”

“so, this isn’t normal or something”

 

Many people, in particular adults, go many years and even a lifetime without knowing they have ADHD or can connect their ‘symptoms’ to a disorder. Adults can be described as feeling as though they are “lacking certain tools that other people seem to have naturally” but are unable to pinpoint where the separation lies. The increase in ADHD diagnosis by professionals could be due to the advocacy that is on the rise on social media platforms by social media content creators by the likes of Connor DeWolfe. We are also seeing an increase in females, who are significantly undiagnosed (Dodge, 2022), and adults being professionally diagnosed.

 

Online communities have been formed to not only help form a place for shared information between people with common disabilities or disorders, such as ADHD, but they have also been created to encourage engagement between members that allows them to create conversation, generate understanding and encourage participation in discussions of a shared interest, in this case ADHD. An online forum was made on Facebook called ‘Women in Australia with ADHD’. It is described as “a support group for women in Australia who have been diagnosed or are seeking diagnosis for ADHD (or ADD in order DMSs)” (Women in Australia with ADHD, n.d.). Creating a group like this allows the members not only to engage with the other community members, but it also becomes a networked group as members share external information for more niche communities, such as specifically ADD or ADHD, or groups that are specific for kid related. Members are also sharing links to external articles on reputable websites, and on those websites there are discussions in the comments about signs, symptoms, and their own personal experiences. It is essential in a community to feel welcomes, open, and comfortable with sharing your identity and being vulnerable with likeminded individuals, and this is exactly what this forum aims to do with the ADHD community.

 

In this paper, we have become aware of the impact that social media platforms act as a catalyst for the transfer of information to increase awareness of neurodivergent conditions such as Attention-Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It has been noted that an increasing amount of society are engaging with ADHD content on TikTok, and in turn have been relating to the characteristics of ADHD that are posted by content creators, such as Connor DeWolfe. Content creators, inclusive of Connor DeWolfe are using TikTok to build communities to not only share common similarities of ADHD but also to encourage conversation and discussions within these online communities to allow people to share their own personal experience and how these relate to another person’s symptoms and experiences. Although it could be argued that the increased sharing of ADHD related content on TikTok has seen an increase in self-diagnosis, it cannot be argued that TikTok has not contributed positively to the creation of a network of individuals that identify with or are diagnosed with ADHD.

 

 

 

References

 

Deloitte. (2019). The social and economic costs of ADHD in Australia. Retrieved from: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-economics-social-costs-adhd-australia-270819.pdf

 

Dodge, Amanda. (2022). ADHDTok Helps More People Receive Diagnoses But Has Its Drawbacks. Accessability.com. Retrieved from: https://www.accessibility.com/blog/adhdtok-helps-more-people-receive-diagnoses-but-has-its-drawbacks

 

Jacobs, A; Pan, Y; and Ho,Y. (2022). More than just engaging? TikTok as an effective learning tool. UK Academy for Information Systems Conference Proceedings. Retrieved from https://aisel.aisnet.org/ukais2022/3

 

Hampton, K. N. (2016). Persistent and Pervasive Community: New Communication Technologies and the Future of Community. American Behavioral Scientist, 60(1), 101–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215601714

 

Neurocare. (2023). Diagnosis of Adult ADHD is on the rise, but this is good news. Neurocarefeedback. Retrieved from: https://neurocareclinics.com.au/2023/03/22/diagnosis-of-adult-adhd-is-on-the-rise-but-this-is-good-news/

 

SM Perth. (2022). TikTok Statistics for 2023 // Facts & Figures. SM Perth. Retrieved from: https://www.smperth.com/resources/tiktok/tiktok-statistics/

 

TikTok Creative Center. (n.d.). Trend Discovery. Retrieved from: https://ads.tiktok.com/business/creativecenter/inspiration/popular/hashtag/pc/en

 

TikTok Creative Center. (n.d.). #ADHD.  Retrieved from: https://ads.tiktok.com/business/creativecenter/hashtag/adhd/pc/en?period=30

 

Volkmer, I. (2021). Social media and COVID-19: Everyone can be a communicator. World health organisation. pp. 67. Retrieved from https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/3958684/Volkmer-Social-Media-and-COVID.pdf

 

Wilens, T. E., & Spencer, T. J. (2010). Understanding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder from childhood to adulthood. Postgraduate medicine, 122(5), 97–109. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3810/pgm.2010.09.2206

 

Women in Australia with ADHD. (2023). Women in Australia with ADHD. Facebook Group.

 

Yeung A, Ng E, Abi-Jaoude E. (2022). TikTok and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Media Content Quality. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 67(12):899-906. Retrieved from doi:10.1177/07067437221082854