Systems and Selves: An Exploratory Examination of Dissociative Identity Disorder on TikTok

In 2020, in the midst of COVID-19 related social distancing, the relatively new social media platform, TikTok, burgeoned in popularity. One somewhat surprising topic area that rose to prominence on the platform during this time was dissociative identity disorder (DID). Some researchers and clinicians expressed concern that the proliferation of DID content on the platform may have contributed to a marked increase in individuals presenting with DID and related symptoms. However, given that the relationship between DID and the media has historically been fraught with skepticism, as well as recent work by Christensen (2022) highlighting the development of Plural cultures online, it is critical to better understand DID on TikTok before passing such judgements. This study presents the first examination of the DID TikTok community through a descriptive analysis of 325 user signatures. Using a combination of qualitative codebook thematic analysis and quantitative content analysis, this project maps the contours of the community and centers the creative identity work that individuals within this community appear to undertake. We identified the following three themes within this sample of signatures: (a) Describing DID (with System Architectures, Diagnostic Authenticity, and Being Plural as subthemes), (b) Establishing Boundaries, and (c) Labeling Intersecting Identities. In addition to providing insights into DID TikTok, this study offers a methodological contribution by modeling one way of scaling rigorous qualitative analysis for social media platforms by using quantitative content analysis to complement qualitative methods.