"I can take what I want and adapt as needed": BIPOC Identity Making and Resistance Through Internet Aesthetics on TikTok

Internet Aesthetics are personal styles that are curated, instantiated, and remade on social media through collections of art, fashion, sensory experiences, literature, and media to communicate and share lifestyle narratives. BIPOC users often use Internet Aesthetics on TikTok as identity-making tools. However, they may experience algorithmic symbolic annihilation in which the platform neglects the existence of BIPOC in particular Internet Aesthetics, reducing their agency over their online identity-making. Using semi-structured interviews, we identify how BIPOC users understand Internet Aesthetics and what strategies BIPOC use to engage with them on TikTok. We discuss how BIPOC users apply algorithmic folk theories and offline strategies to resist symbolic annihilation while engaging in identity-making by extracting joy and meaning from Internet Aesthetics. We also model the uncertainty BIPOC users face around experiencing symbolic annihilation using the concept of microaggressions and give guidance on designing tools to addressing this phenomenon.