Why sharing stories matters: Influencers, mental health narratives, TikTok

Following the pandemic, social media influencers have become key figures who share stories about mental health on sites like TikTok. Influencer culture is largely unregulated, meaning that lay persons and medical experts alike may share stories about mental illness, health and well-being. Given that in the current mental health crisis, young people are reportedly turning to social media for ‘DIY help’ to improve their mental health (Krause, 2023), it is crucial that we understand how these stories are told and their potential for help or harm. Drawing on a dataset of TikTok videos, I will show how three types of influencers (professionals, wellness figures and lived experience experts) share stories and the role these play in shaping mental health literacy for young people.