TikTok as a Mediational Arena in the Experience of Cancer Among Adolescents and Young Adults

This study examines TikTok as a mediational arena in the experience of cancer among adolescents and young adults aged 15–24. Drawing on a cultural-psychological framework, the platform is conceptualized not as a neutral channel for self-expression but as a socio-technical and semiotic environment that conditions how illness becomes narratable, visible, and recognizable. The research combines netnographic observation of two publicly accessible cancer-related TikTok accounts with in-depth interviews conducted with their creators in France. Analysis focuses on platform-specific affordances, including bio-descriptions, pinned videos, editing templates, audio reuse, saving functions, and engagement metrics, and explores how these features shape identity presentation, emotional expression, and temporal organization of illness narratives. Findings indicate that participants actively negotiate platform logics by adapting trends, mobilizing shared symbolic resources, and resisting reductive illness identities. At the same time, a recurrent pattern of positive framing and aestheticized presentation suggests that certain emotional registers become more publicly legible than others. Visibility practices also intersect with material considerations, such as monetization and access to opportunities. The study contributes to cultural psychology by illustrating how serious illness is mediated within contemporary digital ecologies, foregrounding the dialogical interplay between infrastructural conditions and situated agency in contexts of vulnerability.