Climate Action on TikTok: Evaluating Climate-Related Content Driving User Engagement
Minji Kang

Abstract
This study investigated factors driving user engagement with TikTok videos that advocate for climate change awareness, using the hashtag #ClimateAction. The top 100 relevant videos were analyzed through qualitative content analysis, identifying nine major content categories: (i) policies and regulations (ii) ecological impacts, (iii) sustainable projects, (iv) fossil fuels, (v) scientific findings, (vi) political understanding, (vii) climate-related phenomena, (viii) clarification of misinformation, and (ix) others. Two-tailed independent t-tests were conducted to compare engagement metrics across these categories. The results indicated that videos focusing on ecological impacts received the most views, likes, and comments, while those addressing policies and regulations were the most shared. Videos featuring scientific findings, political understanding, and other topics had relatively lower engagement. These findings suggest that highlighting ecological impacts is the most effective way to engage TikTok users in climate change awareness discussions.

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