Co-creation and interactive tools for poetry in Tiktok

Abstract

Transformation of traditional poetic forms within digital spaces acknowledges the evolving nature of poetry in response to technological advancements. The emergence of hypertext, multimedia poetry and experimentation with various digital tools has redefined conventional structures. The transformation process influences the reception and interpretation of poetry by diverse audiences. This paper addresses the gap in understanding how these transformations processes influence the reception and interpretation of poetry by diverse audiences. Digital Performance Theory and the principle of multimodality is used to guide the analysis. The research method used in the study was qualitative with descriptive research type. For the analysis, four poets were purposively selected from a population of ten popular poets on TikTok to give a sample of sixteen poems. Content analysis was used to gather data and thematic analysis was conducted. The results indicate that TikTok has transformed traditional poetic practices by reconfiguring medium, modality, authorship, audience and embodiment. Through transmedial and transmodal shifts, poetry moves beyond the page and voice into a richly layered visual and sonic landscape. Authorship becomes collective and authenticity emerges through emotional resonance rather than factual grounding. Prolificity and participatory tools reposition poets as both artists and performers of self, while audience members become co-authors in an unfolding digital dialogue. Finally, embodiment and spatial curation enrich the performance, turning the poet’s body and environment into semiotic tools. In summary, TikTok does not merely digitize poetry; it redefines its ontology, turning it into a multimodal, networked and socially embedded cultural form. The study concludes that TikTok has significantly contributed to the digital transformation of poetry performance, creating new spaces for poetic creativity, participation, and dissemination.