Ephemeral Feeds and Enduring Rituals: RushTok and the Formation of Event-Based Algorithmic Communities

The study analyzes 'RushTok,' the TikTok phenomenon surrounding the University of Alabama's sorority recruitment, as an example of an event-based algorithmic community. It identifies that while many participants perceive it as a community, few claim membership, with affiliation primarily centering on specific content creators and potential new members rather than shared practices. Engagement levels correlate with self-identification within this community.

Why it matters

This research illuminates how digital platforms cultivate temporary, event-driven online communities around real-world phenomena, impacting participant engagement and identification. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for organizations seeking to leverage or understand digital community formation, influence, and the role of creators in shaping collective experiences.

Key insights

• RushTok functions as an event-based algorithmic community, defined by collective assembly around an offline ritual sustained by platform recommendations.
• Participation in these algorithmic communities often presents an ambiguous and entertainment-driven throughline.
• A significant majority of surveyed participants (51 out of 71) considered RushTok a community, yet a small minority (11 out of 71) claimed actual membership.
• Affiliation within this community is primarily creator-centric, rather than based on shared practices or broader collective identity.
• Parasocial attention tends to cluster around a limited number of specific potential new members (PNMs) and recurring figures.
• Higher exposure to the content within the algorithmic feed was associated with a stronger self-identification among participants.

Source

arXiv — Computers and Society — https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09331