When Identities Go Viral: Themes and Aversiveness in TikTok Discourse on Kamala Harris’s Intersectional Identities During the 2024 U.S. Election

Abstract

This study examines TikTok posts from the 2024 U.S. election to explore how users discussed Kamala Harris, with particular attention to references to her racial and gender identities. Using social representation theory and the polarized intersectionality framework, this study analyzed 28,435 TikTok posts to identify patterns in how Harris was portrayed as a woman of color in politics and to assess the quality of the discourse using aversiveness measures. A qualitative thematic analysis reveals the following themes: (1) identity-based attacks questioning her legitimacy, (2) counterarguments defending her, (3) voter enthusiasm, (4) denial of identity salience, and (5) post-election collective fate perceptions. A computational analysis of aversiveness shows that references to intersecting identities heightened overall aversiveness. Among these posts, those containing more Trump-related hashtags show higher aversiveness scores than those containing more Harris-related hashtags. These findings reflect ongoing tensions in the representation of women of color in politics and point to polarized intersectionality among TikTok users.