This is part 1 of my TikTok field notes for my ethnographic research project about online skincare communities. I am looking to better understand how audiences’ reactions to Electronic Word of Mouth (EWoM) content differs across different social media channels, by analysing a variety of skincare influencers (or skinfluencers if you will) on Instagram and TikTok.
This blog features my fieldnotes about my experience with five pieces on content from prominent TikTok creator, @skincarebyhyram.
The Process:
To help me better organise my fieldnotes I came up with some set questions I would ask myself after viewing each piece of content. They include:
- Who created the content?
- What is the content message? (The video/Image as well as the caption and/or hashtags used).
- What is my response to the message?
- Is this message sponsored?
- How effective was their persuasion? (Using a my own scale of persuasion)
- What is the time & date I am viewing the content?
- Where am I viewing this content?
- How did other users respond to the message?
- What was the purpose of this piece of content and how did the audience behave in reaction?
So, who is @skincarebyhyram?
How could I possibly look into the TikTok Skincare community without looking at Skincare by Hyram!? Hyram is one of the biggest voices within the skincare community on TikTok and has amassed a following of 6.5 million followers. He is American and based in Hawaii. His most popular content is his review of other people’s skincare routines in which he offers advice and recommendations.
I have analysed the following five pieces of Hyram’s content in an effort to better understand this part of the TikTok skincare community.
Field Notes #1
The content:
What? – A one minute video featuring Hyram using the product with a voiceover of him discussing the ingredients, how to use it and the benefits of the skincare product. The #ad hashtag is used within the video and the caption, Hyram also clearly says that this video has been sponsored at the beginning. There is upbeat background music, and he uses humorous facial expressions a friendly tone. Hyram also thanks his audience for their support at the end of the video.
Sponsored? – Yes. The #ad hashtag (which is displayed clearly) indicates that this EWoM content has been sponsored by a third party, whether that was paying Hyram to make the video or sending free/discounted products to use.
Persuasive? – Yes, I give it a 6/10 on my persuasion scale. I’m interested and want to know more but I was also thinking about how the video was sponsored in the back of my mind.
When & where? – I viewed this content in my bedroom using the TikTok mobile app on my phone. The date was the 2nd of October and it was approximately 3pm.
My reaction – I like how he clearly disclosed his sponsorship with the products brand and explained when you can use this product and who it would suit. I found his facial expressions and the effects he used on the video to be entertaining. Hyram also identified some of the core ingredients of the product and explained what that meant which I found interesting. I wouldn’t actively go buy this product as I feel as though he left out any criticism he might have had because of his sponsorship.
Audience reaction – This post currently has 250,600 likes, 1068 shares and 2305 comments. I gauged the audience reaction mostly by conducting Netnographic research using a random selection of 100 comments. For this video, the majority of comments were people asking questions about the product/skincare or were sharing their own positive experience with the product. There was also a small percentage of users who were critical of the authenticity of the video. Hyram also replied and answered some of the audience’s questions. The following pie chart provides a rough illustration of the feedback loop for this video.
Message purpose & audience behaviour – This piece of content was seemingly designed to have two main purpose: to convince users that the product is good and to educate users why. It seems that the majority of users were interested in the product and wanted to know more about it or wanted to share their own experiences with it. However there was a percentage of commenters that were critical of Hyram’s authenticity and believed that they couldn’t trust that his recommendation was genuine due to the sponsorship.
Field Notes #2
The content:
What? – This piece of content features two videos side by side (known as a ‘duet’ on TikTok). Hyram is reacting to the other TikToker’s (Anna) skincare routine and offers advice and opinions on the products she uses. He has no sound on his video and instead mouths the words and provides closed captions to what he is saying. He starts by thanking his audience for tagging him on Anna’s video and then sympathises with Anna when she says she is out of her products. Hyram uses expressive facial expressions and gesticulation throughout the video.
Sponsored? – No. There is no indication Hyram has been compensated for reacting to this video.
Persuasive? – A little. I give this a 4/10 on my persuasion scale. Although Hyram said they were great products he didn’t go into much depth why he thought that (probably because of the time limitation). As such, while it was entertaining to watch I wasn’t interested in finding out any more information about the products.
When & where? – I viewed this content in my lounge room using the TikTok mobile app on my phone. The date was the 3rd of October 2020, and the time was 9am.
My reaction – I found this reaction video to be more entertaining then persuasive, perhaps because it wasn’t focused on a specific skincare product or brand. I did believe that Hyram was being genuine in his reaction as he was providing his own opinions and extra information. I also felt like his facial expressions seemed really authentic.
Audience reaction – This post currently has 1,100,000 likes, 1086 shares 1391 comments. I gauged the audience reaction mostly by conducting Netnographic research using a random selection of 100 comments. The majority of comments seemed to focus on either praising Hyram, asking Hyram to review another video or asking Hyram a skincare related question. The following pie chart generally illustrates the audiences’ reactions.
Message purpose & audience behaviour – This piece of content was seemingly designed with the main purpose connecting with other users in the TikTok skincare community. Anna herself had asked her own followers to tag Hyram so he would see and react to the video. This tagging behaviour seems to suggest that Anna and Hyram’s fans/followers place significant value on his opinions about skincare.
Field Notes #3
The content:
What? – This is a one minute video featuring Hyram using the product with him talking about it in a voiceover. In the video he discusses and uses text to explain what the product is, what is does, how much it is and how to use it. Hyram also discloses that this TikTok is sponsored in the video and with the #ad and #sponsored hashtag.
Sponsored? – Yes. The #ad and #sponsored hashtags indicate that Hyram has been compensated in some way for posting this TikTok. Hyram also announces in the video that it has been sponsored.
Persuasive? – Yes. I give it a 6/10 on my persuasion scale. Hyram has explained in detail what the product is, how to use it and why it is helpful. Which makes interested in finding out more.
When & where? – I viewed this TikTok at 10am on the 24th of October 2020. I was in my bedroom using the TikTok mobile app on my phone.
My reaction – I feel as though this video would have really helped some users who were after a skincare product that targeted this concern. Personally, the product isn’t something that interests me as I don’t have that skincare concern but I can see how it would help others. I think Hyram is being genuine in his recommendation and I like that he explained the product in detail.
Audience reaction – This post currently has 305,700 likes, 1651 comments, and 1637 shares. I gauged the audience reaction mostly by conducting Netnographic research using a random selection of 100 comments. The majority of comments were either skincare question, positive feedback or skincare review requests, suggesting that Hyram’s audience consider his opinion and advice to be of value. The following pie chart generally illustrates the feedback loop for this video.
Message purpose & audience behaviour – This TikTok was seemingly designed by Hyram (in collaboration with the product brand) to explain how and why this product would be of benefit to consumers. The audience behaviour in response to this sponsored TikTok is interesting as there were more users praising/congratulating Hyram for being sponsored than those who were criticising him. Hyram’s audience also seemingly perceive Hyram’s skincare knowledge and advice as valuable as he majority of comments asked him skincare questions or requested he review a certain skincare product/brand.
Field Notes #4
The content:
What? – This is a one minute TikTok video featuring Hyram talking about the importance of moisturising and recommending a variety of skincare products al from the same brand. The video is captioned with the #ad hashtag and says ‘Moisture Barrier 101’ which reflects the educational nature of this video. Hyram uses humour and detailed information about the product to explain why he thinks the product is good.
Sponsored? – Yes. The #ad hashtag indicates that Hyram has been compensated in some way for posting this TikTok. Hyram also announces in the video that it has been sponsored.
Persuasive? – Yes. I give this video a 7/10 on my scale of persuasion. Despite it being sponsored I feel as though Hyram is being genuine in his reccomendation.
When & where? – I viewed this TikTok at 11am on the 24th of October 2020. I was in my bedroom using the TikTok mobile app on my phone.
My reaction – I enjoyed watching this TikTok, I found it entertaining, funny and informative. It definitely made me consider whether I needed this product or something similar. Despite all of the detailed information he provides, I think Hyram’s friendly personality and humorous, exaggerated facial expressions make this video easy to digest.
Audience reaction – This post currently has 130, 200 likes, 897 comments and 548 shares. I gauged the audience reaction mostly by conducting Netnographic research using a random selection of 100 comments. Generally, it seems the audience is more appreciative of this recommendation then critical about it being sponsored. The majority of comments focused on asking Hyram other and more skincare questions, or asking him to review other products. Hyram also replied to some users answering questions or thanking them for their feedback. The following pie chart generally illustrates the feedback loop for this video.
Message purpose & audience behaviour – Again, this TikTok was seemingly designed by Hyram (in collaboration with the product brand) to explain how and why this product would be of benefit to consumers. Once again, there were more users praising/congratulating Hyram for being sponsored than those who were criticising him. From analsing this video’s feedback loop it seems that Hyram’s audience perceive Hyram’s skincare knowledge and advice as authentic and valuable.
Field Notes #5
The content:
What? – This piece of content features two videos side by side (known as a ‘duet’ on TikTok). Hyram is reacting to the other TikToker’s (Sienna) skincare routine, he offers advice and explains the ingredients in the products she uses. He has no sound on his video and instead mouths the words and provides closed captions to what he is saying. He starts by thanking the product brand for sponsoring his reaction to Sienna’s video. The #ad hashtag has been used in the caption.
Sponsored? – Yes. The product brand has sponsored Hyram’s reaction video to Sienna’s skincare routine. Hyram discloses that this is sponsored using the #ad hashtag and by announcing at the start of the video.
Persuasive? – Yes. I give it a 8/10 on my scale of persuasion. Despite it being sponsored I find that Hyram has effectively explained why these products are good and it makes me want to know more about them.
When & where? – I viewed this TikTok at 12pm on the 27th of October 2020. I was in my loungeroom using the TikTok mobile app on my phone.
My reaction – I found this TikTok to be interesting and informative. I like how Hyram broke down the main ingredients of each product and explained why they were beneficial. Despite the reaction video being sponsored, I feel as though Hyram was being genuinely nice and the information he provided was valuable.
Audience reaction – This post currently has 558,800 likes, 1376 comments and 2859 shares. I gauged the audience reaction mostly by conducting Netnographic research using a random selection of 100 comments. The majority of comments on this post were skincare questions, suggesting that the audience members trust Hyram’s advice. The following pie chart generally illustrates the feedback loop for this video.
Message purpose & audience behaviour – Once again, this TikTok was seemingly designed by Hyram (in collaboration with the product brand) to explain why this product would be of benefit to consumers. The audience behaviour is interesting as Sienna has asked her audience to tag Hyram so he would see and react to the video. This tagging behaviour seems to suggest that Sienna and Hyram’s fans/followers place significant value on his opinions about skincare.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON @SKINCAREBYHYRAM
Ultimately, I found Hyram’s skincare (particularly EWoM) content seemed to be really authentic! His persona was consistent friendly, knowledgeable and helpful across the five pieces of content. Hyram often responded to popular skincare questions within his feedback loop. He also provided the same level of detail about the skincare products he reviewed/ recommended in non-sponsored content. My other observations about Hyram’s content include:
- Hyram often replied to the most liked skincare or product questions.
- The majority of Hyram’s posts about a specific skincare product/s or brand were sponsored.
- When the content was sponsored, Hyram clearly indicated that is was by a saying a disclosure at the start of the video and/or the #ad or #sponsored hashtag.
- On average I rated Hyram’s content 6.2/10 on my persuasion scale.
- On average 41% of comments on these five TikToks were skincare questions.
- Generally the audience behaved in correspondence with the content’s designed purpose, i.e. users asked more questions about brand and/or the product or asked more general skincare questions.
- It appeared as though, almost every comment in Hyram’s feedback loop was directly skincare related.
If you’re interested in my research into the skincare community across social media platforms make sure you hit follow!
ALINA HAGER 
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