Essay by Doreen Cuevas-Rañada, Cagayan de Oro City

My recent qualitative, exploratory research on TikTok performances surrounding Taylor Swift's "Opalite" and "The Fate of Ophelia" has uncovered significant patterns in identity performance across generations, with notable implications for content creators, marketers, and educators.

Identity performance is the expression of distinct personal and collective identities through curated, staged actions on social media platforms like TikTok.

I conducted the study in line with ongoing public hearings streamed online to check user behavior, perceptions, and motivation of viewers.

As social networking sites like TikTok become increasingly an "expansion of everyday life" and "an instrument of cultural transformation," understanding identity performance on these platforms has become important critically. This is the gap I wanted to fill.

Using Dramaturgical Theory by Erving Goffman, Judith Butler's Theory of Gender Performativity, and Henry Jenkins' Theory of Participatory Culture, I analyzed 300 public TikTok videos using the hashtags "Opalite" and "The Fate of Ophelia" in September 2025. My research answered primarily: How do TikTok creators of varying ages, genders, and cultural origins utilize the platform's capabilities to express distinct identities?

KEY FINDINGS

My analysis showed that Gen Z dominated both dance challenges, accounting for 56 percent of "Opalite" content and 69 percent of "The Fate of Ophelia" content, followed by Millennials at 37 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Gen X participation remained minimal at seven percent and six percent.

I also found that Filipino participation was strong, reflecting Participatory Culture theory through communal interpretation within the fandom. TikTok's importance in the Philippines is reflected in 81.6 percent monthly Filipino users and 62.3 million total ad reach in early 2025, a context that I believe significantly shaped my data.

I found out that the virality of Swift's songs is attributed to their creative elements and media presentation.

I observed that "Opalite" offers simple steps learned easily, representing "quotidian reality" or ordinary daily life. In my data, the "beautiful outfit of the day" dominated as the "personal front," with users converting residences, gardens, workplaces, and pavements into stages, showing the adaptability of the "front region" in digital environments.

Under Butler's framework, my interpretation suggests that "The Fate of Ophelia" may represent every woman's pain as weakness and oppression romanticized in a patriarchal society.

CONCLUSIONS

I learned, based on data, that identity performance on TikTok is often collective and participatory. I conclude that popular culture offers frameworks for individual expression and collective understanding, standardizing interpretations and performances across different regions and generations.

With these findings, I can recommend that content creators utilize "curated authenticity" focused on consistent personal style and create instructional videos to help establish community. My research suggests that marketers can develop campaigns with emotional scripts supported by popular songs and collaborate with Filipino content creators to produce universal trends. Finally, I propose that educators in digital literacy programs can include principles of dramaturgical performance to facilitate critical analysis of online identity.

For future research, I suggest that scholars can conduct longitudinal studies monitoring performance trends and cross-platform analysis assessing how diverse social media content impacts self-presentation, including how social media is used for voice, gender representation, and intergenerational dialogue through popular music.