By /

Sophia Zielinski

Virality or Validity? TikTok’s Impact on Contraceptive Decision Making

Biography

Sophia Zielinski is a 2025 graduate of the Professional Communications program at Toronto Metropolitan University. She specializes in communications, event planning, and community engagement, with a strong foundation in the non-profit and health and wellness sectors. As Co-Director of Events at StyleCircle Magazine and Youth Engagement Coordinator at the Canadian Health and Fitness Institute, she played a key role in organizing large-scale initiatives and driving national outreach.

Passionate about women’s health, social impact, and strategic storytelling, Sophia thrives on creating campaigns and events that bring people together. She believes that effective communication isn’t just about delivering messages; it’s about fostering connections, sparking conversations, and inspiring action.

Details of Project

This research examines how content under the #birthcontrol hashtag on TikTok shapes audience engagement and young women’s perceptions of contraceptive use. By analyzing the first 100 videos under the hashtag, the study categorizes content based on factors such as stance on hormonal birth control, creator type, narrative style, and focus on side effects. These categories are then compared to engagement metrics like likes, comments, shares, and views to understand which types of content resonate most with viewers.

The findings show that non-hormonal birth control content, often using emotional, fear-based narratives, generates more engagement than content promoting hormonal methods, which struggles to capture similar attention. The study reveals that videos featuring personal stories or discussions about side effects tend to resonate more with viewers, leading to higher levels of engagement. This research highlights the growing influence of influencers in shaping contraceptive decisions among young women and suggests that the viral nature of emotional narratives may overshadow medically accurate information, impacting how birth control is perceived and discussed.

Lightning talk

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