The findings demonstrate that a great deal of stock advice on TikTok is not only inaccurate but potentially dangerous for uninformed investors. This highlights the need for improved media literacy and regulatory oversight. As users, it is essential that we cultivate a habit of thorough research, especially when it comes to financial advice on social media platforms. On top of that, it is crucial to seek information from multiple, credible sources and consult with qualified professionals.
We crawled the transcripts of 1089 TikTok videos from popular stock-related hashtags such as #stocktok and #stocktips.
Then, we read the transcripts and rated how misleading each video was. If any of these four things were true about the video, it was marked as misleading:
- Did not have a disclaimer.
- Encouraged viewers to invest in a particular stock asset.
- Implied a return on investment.
- Encouraged viewers to invest a certain amount of their savings or income.
These videos were also categorized by types of content:
- Trading Tips and Technical Analysis
- Stock Analysis and Picks
- Market News and Trends
- Investment Strategies
- Stock Market Basics
- Financial Literacy Education
- Personal Experience and Stories
- Humor and Entertainment
Additionally, the cumulative views and likes of these misinformative videos were counted.
We continued by investigating these influencers' profiles to find:
- If they had a disclaimer in their bio.
- If they had finance-related credentials.
- If they advertised their own services.
A total of 493 TikTok influencers were analyzed.