Cancer Diaries: A Study of Communication Characteristics in Cancer Patients' Illness Narratives on Chinese TikTok

Kaisa JulihatiZheng Liu^*

• Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China

Short-video platforms like Douyin (Chinese TikTok) have not only become a primary channel for people to access health information but have also evolved into an important medium for cancer patients to express their illness experiences. This study employs illness narrative theory and narrative identity theory to conduct both quantitative and qualitative analyses of 553 cancer narrative videos on the Douyin platform, aiming to explore the typological characteristics, identity construction strategies, and communication effects of cancer patients' illness narratives. The findings reveal that narrative types characterized by actively fighting cancer dominate in terms of video quantity, while narrative types focusing on daily life perform better in terms of engagement; patient identities constructed through medical evidence and family member identities built on kinship relations both promote interaction effects; the distribution of narrative subjects shows that women and urban residents are the main creators of cancer narratives on Douyin. Additionally, we found that cancer narratives on the platform exhibit significant commercial characteristics, with some patients using narratives to gain economic support. These findings reveal the unique cultural characteristics of cancer illness narratives on short-video platforms, providing an empirical foundation for understanding health communication in digital environments, while offering insights for patients, medical institutions, and platforms to optimize health communication strategies.