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"My Brother Is a School Principal, Earns About $80,000 Per Year... But When the Kids See Me, 'Wow, Uncle, You Have 1500 Followers on TikTok!'": A Study of Blind TikTokers' Alternative Professional Development Experiences

Yao Lyu, Tawanna Dillahunt, Jiaying Liu, John M. Carroll

TL;DR

This study investigates how visually impaired individuals (BlindTokers) pursue professional development on TikTok, addressing gaps in traditional PD for people with disabilities. Through 60 semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the authors identify three central themes: the goals BlindTokers pursue, the strategies they deploy on TikTok (skill honing, influence growth, monetization), and the technical and social challenges they face. The work proposes an alternative professional development approach that leverages platform affordances to enable greater control, reframing disability as a form of competency and diversifying revenue streams, all supported by design implications for platform developers, sponsors, and public organizations. The findings highlight the potential of social platforms to complement traditional pathways, offering inclusive, personalized, and diversified opportunities while also exposing ongoing accessibility and moderation gaps that must be addressed for equitable PD in digital ecosystems.

Abstract

One's profession is an essential part of modern life. Traditionally, professional development has been criticized for excluding people with disabilities. People with visual impairments, for example, face disproportionately low employment rates, highlighting persistent gaps in professional opportunities. Recently, there has been growing research on social media platforms as spaces for more equitable career development approaches. In this paper, we present an interview study on the professional development experiences of 60 people with visual impairments on TikTok (also known as "BlindTokers"). We report BlindTokers' goals, strategies, and challenges, supported by detailed examples and in-depth analysis. Based on the findings, we identify that BlindTokers' practices reveal an alternative professional development approach that is more flexible, inclusive, personalized, and diversified than traditional models. Our study also extends professional development research by foregrounding emerging digital skills and proposing design implications to foster more equitable and inclusive professional opportunities.

"My Brother Is a School Principal, Earns About $80,000 Per Year... But When the Kids See Me, 'Wow, Uncle, You Have 1500 Followers on TikTok!'": A Study of Blind TikTokers' Alternative Professional Development Experiences

TL;DR

This study investigates how visually impaired individuals (BlindTokers) pursue professional development on TikTok, addressing gaps in traditional PD for people with disabilities. Through 60 semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the authors identify three central themes: the goals BlindTokers pursue, the strategies they deploy on TikTok (skill honing, influence growth, monetization), and the technical and social challenges they face. The work proposes an alternative professional development approach that leverages platform affordances to enable greater control, reframing disability as a form of competency and diversifying revenue streams, all supported by design implications for platform developers, sponsors, and public organizations. The findings highlight the potential of social platforms to complement traditional pathways, offering inclusive, personalized, and diversified opportunities while also exposing ongoing accessibility and moderation gaps that must be addressed for equitable PD in digital ecosystems.

Abstract

One's profession is an essential part of modern life. Traditionally, professional development has been criticized for excluding people with disabilities. People with visual impairments, for example, face disproportionately low employment rates, highlighting persistent gaps in professional opportunities. Recently, there has been growing research on social media platforms as spaces for more equitable career development approaches. In this paper, we present an interview study on the professional development experiences of 60 people with visual impairments on TikTok (also known as "BlindTokers"). We report BlindTokers' goals, strategies, and challenges, supported by detailed examples and in-depth analysis. Based on the findings, we identify that BlindTokers' practices reveal an alternative professional development approach that is more flexible, inclusive, personalized, and diversified than traditional models. Our study also extends professional development research by foregrounding emerging digital skills and proposing design implications to foster more equitable and inclusive professional opportunities.
Paper Structure (28 sections, 2 figures, 3 tables)

This paper contains 28 sections, 2 figures, 3 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Professional Development and People with Visual Impairments
  4. Professional Development and Social Media Platforms
  5. Social Media and People with Visual Impairments
  6. Methods
  7. Study Background
  8. Recruitment
  9. Interview Design
  10. Thematic Analysis
  11. Author Positionality
  12. Findings
  13. BlindTokers' Primary Goals for Professional Development
  14. Overcoming Unemployment
  15. Promoting Career
  16. ...and 13 more sections

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Three key TikTok interfaces: (a) The main feed displays short videos with interactive buttons (like, comment, share), user info, hashtags, and music credits. (b) The livestream screen shows real-time viewer engagement through comments, likes, and reactions. (c) A typical video post with text overlay, user interaction icons, and background music indicators.
  • Figure 2: An Overview of the Findings: Goals of professional development include overcoming unemployment and promoting career. TikTok facilitates professional development with monetization (gifts, sponsorships, revenue), competency building (job skills, leadership), and networking (self-branding, community engagement). However, BlindTokers face challenges, including technical barriers, like accessibility issues and algorithmic oppression, alongside social challenges, such as online harassment and unfair moderation, during professional development on TikTok.