TikTok's Repost Feature as a Medium for Indirect Emotional Communication among Women Aged 18–20

The development of social media has changed the way individuals express emotions and communicate with their social environment. One emerging phenomenon is the use of TikTok's repost feature as a means of indirect communication through the re-sharing of content perceived to represent the user's personal feelings or experiences. This study aims to determine the behavior of using TikTok's repost feature as an indirect communication medium for expressing emotions among Indonesian women aged 18–20 years. The study used a quantitative method with a descriptive design through an online survey of 200 respondents selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using a five-point Likert-based questionnaire structured based on the dimensions of the repost feature and emotional expression. The results showed that the level of utilization of TikTok's repost feature was in the high category with an average value of 76.97. In addition, the results of the hypothesis test showed a significance value of 0.000 (p < 0.05), indicating that Indonesian women aged 18–20 years significantly utilize TikTok's repost feature as an indirect communication medium for expressing emotions. These findings indicate that the repost feature not only functions as a means of content distribution, but also as a symbolic communication medium to convey emotional messages, build digital identity, gain social validation, and maintain self-image in the digital environment.