Full Circle: Apes Grunting to TikTok

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I’d like to think that somewhere in the world there’s an ape sitting in front of a screen, grunting as he watches his hairless cousins dance around to some obnoxious pop song. Maybe he beats his chest. Maybe he tries to dance along. Either way, he’s grunting wildly to TikTok. 

Sadly, as much as this image amuses me, it’s not what the title means. I wish it were—I’d pay good money to see that, but, no—the word in question, “to” indicates a transition from and comparison of apes who grunt (or in this case use gestural communication) to humans who dance on TikTok. What could the two situations possibly have in common, though?

Video apps like TikTok host people from all across the world, performing similar attempts at dances and lip-syncing, essentially making it a multi-modal blog. Since TikTok can be understood as a type of blog, it can also be understood as a type of writing. 

Writing is not just letters, those little black marks across a page, or typed across a screen. Sure, the alphabet, orthography, Gutenberg, and the evolution of language into a system of semi-permanent representation across countless media are all impressive aspects of writing, but writing is even more than words. It’s about bridging the impossible gap between the worlds of people who will never be able to know exactly what it’s like to be you, no matter how close they are.

So, What Do Apes Have to Do With TikTok?

Communally accepted dance moves resemble the gestures of our upper primate cousins—at least, that is, the communal aspect of dancing resembles the social interaction of chimps, bonobos, and other primates. While it might not be dancing, chimps and bonobos use a system of gestures, grunts, and hoots to communicate different meanings. So what is it all about? The short answer to that question is community. It’s about saying we are part of the same group. 

Though complex, these communication systems of our upper pirate counterparts do not technically qualify as language. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, language is defined as “a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves.”1 This definition, however, lacks a critical component found in linguistic definitions: A language must be able to communicate an infinite number of ideas through a finite number of words.2

What’s Being Communicated?

Even though chimps and bonobos don’t have full language, a sphere still exclusive to humans, they can communicate serious, important, and meaningful messages. They can tell another of their group that they identify with the culture. Like humans, other primate’s communication may be voluntary and intentional and it may not. In discussing the inadvertent effects of vocalizations, the contributors to Introduction To Physical Anthropology write “[w]hether deliberate or not, both vocalizations, convey information to other animals [which] may simply refer to the emotional state of an individual…” Though talking about vocal communications, such as pants, hoots, or grunts, the point is made that a communication can be inadvertent—a point we can extend to gestural communication as well. The contributors go on to say “[p]rimates (and other animals) also communicate through displays, which are more complicated, frequently elaborate combinations of behaviors.” Some of these displays are aggressive; in fact many are, but others are what the contributors call “affiliative behaviors which promote group cohesion…[and] reinforce bonds between individuals [and] promote group cohesion.”

To boil it all down, sometimes the gestural communications of apes are inadvertent—just a response they have automatically—but these elaborate patterns have developed to convey meaning to the rest of the group and signifies that they all share a cultural bond and mutual goodwill. This becomes a schematic that can be applied to Tik Tok at a glance: Individuals from all across the world have participated in a somewhat ritualized display of complex gestures (dances) and whether or not they realized what they were communicating, the message was impactful and pointed—we all share a common bond in a mutual group.

So What Are the Implications?

There are a handful of points made earlier which should be brought to the forefront of this discussion: Tik Tok can be thought of as a multimodal blog; Tik Tok is a platform with a global reach; much of communication bears inadvertent effects beyond what is intended on the surface; communication does not have to be finite and specific to be powerful and meaningful.

Multimodality

There are a handful of points made earlier which should be brought to the forefront of this discussion: Tik Tok can be thought of as a multimodal blog; Tik Tok is a platform with a global reach; much of communication bears inadvertent effects beyond what is intended on the surface; communication does not have to be finite and specific to be powerful and meaningful.

Global Reach

The internet has had a localizing effect across the entire planet. People from all across the world are now part of a single, global community. The advent of communication types that don’t rely on text has the potential to exponentially increase the impact of a shrinking world. You don’t have to know English, Frisian, Portuguese, or Punjabi to appreciate a video of a smiling boy dancing.

Inadvertent Effects

As mentioned with the communication of the upper primates, sometimes communication is unintended but powerful nonetheless. With multimodal internet communication, this is every bit as true. Did the individuals dancing in the TikTok videos really mean to say that they are part of a global community and intend good will toward the recipients of the communication? Perhaps some thought it through, but it’s doubtful that most did. Beyond this point, a blogger should consider the possible communications that occur when components of their writing are repurposed as content elsewhere. How might the things not explicitly stated extend beyond the original intent of the author?

Death of the Blogger

Building from the last point, much in the way of Roland Barthes3, when an author produces a text (or in this case a multimodal blog) their communication no longer belongs to them exclusively. It is up to the interpretation of the reader/viewer. The meanings and effects are multiple, perhaps not infinitely multiple, but open to interpretation nevertheless. The danger in this is that the audience viewing a portion of your multimodal communication may derive meaning entirely different than you, as the author, had intended. The compounded danger in its multimodality is that you don’t necessarily have words to accompany the symbolic gestures. Still, just as this is a danger, it can also be a potential for benefit.

Now What Are The Applications?

I would argue that the vast majority of upload content on TikTok and similar apps will never have to be concerned with misinterpretation and repurposing, but the points I’ve raised in this comparison should be considered by writers and content managers for any multimodal communication. Sometimes the nonverbal communication carries vast meanings that can be interpreted and misinterpreted by any number of recipients. This problem is exponentiated when content is repurposed and presented in separate formats and contexts. I’m not arguing a doom and gloom message, however. I’m just raising awareness that the writer/content creator should be mindful of these possibilities of interpretation and implicit, nonverbal communication.

End Notes

1 https://www.britannica.com/topic/language
2 Word as used here, means “a regular group of phonemes, gestures, or symbols used collectively to signify a specific meaning among a mutually intelligible group.”
3 Roland Barthes wrote “Death of the Author” where he argues that the author gives up rights to say what the work means when they pass it on to the audience.

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Published by bxeggleton

5 Replies to “Full Circle: Apes Grunting to TikTok”

  1. I love the images at the end of the piece. This article made me reflect on how similar humans are to apes and chimps, and even though these animals don’t form coherent words recognizable to our ears, they have an intricate system of communication–I predict that apes and chimps will evolve to vocal speech in about 1,000 years…it’s a neat thought, anyway…

    I found an interesting article exploring how similar humans are to these other animals, very informative:

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-closely-related-are-h/

  2. Well, I’m still a bit fuzzy on what TikTok is never having seen it let alone used it. Could you clarify? Also I assume for the general audience multimodal is interchangeable with multimedia or do you intend something particular with that term.

    Multimodality/Multimedia is something I have spent some time studying and greatly making use of throughout my works. You do make a point I don’t include in my studies–that meaning-making symbols that are not textual may be construed in a different way than you intend, but don’t you think text may be as well. For all I think you have to have a great awareness of your audience, don’t you think?

    1. The way I use multimodal is in specific regards to the writing production, where as multimedia, the way I would use it, is specifically on the audience end. It may seem pedantic, but the distinction does lead to different rhetorical possibilities. As for your second point, about text being potentially misconstrued…I agree completely. In fact, that is why I made the allusion to Roland Barthes. I didn’t mention it much in this blog, though, because I wanted to emphasize the pitfalls of non-textual communication that are often overlooked. I appreciate your in depth, critical reading. I’m still fuzzy on TikTok as well.

  3. I’ve heard of TikToc but I’ve never used it so I really can’t comment on that. I will say that I’ve had the experience of a simple text message being misinterpreted so I ended up doing what I should have done in the beginning, “pick up the phone and call.”

  4. That was a fun post. I like the over aching development of communicating you describe. Humans are such social beings. We need to reinforce connection with others. Social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and many others allow one person to communicate a designer for connection. The audience gets to respond with likes, up votes, and what ever the platform uses. Social media seems to be predominantly one way communication. Yet, it depends on two way interaction, though one side is louder than the other.

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