Session Chair: Tom Divon
Presentation 1
“TIKTOK TEACH-INS”: ASIAN AMERICAN CREATORS PROMOTING BLACK-ASIAN SOLIDARITY
Nora Suren, Jane Pyo
University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States of America
As TikTok emerges as a significant platform for online activism, particularly in the realm of racial solidarity and combating disinformation, this research investigates a new wave of activism termed "TikTok Teach-ins." Through a thematic analysis of 21 TikTok videos produced by Asian American creators addressing themes of solidarity and unity between Asian and Black communities, and combating hate, we explore the content, identity performance, and affordances of TikTok utilized by these creators. Our analysis reveals that Asian American activists employ data-driven evidence and academic sources to challenge stereotypes and disinformation propagated by alt-right and anti-BLM accounts. They aim to educate and promote solidarity between Black and Asian communities, challenging false narratives of division perpetuated by social media. Contrary to existing studies that emphasize playful activism on TikTok, these creators produce serious, didactic content that utilizes TikTok affordances such as stitching and the green screen effect to set an educational tone. Furthermore, we investigate how TikTok affordances facilitate activism, enabling direct engagement with the audience and fostering dialogue and community interaction. Overall, this research expands the understanding of TikTok activism by highlighting the emergence of "TikTok Teach-ins" as a serious and impactful form of activism that leverages playful platform affordances to promote interracial solidarity and combat disinformation.
Presentation 2
Strategic Autonomy in Flux: Examining Power Dynamics in TikTok Shop's Managed Models
Silei Zhu(3), Xuanbo Liu(2), Xinyi Peng(2), Yaqin Luo(1)
1: Shenzhen University, China; 2: Tsinghua University, China; 3: Rutgers University, USA
The article delves into the transformative impact of TikTok's new business model, TikTok Shop, which has revolutionized cross-border e-commerce by introducing managed models for merchants. This shift has led to significant challenges for merchants, including reduced profitability and loss of autonomy, particularly under the hosting model. Employing online ethnography and examining platform policies, the study sheds light on power dynamics within the TikTok ecosystem, revealing the platform's influence over economic activities and its implications for stakeholders. Through an exploration of TikTok's vertical integration and control of the value chain, the article underscores the precariousness of platform-based business models and highlights the need for public accountability. This analysis offers insights into the complex interplay between platform power, merchant autonomy, and economic activities within the TikTok ecosystem, contributing to a deeper understanding of the evolving dynamics in digital commerce.
Presentation 3
STILL DANCING ROKENROL: REMEDIATING YUGOSLAV CULTURAL INDUSTRY ON TIKTOK.
Elisabetta Zurovac
University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy
Among the products of the cultural industry, music certainly represents a central element of the repertoire of Yugoslav cultural memory (Mazzucchelli, 2012; Vučetić, 2012; Pogačar, 2015). As we know, media have always been related to memory: past and present communities have constructed their collective identities by producing and retaining information that is useful or necessary to remember (Assman, 1992). This information expressed through the media, is used by individuals in order to understand their own experiences on the basis of the frames in which these are developed (Boccia Artieri, 2012). In contemporary times, the mass appropriation of digital technologies by individuals adds complexity to the relationship with memory not only in terms of the productive surplus of memories (Hoskins, 2010), but also from the point of view of practices related to the mediatization of memory (Garde-Hansen, 2011). Bearing in mind the mediation of the platform and the role of mainstream media in providing a repertoire from which to actualise remembrance, the paper attempts to answer the question: through what kind of content is the memory of Yugoslavia represented? To do this, 1540 Tiktok videos featuring the same 1980s Yugoslavian rock song “igra rokenrol cela Jugoslavija” (Yugoslavia is dancing rock'n'roll) were qualitatively analyzed. Data shows three thematic strands illustrating how the track is used in reference to three distinct ways of remembering: through nostalgia; through consumerism; through trauma.
Presentation 4
“PoV: You are Reading an Academic Article.” The Memetic Performance of Affiliation in TikTok's Platform Vernacular
Tommaso Trillò
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
This article investigates the characteristics and communicative values expressed in PoV memes, a popular TikTok genre exemplifying key mechanisms of community building on the platform. I analyzed the content, form, and stance of 250 videos and found that PoV memes feature creators lip-syncing to audio remediated from pop culture while mimicking what they imagine would be “your” actions in a given scenario, foregrounding the communicative value of affiliation. In doing so, PoV memes leverage TikTok’s “use this sound” function to enact an “echoic” form of affiliation that constructs ephemeral bonds between users. Furthermore, PoV memes textually articulate multiple perspectives, producing intersubjective encounters that reflect a platform imaginary in which “the algorithm” efficiently clusters similar people on the same “side” of the app. In the conclusions, I offer a novel definition of PoV memes and reflect on the pivotal role of affiliation for TikTok’s platform vernacular.
