Playful activism : memetic performances of palestinian resistance in TikTok #Challenges
Cervi, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Divon, Tom (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Palestinians have long been using social media as a tool for activism. Each platform provides unique socio-technological affordances that shape users' communicative practices as networked publics. Focusing on the video-sharing platform TikTok, which has taken a "serious turn" in recent years, this article examines how Palestinian users performed playful acts of resistance during the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in May 2021. Applying a multimodal analysis to 500 TikTok videos posted during the conflict under #gazaunderattack, we identify three memetic templates (#challenge)-(1) lip-syncing, (2) duets, and (3) point-of-view-that unfold the ways TikTok's design and its play-based affordances ignite affective streams of audiovisual content that render playful activism in times of conflict. Driven by TikTok's culture of imitation and competition, playful activism enables the participation of ordinary users in political emerging events with the help of looping meme videos composed of collaborative, dialogic, and communal socio-technical functions. Playful activism transforms users' ritualized performances into powerful political instruments on TikTok and makes democratic participation more relatable, tangible, and accessible to various audiences.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	TikTok ; Playful activism ; Affordances ; Memes ; Performance ; Palestinians ; #gazaunderattack
Published in:	Social Media and Society, Vol. 9 Núm. 1 (2023) , ISSN 2056-3051

DOI: 10.1177/20563051231157607

13 p, 637.4 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > The Department of Communication and Education
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles