This conference paper will be discussing about the examinations of the Palestinian digital diaspora and activist community on TikTok, more specifically, the #FreePalestine tag category through the usage of social media affordances and TikTok’s platform-specific features, and how a Western-catered algorithm disproportionately discriminates against pro-Palestinian activism content on TikTok.
Hi Elvira! I imagined you’ve done quite a research on the presentation, as I found it insightful that you provided specific examples analysing how the pro-Palestinian activism developed an alternative approach to educate and raise awareness on the ‘issue’ in response to the algorithmic limitations. I’m curious about how the community engages in discussions, like how did they come to agree to a specific way of coming up with a ‘word’ or symbol to avoid censorship? Your explanation is well constructed and I like that you delve into the history on social media platforms too. It’s an informative presentation. Nice!
I really enjoy your presentation. Your focus on the Palestinian Digital Diaspora and activst community on TikTok then show how networks of publics are shaped today. I just curious with some questions:
1. In your presentation, you mentioned some specific features for the TikTok platform. In your opinion, what are the unique roles of TikTok’s ‘Stitches’ or ‘Duets’ features when Palestinian activists create ‘identity politics’ and ‘community building’ based on Bucher and Helmond’s notion of affordance, which is about how features shape user interaction?
2. Bruns (2023) argues that instead of a singular ‘public sphere’ we should be looking at a ‘network of publics’. Would you say that this group within the #FreePalestine tag on TikTok is more of a close ‘community’ or more of a loose ‘group’ as described by Bruns?
3. Cabalquinto and Soriano (2020) use the term ‘online sisterhood’ to describe how diaspora groups form emotional bonds. Are Palestinian activist narratives, such as sharing their daily life or suffering, similar to the one you have researched on creating a transnational digital support network on TikTok?
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