Political TikTok: Playful performance, ambivalent critique and event-commentary

Natalia  Sánchez-Querubín; Shuaishuai Wang; Briar Dickey; Andrea  Benedetti

doi:10.5117/9789463720762_ch09

Political TikTok: Playful performance, ambivalent critique and event-commentary

Natalia Sánchez-Querubín, Shuaishuai Wang, Briar Dickey, Andrea Benedetti

Department of Media and Communication

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

During the U.S. presidential election of 2020, TikTok, an app known for lip-synching and remixes of popular media, became a tool for ludic civic engagement, ambivalent critique and event-commentary. More specifically, TikTokers practiced types of engagement such as playful political performance, in which they express sentiments about a candidate by dancing or singing. They also practice remix as ambivalent critique by juxtaposing news clips and music to comment on current events. These examples evoke genres of ludic civic engagement such as flash mobs and tactical clowning while also exhibiting qualities specific to TikTok. The rhetorical power of playfulness and remix lies in distorting, exaggerating, and dramatizing; on TikTok, these practices are mainstream rather than fringe, raising questions about the contribution of the platform to political discourse.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Propagation of Misinformation in Social Media
Editors	Richard Rogers
Publisher	Amsterdam University Press
Chapter	9
Pages	187-206
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5117/9789463720762_ch09
Publication status	Published - 27 Mar 2023

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10.5117/9789463720762_ch09Licence: CC BY-ND

Cite this

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abstract = "During the U.S. presidential election of 2020, TikTok, an app known for lip-synching and remixes of popular media, became a tool for ludic civic engagement, ambivalent critique and event-commentary. More specifically, TikTokers practiced types of engagement such as playful political performance, in which they express sentiments about a candidate by dancing or singing. They also practice remix as ambivalent critique by juxtaposing news clips and music to comment on current events. These examples evoke genres of ludic civic engagement such as flash mobs and tactical clowning while also exhibiting qualities specific to TikTok. The rhetorical power of playfulness and remix lies in distorting, exaggerating, and dramatizing; on TikTok, these practices are mainstream rather than fringe, raising questions about the contribution of the platform to political discourse.",

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