Thread by @abbieasr

Alongside stories about TikTok being flooded with Ukraine war footage, I’m seeing academics say “TikTok has never been used this way before.”

This is false and it says much more about how academics & journalists have regarded TikTok than it says about the app.

(Thread)

1/ Stop saying TikTok is “usually just an app for memes and dancing, not serious issues.” Remember when TikTokers supposedly trolled a Trump rally? That was 21 months ago.

TikTok's been a political tool for as long as it's been used by people who care about political issues.

2/ TikTok has never experienced conflict *at this scale* but it has experienced lots of conflict.
For instance, during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan we saw this sort of on-the-ground footage going viral on TikTok.

3/ We also saw footage claiming to be of fighting between US military and Taliban go viral on TikTok. This video received 12 million views.

4/ On-the-ground video footage of tragedies is also not new to TikTok. The platform was completely flooded with videos of the tragedy at the Astroworld Festival.

It was another instance of TikTok users filming/posting a horrific event.

5/ We also saw TikTok used during the June 2020 protests against police brutality. There were countless viral videos and even an instance of a major TikToker @/alluringskull getting arrested while livestreaming her walk home from a protest.

6/ There was also plenty of footage of the January 6th Capitol riot uploaded on TikTok including via the livestream feature.
insider.com/juliano-gross-…

7/ There have also been footage from school shootings like the one at Oxford High School go viral on TikTok.

TikTok users filming and uploading their experiences is in no way new.

8/8 If you are saying either that TikTok has never been used politically or that it’s never seen on-the-ground footage, you’re wrong. The new element here is the scale.

All you're really saying is that you’ve miscalculated and didn’t take TikTok seriously before this.