TikTok as a site of social protest in Iran’s Gen-Z uprising

Walsh, Tom

Abstract

This paper argues that understanding the power of TikTok’s visual discourse is a crucial part of conceptualising the character, inspiration, and ambition of Iran’s Gen-Z-led uprising, both at home and across the diaspora. TikTok is a social media platform that depends on visuality. As such, it creates its own specific forms of messaging. This paper seeks to apply an innovative methodology of ‘Visual Discourse Tracing’ to the Iranian protests. It uses this carefully devised, process-driven method, to highlight the core ways in which TikTok has amplified the message of the Iranian protests, connecting to the grassroots movement and to the longer history of Iranian women’s struggle for freedom. Visuality and social media have been crucial in shaping the character of these contemporary protests, necessitating proper theorisation when understanding the wider Iranian protest movement.

Citation

Walsh, T. (2024). TikTok as a site of social protest in Iran’s Gen-Z uprising. Discourse and Society, 35(5), 625-650. https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265241234351

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 18, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Mar 18, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-09
• Deposit Date: May 28, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 28, 2024
• Journal: Discourse & Society
• Print ISSN: 0957-9265
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-3624
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 625-650
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265241234351
• Keywords: social media, Iran, TikTok, Discourse, visuality, women’s movement, social protest, Middle East
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2466558