CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Zepcan, Aida |
|---|---|
| Title | A Digital Ethnography of the Nation on TikTok: A Site of Banal Cosmopolitanism in the Context of Net Nationalism |
| Summary | Communication technologies have played a fundamental role in instilling and sustaining a sense of the nation long before the invention of the internet. Newer communication technologies have also failed to do away with nationalism, with hopes for a truly global, borderless platform to connect individuals from different nations across the world of nations, further out of reach. With powerful avenues for communication becoming increasingly embedded in daily life, nation-states are likewise adopting net nationalist regulatory strategies to protect digital sovereignty and maintain control over national narratives. With the rise of algorithmically powered and hyper-personalized digital platforms it is worth exploring their potential as sites of banal cosmopolitanism, or as theorized by Ulrich Beck (2006, pg.9), the everyday expression of loyalties to the nation and expanding cultural ties beyond nation-state borders and therefore systems of control. Employing digital ethnography as a method, this thesis explores from the bottom-up, the potential of TikTok to serve as a site of banal cosmopolitanism in the context of rising net nationalist legislation, namely the RESTRICT Act, intent on restricting and potentially banning the platform in the U.S. By isolating discussions and discourses of the nation on TikTok, this thesis found that TikTok democratizes the ability to broadcast, share and discuss individual experiences of the nation to other users across the world. This, however, is entirely dependent on the continuity and availability of free and global platforms of communication, alongside nation-state regulatory decisions. Ultimately TikTok, as a site of banal cosmopolitanism, cannot coexist alongside net nationalism. |
| Supervisor | Pap, András László |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/zepcan_aida.pdf |
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