Tom Divon
Biographic Data
| ID | 307911 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tom Divon |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tom |
| FAMILY NAME | Divon |
| SIGNATURE | DIVON T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7034-615X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 48 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Latin American Creator (Sub)cultures on Tiktok
Latin America features diverse cultures, landscapes, life experiences, and ethnicities, shaped by socioeconomic inequalities and ongoing political turbulence. These structural disparities extend to the digital sphere, shaping the opportunities and challenges faced by content creators in the region. The promise of fame, financial success, and global visibility celebrated in Western content creation is often unfulfilled in other regions. Instead, L…
The TikTok Caliphate
Jihadist organizations and their supporters have long used social media to spread propaganda, creating enduring content moderation challenges. Despite TikTok’s purported zero-tolerance approach to violent extremism, terrorist propaganda persists on the platform. This study investigates how supporters of ISIS and Al-Qaeda employ TikTok’s features to exploit algorithmic recommendations and evade content moderation, increasing their visibility withi…
Context matters
This introductory paper outlines the conceptual foundations and research agenda for our special issue Contextual Complexities of Violence on Digital Platforms. We argue that violence on digital platforms cannot be understood as a fixed or self-evident category, but must be situated within the sociotechnical, cultural and political environments that shape its production, circulation and recognition. Drawing on cross-disciplinary scholarship, we de…
Children as concealed commodities
Our article delves into the emergence of ‘kidfluencers’ within the content creator economy, highlighting how children’s participation intertwines their identities with monetisation strategies on platforms. Focusing on TikTok, we blend ethnographic and legal analysis of 215 videos from 23 kidfluencers in Israel, New Zealand and the Unites States, illuminating the complexities of monetising childhood across cultures. We highlight four monetisation …
Ambient Amplification
Over the last decade, the rise of memetic media in combination with multimodal platform environments have radically transformed our experience of digital culture. On TikTok, gestures and sounds go viral. Twitter (X) @tags operate as bonding tools and ignite ‘supercharged’ critical publics. Coordinated link-sharing and attention-hijacking drive cross-platform engagement. Narratives promoted by state institutions become part of the global digital c…
The Place of a Child on Platforms
This panel delves into the complex entanglement of children within our 'platform society,' spotlighting their roles amidst the dynamics of platformisation, datafication, and monetisation. It scrutinises the emergence of child influencers, mapping their integration and active participation within the influencer economy. This exploration underscores the critical intersection between childhood and platformization, highlighting the commodification an…
Artificially alive
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is widely regarded as a transformative force, reshaping our understanding of both life and death. One experimental frontier is its ability to recreate deceased human beings. Our article explores this nascent GenAI application situated at the threshold of existence. We analyze 50 cases from the United States, Europe, the Near East, and East Asia and distill three principal modes of AI resurrections: (1) S…
On TikTok, everything needs to be playful, even the Holocaust!”
TikTok has become a space where playfulness is the dominant lingo for engaging with serious subjects. On the platform, the Holocaust is mediated through meme-based performances like the #POVHolocaustChallenge, a trend that invited users to re-enact fictionalized memories of Holocaust victims. Our analysis of 250 videos identifies 3 types of Holocaust-related memetic narratives—mem(e)ories: (1) Testimonial Mem(e)ory, where “victims” testify from “…
The algorithm loves the war”
Content creators in war zones are critical in shaping global perceptions of conflict. Through social media, they document real-time events and reach audiences beyond the traditional news frameworks. Based on an ethnographic study of Czech and Ukrainian TikTok creators sharing war-related content from Ukraine, we introduce the concept of ambivalent visibility – a condition shaped by the conflicting demands creators face in balancing algorithmic am…
Special issue on methods in visual politics and protest
This special issue forms the second part of a double issue on methods in visual politics and protest. It draws together five articles that provide new pathways for deconstructing visual political narratives and offers reflexive and nuanced accounts for researching visual data and information shared on social media platforms (here: TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook). They do so through the application of feminist mixed methods (femmix), cross…
Special issue on methods in visual politics and protest
This special issue draws together five articles in the arena of methods in visual politics and protest. It addresses three core methodological challenges across the research process (data access, collection, analysis, visualisation): the proliferation of visual social media, the emergence of novel visual practices, and the increasing application of digital methods. Their key contributions lie in the development of mixed visual methods approaches,…
The sound of disinformation
TikTok has emerged as a powerful platform for the dissemination of mis- and disinformation about the war in Ukraine. During the initial three months after the Russian invasion in February 2022, videos under the hashtag #Ukraine garnered 36.9 billion views, with individual videos scaling up to 88 million views. Beyond the traditional methods of spreading misleading information through images and text, the medium of sound has emerged as a novel, pl…
The unsolicited algorithm
Algorithms are pivotal in shaping our online and offline experiences, yet they can inadvertently perpetuate hostile digital environments for users. This paper introduces the concept of the unsolicited algorithm, referring to algorithms that deliver content, recommendations, or actions without explicit user consent and awareness. Drawing from a technofeminist paradigm, we explore the repercussions of such algorithms on iPhone users experiencing ma…
Playful Trauma
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, TikTok has emerged as a pivotal platform, where creators utilize its compressed video formats to mediate the harsh realities of war zones. In this article, we examine 97 videos produced by 12 Ukrainian and Russian TikTok creators in response to the 2022 war in Ukraine. We focus on the playful embodiment of trauma using digital ethnography, analyzing creators' practices and their interconnected memetic communi…
Performing Death and Trauma? Participatory Mem(e)ory and the Holocaust in Tiktok #Povchallenges
TikTok is no longer the short-video platform for “silly dances.” Its transition from entertainment to an interest-based platform increased the visual volume of topics like the Holocaust, especially during August 2020, when a controversial meme-trend emerged under the popular hashtag #POVHolocaustChallenge. In this challenge, TikTokers were encouraged to participate in a point-of-view (POV) performance in which they reenacted fictionalized memorie…
Vladdydaddy on Tiktok
Vladdydaddy is a popular internet meme that emerged during the 2016 elections in the United States on 4chan and Twitter to characterize the perceived submissive behavior of Donald Trump towards Vladimir Putin. The meme re-emerged on TikTok in the days leading to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, gaining a new meaning. This paper is part of a larger research project with the objective of identifying and scrutinizing various forms o…
Wartok
This panel investigates the networked soundscapes of memetic warfare on TikTok, a platform crucial in mediating the ongoing war in Ukraine since February 2022. Introduced to the public as a unique form of war programming during the first week of Russia's full-scale military invasion (Mobilio 2022), WarTok—a portmanteau of ‘TikTok’ and ‘war’—signifies "the war of super-empowered individuals armed only with smartphones" (Friedmann 2022). Producing …
Exploring the Contextual Complexities of Violence on Digital Platforms
As social media platforms face increasing complexity, severity, and pervasiveness of violent content, it is of utmost importance for researchers, educators, policymakers, and users alike to regard digital violence as an imminent threat. Indeed, violent content is widely acknowledged as an inseparable element of the continuum of violence, interlinked with various other types and embodiments of harm that transcend the archaic boundaries of online a…
Playful Activism
Palestinians have long been using social media as a tool for activism. Each platform provides unique socio-technological affordances that shape users' communicative practices as networked publics. Focusing on the video-sharing platform TikTok, which has taken a 'serious turn' in recent years, this article examines how Palestinian users performed playful acts of resistance during the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in May …
Youthful Platform Commemoration
On February 9, 2021, shortly after his great-grandmother Lily Ebert, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, recovered from COVID-19, 17-year-old Dov Forman shared a simple message on his Twitter account: "To relate more to of my generation, my great-Grandmother (Lily Ebert—Auschwitz survivor) and I, have created a @tiktok_uk account. We hope to keep sharing her testimony [...]." By June 2021, Ebert and her great-grandson emerged as prominent influenc…
Playful Activism
Palestinians have long been using social media as a tool for activism. Each platform provides unique socio-technological affordances that shape users' communicative practices as networked publics. Focusing on the video-sharing platform TikTok, which has taken a 'serious turn' in recent years, this article examines how Palestinian users performed playful acts of resistance during the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in May …
The sound of disinformation
TikTok has emerged as a powerful platform for the dissemination of mis- and disinformation about the war in Ukraine. During the initial three months after the Russian invasion in February 2022, videos under the hashtag #Ukraine garnered 36.9 billion views, with individual videos scaling up to 88 million views. Beyond the traditional methods of spreading misleading information through images and text, the medium of sound has emerged as a novel, pl…
Children as concealed commodities
Our article delves into the emergence of ‘kidfluencers’ within the content creator economy, highlighting how children’s participation intertwines their identities with monetisation strategies on platforms. Focusing on TikTok, we blend ethnographic and legal analysis of 215 videos from 23 kidfluencers in Israel, New Zealand and the Unites States, illuminating the complexities of monetising childhood across cultures. We highlight four monetisation …
The algorithm loves the war”
Content creators in war zones are critical in shaping global perceptions of conflict. Through social media, they document real-time events and reach audiences beyond the traditional news frameworks. Based on an ethnographic study of Czech and Ukrainian TikTok creators sharing war-related content from Ukraine, we introduce the concept of ambivalent visibility – a condition shaped by the conflicting demands creators face in balancing algorithmic am…
Special issue on methods in visual politics and protest
This special issue forms the second part of a double issue on methods in visual politics and protest. It draws together five articles that provide new pathways for deconstructing visual political narratives and offers reflexive and nuanced accounts for researching visual data and information shared on social media platforms (here: TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook). They do so through the application of feminist mixed methods (femmix), cross…
Special issue on methods in visual politics and protest
This special issue draws together five articles in the arena of methods in visual politics and protest. It addresses three core methodological challenges across the research process (data access, collection, analysis, visualisation): the proliferation of visual social media, the emergence of novel visual practices, and the increasing application of digital methods. Their key contributions lie in the development of mixed visual methods approaches,…
Playful Trauma
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, TikTok has emerged as a pivotal platform, where creators utilize its compressed video formats to mediate the harsh realities of war zones. In this article, we examine 97 videos produced by 12 Ukrainian and Russian TikTok creators in response to the 2022 war in Ukraine. We focus on the playful embodiment of trauma using digital ethnography, analyzing creators' practices and their interconnected memetic communi…
The unsolicited algorithm
Algorithms are pivotal in shaping our online and offline experiences, yet they can inadvertently perpetuate hostile digital environments for users. This paper introduces the concept of the unsolicited algorithm, referring to algorithms that deliver content, recommendations, or actions without explicit user consent and awareness. Drawing from a technofeminist paradigm, we explore the repercussions of such algorithms on iPhone users experiencing ma…
Youthful Platform Commemoration
On February 9, 2021, shortly after his great-grandmother Lily Ebert, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, recovered from COVID-19, 17-year-old Dov Forman shared a simple message on his Twitter account: "To relate more to of my generation, my great-Grandmother (Lily Ebert—Auschwitz survivor) and I, have created a @tiktok_uk account. We hope to keep sharing her testimony [...]." By June 2021, Ebert and her great-grandson emerged as prominent influenc…
Youthful Platform Commemoration
On February 9, 2021, shortly after his great-grandmother Lily Ebert, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, recovered from COVID-19, 17-year-old Dov Forman shared a simple message on his Twitter account: "To relate more to of my generation, my great-Grandmother (Lily Ebert—Auschwitz survivor) and I, have created a @tiktok_uk account. We hope to keep sharing her testimony [...]." By June 2021, Ebert and her great-grandson emerged as prominent influenc…
Performing Death and Trauma? Participatory Mem(e)ory and the Holocaust in Tiktok #Povchallenges
TikTok is no longer the short-video platform for “silly dances.” Its transition from entertainment to an interest-based platform increased the visual volume of topics like the Holocaust, especially during August 2020, when a controversial meme-trend emerged under the popular hashtag #POVHolocaustChallenge. In this challenge, TikTokers were encouraged to participate in a point-of-view (POV) performance in which they reenacted fictionalized memorie…
Vladdydaddy on Tiktok
Vladdydaddy is a popular internet meme that emerged during the 2016 elections in the United States on 4chan and Twitter to characterize the perceived submissive behavior of Donald Trump towards Vladimir Putin. The meme re-emerged on TikTok in the days leading to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, gaining a new meaning. This paper is part of a larger research project with the objective of identifying and scrutinizing various forms o…
Wartok
This panel investigates the networked soundscapes of memetic warfare on TikTok, a platform crucial in mediating the ongoing war in Ukraine since February 2022. Introduced to the public as a unique form of war programming during the first week of Russia's full-scale military invasion (Mobilio 2022), WarTok—a portmanteau of ‘TikTok’ and ‘war’—signifies "the war of super-empowered individuals armed only with smartphones" (Friedmann 2022). Producing …
Exploring the Contextual Complexities of Violence on Digital Platforms
As social media platforms face increasing complexity, severity, and pervasiveness of violent content, it is of utmost importance for researchers, educators, policymakers, and users alike to regard digital violence as an imminent threat. Indeed, violent content is widely acknowledged as an inseparable element of the continuum of violence, interlinked with various other types and embodiments of harm that transcend the archaic boundaries of online a…
Playful Activism
Palestinians have long been using social media as a tool for activism. Each platform provides unique socio-technological affordances that shape users' communicative practices as networked publics. Focusing on the video-sharing platform TikTok, which has taken a 'serious turn' in recent years, this article examines how Palestinian users performed playful acts of resistance during the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in May …
Special issue on methods in visual politics and protest
This special issue forms the second part of a double issue on methods in visual politics and protest. It draws together five articles that provide new pathways for deconstructing visual political narratives and offers reflexive and nuanced accounts for researching visual data and information shared on social media platforms (here: TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook). They do so through the application of feminist mixed methods (femmix), cross…
Special issue on methods in visual politics and protest
This special issue draws together five articles in the arena of methods in visual politics and protest. It addresses three core methodological challenges across the research process (data access, collection, analysis, visualisation): the proliferation of visual social media, the emergence of novel visual practices, and the increasing application of digital methods. Their key contributions lie in the development of mixed visual methods approaches,…
The sound of disinformation
TikTok has emerged as a powerful platform for the dissemination of mis- and disinformation about the war in Ukraine. During the initial three months after the Russian invasion in February 2022, videos under the hashtag #Ukraine garnered 36.9 billion views, with individual videos scaling up to 88 million views. Beyond the traditional methods of spreading misleading information through images and text, the medium of sound has emerged as a novel, pl…
The unsolicited algorithm
Algorithms are pivotal in shaping our online and offline experiences, yet they can inadvertently perpetuate hostile digital environments for users. This paper introduces the concept of the unsolicited algorithm, referring to algorithms that deliver content, recommendations, or actions without explicit user consent and awareness. Drawing from a technofeminist paradigm, we explore the repercussions of such algorithms on iPhone users experiencing ma…
Playful Trauma
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, TikTok has emerged as a pivotal platform, where creators utilize its compressed video formats to mediate the harsh realities of war zones. In this article, we examine 97 videos produced by 12 Ukrainian and Russian TikTok creators in response to the 2022 war in Ukraine. We focus on the playful embodiment of trauma using digital ethnography, analyzing creators' practices and their interconnected memetic communi…
Ambient Amplification
Over the last decade, the rise of memetic media in combination with multimodal platform environments have radically transformed our experience of digital culture. On TikTok, gestures and sounds go viral. Twitter (X) @tags operate as bonding tools and ignite ‘supercharged’ critical publics. Coordinated link-sharing and attention-hijacking drive cross-platform engagement. Narratives promoted by state institutions become part of the global digital c…
The Place of a Child on Platforms
This panel delves into the complex entanglement of children within our 'platform society,' spotlighting their roles amidst the dynamics of platformisation, datafication, and monetisation. It scrutinises the emergence of child influencers, mapping their integration and active participation within the influencer economy. This exploration underscores the critical intersection between childhood and platformization, highlighting the commodification an…
Artificially alive
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is widely regarded as a transformative force, reshaping our understanding of both life and death. One experimental frontier is its ability to recreate deceased human beings. Our article explores this nascent GenAI application situated at the threshold of existence. We analyze 50 cases from the United States, Europe, the Near East, and East Asia and distill three principal modes of AI resurrections: (1) S…
On TikTok, everything needs to be playful, even the Holocaust!”
TikTok has become a space where playfulness is the dominant lingo for engaging with serious subjects. On the platform, the Holocaust is mediated through meme-based performances like the #POVHolocaustChallenge, a trend that invited users to re-enact fictionalized memories of Holocaust victims. Our analysis of 250 videos identifies 3 types of Holocaust-related memetic narratives—mem(e)ories: (1) Testimonial Mem(e)ory, where “victims” testify from “…
The algorithm loves the war”
Content creators in war zones are critical in shaping global perceptions of conflict. Through social media, they document real-time events and reach audiences beyond the traditional news frameworks. Based on an ethnographic study of Czech and Ukrainian TikTok creators sharing war-related content from Ukraine, we introduce the concept of ambivalent visibility – a condition shaped by the conflicting demands creators face in balancing algorithmic am…
Latin American Creator (Sub)cultures on Tiktok
Latin America features diverse cultures, landscapes, life experiences, and ethnicities, shaped by socioeconomic inequalities and ongoing political turbulence. These structural disparities extend to the digital sphere, shaping the opportunities and challenges faced by content creators in the region. The promise of fame, financial success, and global visibility celebrated in Western content creation is often unfulfilled in other regions. Instead, L…
The TikTok Caliphate
Jihadist organizations and their supporters have long used social media to spread propaganda, creating enduring content moderation challenges. Despite TikTok’s purported zero-tolerance approach to violent extremism, terrorist propaganda persists on the platform. This study investigates how supporters of ISIS and Al-Qaeda employ TikTok’s features to exploit algorithmic recommendations and evade content moderation, increasing their visibility withi…
Context matters
This introductory paper outlines the conceptual foundations and research agenda for our special issue Contextual Complexities of Violence on Digital Platforms. We argue that violence on digital platforms cannot be understood as a fixed or self-evident category, but must be situated within the sociotechnical, cultural and political environments that shape its production, circulation and recognition. Drawing on cross-disciplinary scholarship, we de…
Children as concealed commodities
Our article delves into the emergence of ‘kidfluencers’ within the content creator economy, highlighting how children’s participation intertwines their identities with monetisation strategies on platforms. Focusing on TikTok, we blend ethnographic and legal analysis of 215 videos from 23 kidfluencers in Israel, New Zealand and the Unites States, illuminating the complexities of monetising childhood across cultures. We highlight four monetisation …
Computer Science (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Politics (6 works) · Social media (5 works) · Art (4 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (4 works) · Law (4 works)