Out With the Hero

How TikTok Everyday Stories Are Re-writing the Arctic

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2414830
AutoresArielle Frenette (0000-0002-6688-473X, Université Laval, autor correspondente), Mélanie Millette (0000-0001-9285-2670, Université du Québec à Montréal), Caroline Desbiens (0000-0002-8301-1308, Université Laval)
Ano2024
Volume10
Fascículo3
Data de publicação2024-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Media + Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2056-3051 • E-ISSN: 2056-3051
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/20563051241283426
OpenAlexW4402896452
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas35

With the rapid growth of TikTok in the last few years, we have seen the emergence of global influencers from diverse backgrounds, whose popularity is enhanced by TikTok's specific content-based algorithm. In North America, the meta-hashtag #NativeTikTok has become a sharing space for a diverse Indigenous online community. Among these, several young Inuit women have acquired a large fanbase, allowing them to display their culture to a vast public, as well as to bring awareness to issues relating to the Arctic. In this article, we analyze how TikTok became a scale-shifting media for contemporary self-affirmation and displaying of Inuit culture. Drawing data from a case study of six Inuit influencers and an online thematic analysis of their content, we discuss definitions of Inuit authenticity on digital screenscapes, before presenting an analysis of content shared by young Inuit influencers to better understand specific forms of storytelling on TikTok and tensions pertaining to authentic cultural self-presentation. We argue that the TikTok platform provides an efficient tool for young Inuit women to engage with, learn about, and display their culture in their own terms, self-presenting as diverse and modern, in contrast with colonial Inuit imageries

Aesthetics · Arctic · Art · HERO · Literature · The arctic · Digital Storytelling and Education · Media Studies and Communication · Narrative Theory and Analysis · Geology · Oceanography