Affective design and memetic qualities: Generating affect and political engagement through bushfire TikToks

Abstract

This article explores the affective dimensions of social media platform TikTok, and its potential as a novel form of political participation among young people. It draws on data from a sample of 24 TikToks focused on the 2019/20 Australian bushfires, as well as seven interviews with young people who create, view and share TikToks. Building on Ash’s notion of ‘affective design’, the article demonstrates how the memetic qualities of juxtaposition, whimsy and humour are utilised to enable escape and/or connection. As young people grappled with the intensity of emotions from the Australian bushfires, TikTok gave them space for the expression of complex affects through humour, whimsy, and juxtaposition.