Decoding the Digital Discourse: An Exploration of TikTokers’ Narratives on African and Asian Immigrants

• In Event: The "Invisible" Resonance: (Re)Imagining Writing for a "Just Present" in Local and Global Technoscapes

Abstract

The primary objective of our research is to assess the influence of media literacy beyond conventional schooling contexts in disrupting popularized media narratives of racial inequality. By focusing on African and Asian immigrant communities posting to TikTok, the study explores how TikTok content creators and viewers understand, distribute, and (re)frame narratives concerning African and Asian immigrants, with emphasis on how these counternarratives permeate the TikTok community. Central to our research is the question: How do TikTok users articulate their ideas about the lived experiences and educational lives of African and Asian immigrant communities?
Our ongoing study leverages theoretical frameworks of participatory literacies, BlackCrit, and AsianCrit (Dumas & Ross, 2016; Iftikar & Museus, 2018; Roswell & Wohlwend, 2016). Through the examination of multimodal communication in social media, specifically the interplay of voice and image authored by Asian and African immigrant youth, we aim to analyze how TikTok serves as an expressive arena for young individuals to participate in civic dialogue, including addressing immigrants’ real-life experiences. AsianCrit perspectives enable critical assessment of racialized experiences of Asian immigrants, while BlackCrit aids in understanding intersectional identities of Black African individuals, challenging predominant narratives.
The methodology involves analysis of 100 TikTok videos bearing hashtags #Asianimmigrant and #Africanimmigrant. Compiled collaboratively by a multicultural research team over a year, we organized videos into a shared spreadsheet for focused analysis. Data analysis was conducted through distinct, cooperative stages, identifying emerging themes illuminating young people’s discourses about African and Asian immigrants on TikTok.
Findings indicate young TikTokers complicate and challenge singular narratives surrounding African and Asian immigrants through embodied actions, judicious use of modes, and countering popular deficit narratives. For instance, a TikTok video by a young Asian woman counteracts the “stinky lunch story,” emphasizing the role of mockery of ethnic foods in shaping collective memories and cultural representations of immigrants (i.e., Saxena & Chu, 2021). TikTokers highlight what we conceptualize as transnational intersectional identities, affirming diverse, underrepresented identities, ontologies, and epistemologies, thus enriching our understanding of immigrant communities’ vast and varied heritage practices.
This research profoundly contributes to understanding how young people actively (re)author narratives on African and Asian immigrants, confronting and breaking down racial inequality, and fostering cross-cultural engagement. The insights gathered augment our knowledge about immigrants’ experiences, promoting empathy across diverse geographical, cultural, and digital landscapes. The research holds significance in the current socio-cultural milieu, highlighting the role of social media in shaping narratives about racial injustice.

Authors

• Vaughn W.M. Watson, Michigan State University

• Jin Kyeong Jung, Texas Tech University

• Joel E. Berends, Michigan State University

• Sandra Boateng, Michigan State University

• Lindsey Allene Hall, Michigan State University