Atomization, or the reduction of collective society to individual actors (or atoms), is a significant byproduct of capitalist society. But this… this is new.
I am going to preface this with the statement: I am fucking old. My back hurts in the morning and during the rest of the day too. I have to watch my sugar. shit sucks. That said, I literally just learned that TikTok is the apex tool of capitalist atomization.
For starters, I’ll also share that I am currently researching TikTok as a semiotic mode (see Jewitt 2016 for more) distinct from many other forms of digital communication. What I didn’t know, as an avid averter of the app, is that each user’s “For You” Page (fyp) is completely unique to that user. Determining what they see is an opaque “algorithm” that adjusts based on your interactions. While this is similar to the older person’s version of the app, Instagram Reels, TikTok is unique in that it does not present other, non-video content as an alternative mode of interaction. The app is unique: a video-based socialization and communication app. TikTok represents a unique means and mode of production, I argue.
But it also represents a fabulous threat to anyone who wants a functioning society? Like yeah fuck the system etc. but complete and utter atomization down to the fucking keystroke?! I definitely consider anything, but especially a capitalist corporation with a profit incentive, that attempts to create isolating safe-space echo chambers for groups of users, much less individuals. Niche politics is dead; long live microniche politics.
My real concern is not anything like that: I am worried for the kids. If we are to operate under the assumption that TikTok embodies a distinct semiotic mode from other forms of digital communication [as I would argue almost all divergent social media platforms would represent] with ‘unique meaning-making potentials’ then our pedagogy is light-years behind. Kids who primarily communicate via video and digital semiotics (i.e., not primarily standardized writing) are being taught by those who have little to no experience with their primary interpretative frames. Ignoring this phenomenon will have devastating consequences. Resisting this phenomenon will have significantly worse consequences.
I hate to be that fucking guy, but quoting Plato, “[people who write] will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks.” I think… uhhh… and, stop me if I’m wrong…? but… I think smart people are able to write and still be smart? While we are definitely actually getting dumber from TikTok and the internet in general, that kinda makes this more important?
In order to actually teach, in order to actually get through, in order for our students to actually be prepared for the new world, we OWE them to research, design, and implement curricula that center digital literacy in practical contexts, developed by those who are familiar with the rapidly changing landscape of multimodal communication, particularly those of younger generations.
This doesn’t mean I want kids watching tiktoks in class. obviously. that’s for teachers only!
have a great rest of your week :)
-h