Authors

Discussion

Internet-memes have already become a habitual element of the new media environment. The majority of scholars focus on humoristic images and how they contribute to racist stereotypes and untrust to the political process among internet users. In this paper, we consider how TikTok short videos contribute to protest movement consolidation. Based on an empirical dataset of 65 videos, which broadcast 2020 Khabarovsk protest rallies, the article investigates peculiarities of memes’ structural patterns, what functions memes may carry out in the context of the protest movement, and what symbolic structures dominate social platform’s space. The methodological framework is based on the visual analysis of frames with the scope of semiotic and discursive levels of visual interpretation. Due to the fact that TikTok creates pre-political publiс spaces, short videos highlight the necessity of participation in protest rallies, rather than a clarification of demands. There are three other notable features of TikTok memes - the lack of attention to political enemies, the combination of populist images and regional symbols, and the general lack of symbolic content.