Videos with Israel and Palestine hashtags exceed 20 billion views
“I feel skeptical about the existing media… “I want on-site videos that are easy to understand.”
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalates, the number of views of TikTok videos reporting the war situation is steadily increasing.
On the 10th (local time), the Washington Post (WP) reported that TikTok videos conveying the war situation taking place in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel are recording tens of billions of views. ‘#(Hashtag)Palestine’ has been viewed 27.8 billion times, and ‘#Israel’ has been viewed more than 23 billion times.
Currently, discussions on TikTok are ongoing, with various influencers offering opinions and analyzing news about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“TikTok users are generally skeptical of news from mainstream media,” said Jamie Cohen, a professor at Queen’s College, City University of New York. “They prefer news that provides more diverse perspectives.”
Jules Suzdaltsev, an independent journalist with more than 1 million TikTok subscribers, said, “In a situation where ideological conflict is severe, TikTok has a huge advantage over existing news. “You can hear vivid stories,” he said.
He continued, “More than anything, it is due to the growing distrust of traditional media,” adding, “Traditional media has a certain degree of unity with a specific narrative, but TikTok is breaking this practice.”
As the war broke out between Israel and Hamas, the number of influencers who convey the local situation through TikTok is increasing.
Leila Wara, a 25-year-old journalist living in the West Bank, posts on-site reports and videos of her daily life in refugee camps through TikTok. His video contains aspects of the war seen from the perspective of Palestinian Generation Z, which are not often revealed in existing media.
“The last 48 hours have been really intense,” Wara told WP. “People want videos that are funny and easy to understand, but also made for social media, which is where a lot of people get their news these days.”
Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas are actively using social media. On the 7th, Israel warned through the official account of
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.