New NIMC Study Explores How TikTok Makes Anti-Immigration Narratives Persuasive
The Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) has published a new study examining how anti-immigration narratives are constructed and made persuasive on TikTok.
Published in New Ideas in Media and Communication, the academic journal of MJRC, Nigar Hasanova’s Dismissive Affect in Anti-Immigration TikTok Content: The Construction of Social Crisis Through Platform Affordances and Affective Persuasion analyses 120 highly engaged English-language TikTok videos. The journal is dedicated specifically to novelty in media and communication research, prioritising work that introduces entirely new topics, theoretical approaches, frameworks, methods or conceptual tools rather than incremental additions to established research.
One of the study’s main contributions is its concept of “dismissive affect.” Challenging the common assumption that anti-immigration communication online is driven primarily by fear and anger, Hasanova identifies a lower-intensity register built around sarcasm, disappointment and irritation. Such communication can make exclusionary claims appear self-evident, ordinary or mildly amusing rather than openly hostile.
The research also shows how visual anecdotes, textual overlays and TikTok’s platform affordances can turn selective or decontextualised material into apparently persuasive evidence. Its broader implication is important for both platform governance and media literacy: manipulative communication does not necessarily depend on false information. Genuine material can also acquire persuasive power through selective decontextualisation, affective framing and platform-specific presentation.
The article is published open access and can be read in full here.
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