Activists and the Algorithm: Visibility Tactics and Folk Theories of Dutch Activists on TikTok

Although designed for entertainment purposes, TikTok is increasingly used for activism. Yet, visibility of content on the platform is heavily curated by its recommendation algorithm. This can potentially affect the reappropriation of the platform for activist purposes, as it may undermine the activists’ ability to reach out to fellow citizens and mobilize action. To increase visibility on digital platforms, users can develop certain tactics. These tactics are produced through the interactions that users have with the platform’s algorithm. Prior research shows that users construct an algorithmic imaginary and come up with algorithmic folk theories, as information on how the algorithm works is proprietary. Furthermore, current research suggests that, because of each platform's specific functionalities, these theories differ across different platforms. This study focuses specifically on Dutch TikTok activists and sets out to explore how they use visibility tactics and conceptualize the algorithm. To do so, a combination of two exploratory interviews and a qualitative content analysis TikTok posts (N=50) was carried out. Results show that these activists use platform-specific tactics to gain visibility and use a set of more generalizable tactics to grab and retain the audience’s attention. This study further reinforces the idea that different groups on a platform adopt a different repertoire of tactics to reach their desired visibility.