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Transformations of the content and patriotism policy of the Russian-speaking segment of the “non-politicized TikTok” during the special military operation

Radina N.K.,

National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod; HSE University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, rasv@yandex.ru

elibrary_id: 417954 | ORCID: 0000-0001-8336-1044 | RESEARCHER_ID: L-6641-2015

Article received: 2025.04.03 17:36. Accepted: 2025.10.17 17:37


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2026.02.04
EDN: QBOJYC

Rubric: Theme of the issue: The Russian Metaverse: aspects of identity, civic consciousness, and patriotism

For citation:

Radina N.K. Transformations of the content and patriotism policy of the Russian-speaking segment of the “non-politicized TikTok” during the special military operation. – Polis. Political Studies. 2026. No. 2. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2026.02.04. EDN: QBOJYC (In Russ.)

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-28-00204.

Abstract

The article presents a study of the multimodal discourse of the digital social platform TikTok in the context of a military-political conflict. TikTok is a popular digital social platform designed for sharing short videos, primarily aimed at a youth audience. The study was based on M. Sherif’s concept of intergroup interaction and the concept of the “rallying effect”, according to which conflict interaction contributes to group cohesion and support for the group leader. Methodologically, the study included two sections. The first period dates from July 2018 to February 2022 (before the special military operation (SMO)); the second period, from March 2022 to March 2024 (after the start of the SMO). The total collection included 3371 videos (2520 before the SMO and 851 after the SMO). Then, videos with high rates of “likes”, reposts, views and comments were selected – 359 videos (215 before the SMO and 144 after the start of the SMO). Popular videos were coded using a classifier, and a categorical matrix was constructed based on the codes and processed using mathematical statistics methods (correlation analysis and cluster analysis). Following the start of the SMO, ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, introduced, a form of self-censorship by banning users with Russian IP addresses from uploading new content to the platform. After the start of the SMO, users of the Russian-speaking segment of TikTok used VPN (Virtual Private Network), which was taken into account when interpreting the results. According to the research hypothesis, the conditions of the conflict politicized the Russian-speaking segment of TikTok, demonstrating a “rallying effect”. The hypothesis is partially confirmed. The topics of the Russian-speaking segment of TikTok have evolved since the start of the SMO: the blocking changed the audience of the Russian-speaking segment, which has affected typical youth content. However, military actions accounted for less than one-fifth of the total volume of popular videos. The number of popular videos about the President of the Russian Federation has not significantly changed from the first to the second period (about 10%), but the focus of the narratives has changed (from the past to the present). It is concluded that viral videos in the Russian-speaking segment of TikTok contribute to the construction of the Russian civil (non-governmental) patriotism policy, aimed at uniting society and supporting the ‘we-identity’.

Keywords

patriotism politics, rallying effect, digital social media, TikTok, special military operation, multimodal text, real conflict theory.

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