Date of Award

5-11-2025

Date Published

June 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Information Science & Technology

Advisor(s)

Jeff Hemsley

Keywords

beirut;crisis informatics;lebanon;sensemaking;social media;tiktok

Abstract

The rise of the video-sharing application TikTok was rapid during the COVID-19 pandemic, as government-mandated isolation drove many to find comfort and fun indoors. Originally, the application was known for its entertaining content but has grown to be a space where conversations about critical, international events occur. With its unique application structure and behavior norms comes the opportunity to examine the application as a source of crisis discourse. This dissertation leverages a sociotechnical perspective and mixed methods analysis to investigate multimodal crisis discourse and information behaviors on the application concerning two recent Lebanese crises: the August 4, 2020, Port of Beirut explosion and the ongoing Economic Crisis. Combining visual social semiotic, content, statistical, and other analyses to investigate TikTok videos posted about these two events, this study analyzes how two major information behaviors relevant in crisis studies - sensemaking and resiliency - materialize within the application’s structure. The results of the analysis reveals patterns of behavior that do and do not contribute to sensemaking and resiliency, such as information sharing, information negotiation, sharing hardship, and defending political sectarianism. Discourse regarding both crises revealed intersemiotic dissonance - the tension arising from clashing semiotic meanings - highlighting the risk of presenting crisis discourse multimodally. Additionally, discussion on the impact of affordances, influencers, and Middle Eastern creators is provided. Recommendations for combatting crisis misinformation to improve the efficacy of crisis sensemaking and a comparison of the uses of various social media platforms are included.

Access

Open Access

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