Teachable moments: TikTok social drama as a site of Black feminist intellectual production

This paper mobilizes Turner's concept of 'social drama' – dramatic social events marked by conflict, antagonism, and competition through which communities articulate social norms – to examine how users engage in drama to negotiate the intersecting race, gender, and sexual power dynamics on TikTok. Through an analysis of two TikTok social dramas, I demonstrate how the technological affordances of the platform shape how users respond to drama and argue TikTok's predominantly younger use-base utilize the platform to discuss, negotiate, and put in place socially progressive norms around racism, sexism, and homophobia. Further, I show how these dramas create opportunities for Black and of color women, femme, and queer TikTok users to engage in digital Black feminism by drawing on their lived experiences and using platform affordances to comment on the situation and educate other users. The paper concludes by considering the role of platform social dramas in bringing both opportunity and harm to marginalized users.