What does TikTok have to do with Israel Advocacy? (Sabrina Silverstone, High School Intern)
Hate speech and antisemitic sentiments are unfortunately very easy to find on social media. Social media makes it easy to say hurtful things without having major real-life repercussions. However, social media is also a great way to reach and educate large audiences. One of the biggest social media platforms today, especially among teens and young adults, is TikTok. TikTok is an app, largely used by teenagers, where you can create and share all sorts of videos and set them to music or other cool audios.
A few weeks ago, I decided to make a TikTok showcasing some of the beautiful videos I took during the 4 weeks I spent in Israel last summer. I compiled my favorite videos, set them to music, and posted it thinking I would only get a few views from my friends who follow me on the app. My friends were telling me how much they loved seeing all of the clips of the trip and how it made them miss the summer and Israel. I was thrilled at the positive reactions.
The video quickly started to gain hundreds, and then thousands of views. I was quite shocked but I also thought it was pretty cool that this video was gaining so much popularity. Unfortunately, the comment section on the video started to become full of anti-Israel sentiments and hatred. It seemed as though for every positive comment, there were about ten comments saying things such as “Free Palestine”, “Israel? What is that? I only know Palestine”, or even “Glad you’re enjoying the land you stole from us!”. It was upsetting to see so much hate and negativity towards Israel especially on a video that was not even remotely political. I reported many of the comments for being hate speech. Others, I responded to and tried to educate the users about the conflict and provide facts so they do not make more false claims. It got to a point where I had to delete comments, but there were just so many that deleting them seemed to have very little impact on the overall tone of the comments section.
When it comes to social media and Israel, it is important to keep in mind those who know nothing regarding the conflict. The people who are not strongly affiliated with either side make up the majority and therefore, if we can educate the majority and make them understand Israel’s side, it would be very beneficial. This is why it is important to keep the comments positive so that those who do not know about the conflict only see positivity. In light of this, I asked my friends to comment pro-Israel things such as hearts, flags, and their experiences in Israel on TikTok. I received so many amazing comments from friends and strangers. The comment section became full of love and the hatred that was there before became minimal in comparison.
Currently, the video is sitting at 15K views, 1311 likes, and 518 comments. The comment section is mainly positive which means that we were successful in our mission to spread positivity about Israel. As well, many of the hurtful comments I reported were found to violate Tiktok’s guidelines and were deleted by Tiktok. However, this doesn’t end with my video. So many users on Tiktok are facing similar situations in which their videos about Israel or Judaism are being met with hatred. Our job is to comment positive things. In conclusion, the best way to combat hatred on social media is to spread positivity and present the facts.
*To watch the video and leave your own positive comment, click here: https://vm.tiktok.com/vjbUwH/
