I am an anthropologist interested in themes of memory, storytelling, revolution, hope, race, gender and the digital world. My PhD explored intergenerational memory, storytelling, history and the future in L’viv, Ukraine using methods such as oral history and walking to explore how history is present in urban and forested landscapes.

I became interested in TikTok during the first lockdown in March 2020. Friends began sending me videos of people dancing, cooking food, growing houseplants and telling jokes. I was fascinated by how so much creativity could be captured by a one minute video. Following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matters protests I was amazed at how protest and resistance was organised online, especially on TikTok and how TikTok became a space where experiences could be shared, educational material disseminated and protest could be organised. Similarly the women’s rights protests in Poland, the pro-democracy protests in Belarus, and the current war in Ukraine have a significant online presence and the algorithm and TikTok trends are instrumentalised by users to draw attention to struggle and resistance.

My research focus currently has two key elements:

1. I am interested in the many ways that the war in Ukraine is being narrated and documented on TikTok. How stories are being told and circulated, and the misinformation and conspiracy theories that are proliferating and being boosted by the algorithm.

2. My second interest is in how people are teaching and learning on TikTok. How communities are sharing knowledge and educating themselves and others through the content they are producing and engaging with on the platform.

As an anthropologist and a teacher I am fascinated by the possibilities of collaboration, and I am inspired every day by the members of the collective. This project is an exciting opportunity to work collaboratively to explore the world of TikTok and the many fascinating themes and topics which play out in the digital world.

I am a Lecturer in Digital Anthropology at UCL where I convene the module Digital Infrastructures: Power, Politics and Social Change, and co-teach Anthropological Research Methods and Researching the Social World. I also contribute to teaching on Digital Anthropology, Critical Issues in Material Culture, and The Anthropology of Politics, Violence and Crime. I am the Editor in Chief of the UCL journal and blog Anthropolitan.

I am a member of the UCL Centre for Digital Anthropology and the UCL Research Centre Art, Architecture and War.