Networked masterplots

Abstract

This article investigates engagement with propagandist TikTok videos shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with particular attention to the role of music and comments. By repurposing the infrastructure of TikTok sound-linking, our research upholds sensitivity to how this infrastructure enables affective and participatory workings of propaganda. We develop the notion of networked masterplots based on a situated analysis of how a specific sound, occasionally used in combination with pro-Russian hashtags, prescribes the creation of replicable linkages between three distinct video templates. The analysed templates, as we will show, not only intentionally share the use of the same song but adapt the theatrical effect of situation and suspense on the textual level of “stickers” or messages overlaid on top of videos. A selection of fifteen videos using the stickers – “What if they attack?”, “I am wondering how many will (un)subscribe?”, and “I am (not) ashamed” – in combination with a techno remix of the Soviet folk song Katyusha will be at the centre of our investigation. Arguing that in Katyusha videos situation and suspense are indivisible, we pay attention to the audiencing practices as they extend into both video comment sections and further memetic spin-offs. We conclude by reflecting on how TikTok sharing not only facilitates self-expression and social activism but also enables the weaponization of content within networked memetic environments.