2023-09-12 19:18:41
A new phenomenon emerged with the outbreak of battles in the “Ain al-Hilweh” Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. It was represented by activists on TikTok exploiting the events by opening a live broadcast most hours of the day and night, and asking followers to interact with them, turning the bloody event into hours of entertainment and superficial discussions to benefit. Materialism.
“Press and share”… is the phrase that the activists kept repeating during their live broadcasts from places overlooking the camp, as they waited for the battles to rage to attract the largest number of followers, perhaps some of them would support them with gifts that might be converted into cash, and so that the long hours of broadcasting would pass by. Without getting bored, discussions, analyzes and opinions begin, which are not devoid of racism.
The exploitation of the event in the camp was not limited to activists who live close to it, or who went to places overlooking it, but also included others residing in Lebanon and even outside it, who refused to allow the rounds of fighting to pass without making profits in some way, so they opened a live broadcast to discuss what was going on. Participants are asked a basic question to answer, for example whether they support the Lebanese army’s intervention in the battles or whether they support the withdrawal of weapons from the Palestinian camps.
There is no doubt that activists, or as they are called “TikTokers” from all countries of the world, find in Tik Tok a way to make money, especially through live broadcasting and challenges, which have become an essential part of this means of communication, but it may come to the point of exploiting bombing, destruction, and death. In order to achieve profits, this is a new phenomenon in Lebanon that has many implications.
It is noteworthy that “Ain al-Hilweh” witnessed clashes between the Fatah movement and extremist fundamentalist groups in the camp, which continued from last Thursday evening until yesterday evening, when a ceasefire agreement was reached between the Palestinian forces following their meeting with the Acting Director General of General Security, Major General Elias Al-Bisari, but the commitment The agreement did not last long, and the confrontations returned once more on Tuesday followingnoon.
Multiple goals
Since the outbreak of battles in Ain al-Hilweh, Muhammad has been broadcasting live for several hours a day from a square overlooking the camp, close to his uncle’s house. He says, “I aspire to achieve several goals from this, most important of which is increasing the number of followers of my page, which establishes a greater financial benefit.” Later, he explains: “I decided to make a living from Tik Tok, and I am in the process of laying the foundation for my project, which is becoming more solid as the number of followers increases.”
Financially, Muhammad did not receive large sums of money from the live broadcast of the battles, as he pointed out in an interview with the “Al-Hurra” website, “It was limited to supporting me with flowers, the value of each of which was a few cents. However, a decent amount can be reached from the large amount of support from them, but as he knows Everyone: Internet package prices in Lebanon are high, and live broadcasting requires a lot of megabytes.”
Muhammad is satisfied with the result of what he has achieved so far from the live broadcast, and he says, “The number of followers of my page has increased by six thousand people. This was helped by my answering every message I receive. I am a social person, and if I were not like that, I would not have spent all those hours on Tik Tok,” while If he was exploiting a tragic event, he answered, “Absolutely not. I am conveying the image of what is happening to the world just like any media outlet.”
The failure of Lebanese television channels to broadcast what was going on in the “Ain al-Hilweh” camp contributed to the increased interaction of TikTok pioneers with the activists’ coverage of the battles, according to what the expert journalist on social networking sites, Omar Qasqas, says, and explains “several goals achieved by live broadcasting for activists, although… Its main goal is to collect money by sending them gifts from a rose to a lion, a whale, and others, which are converted into money in dollars, which the activists and the application share equally, in addition to increasing the number of their page’s followers.
He added in an interview with the “Al-Hurra” website that “the activists’ request from the followers to ‘poke’ is aimed at increasing the number of likes on the video, while their request to share the video is aimed at increasing the number of viewers, and all of this contributes to the appearance of the broadcast by the largest number of users of the social networking site without any A financial return, as the financial benefit is limited only to the gifts that are sent to them.”
The activists do not care regarding putting their lives in danger while transporting the fighting rounds in the camp. Qasqas says, “In light of the economic crisis that Lebanon is going through and the high unemployment rate, Tik Tok has become a means of securing financial income in dollars that exceeds the salaries of a large number of jobs. Supporters spend millions of dollars monthly on this.” Social media, and some of them exploit it to achieve illegal goals such as money laundering, drugs, and prostitution.”
empty circle
Some activists on TikTok place broadcasting live rounds of fighting as their passion for conveying only a picture of what is happening without any material dimension. Among them is Alaa, who confirmed that he is one of the camp’s residents who paid the price for the fighting by displacing him and his family from his home, and he says, “I do not expect support from anyone.” I pay a high price for the Internet so that everyone can see what is happening in our camp, and at the same time I get to know the followers’ opinion of what is going on.”
Alaa added, in an interview with the Al-Hurra website, “It cannot be denied that there are those who exploit blood and destruction to collect money, but this does not apply to everyone. Every activist has his goal of broadcasting battles, and I do not deny that interacting with me during the broadcast makes me happy and prompts me to prolong its duration.” For regarding six hours a day.”
Professor of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University, Adiba Hamdan, describes Tik Tok as “one of the most important social media outlets. It is a media outlet in itself, even if those who publish on it are not professionals, and since it is one of the first media in circulation today, it is relied upon to broadcast news. Including what is happening in Ain al-Hilweh, but the goal is not just news, but rather carries political and security messages, including exaggerating the problem, spreading terror, or conveying a negative image of the crises happening in Lebanon, which serves the bad image that is being promoted regarding the country, without That negates the profit goal.”
Those seeking to make money, as Hamdan tells Al-Hurra website, exploit “a human image, whether it is a corpse, an explosion, or an earthquake, and regardless of the tragedy we see, the material goal prevails.”
Future implications
She stresses: “We are facing a new means of making money, regardless of its negative results and effects on society. It is a means that is difficult to control and monitor, as it is accessible to everyone of all ages and at all times. Hence, we warn once morest chaos in its use, as it will directly and indirectly affect, in the near and distant future, the Individual values and morals.
Some “TikTokers” determine their self-worth by the extent of the polarization they achieve on social media, that is, by the number of views, likes, and interactions, as the director of the “Key to Life” Association, the psychological and social worker, Lana Kaskas, says, and all of this “has become linked to making money through live broadcasting.” Several hours a day may be set by agencies that have contracts with activists, forcing them not to take into account the subject matter they are dealing with in order to fill the time required of them.”
The matter has reached, as Qasqas says to the Al-Hurra website, “the stage of tolerance of influencers with aggression and violence. The bloody events have become an opportunity to prove themselves. Unfortunately, they are trapped in a vicious circle, concerned with fake fame and immediate money, far from reality and without any planning for the future.”
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