[Air-L] Looking for Research Collaborator on Race and TikTok

[Plothe, Theo]

Colleagues,

I have begun a line of inquiry that I am very excited about. Unfortunately, my colleague has had to drop out of our  research project very early in the process. Without giving the entire line of research inquiry away, I am looking for a collaborator who is interested in looking how non-Black TikTokers are using Black voices in the co-opting and consumption of Black culture in order to create remixes. The most well-known example that I can think of is "Get somebody else to do it.” Obviously, this has been happening for decades, and even if you think back to Antoine Dodson and Kimberly Wilkins and their viral memetic content over a decade ago. TikTok is so formative in many of Gen Z's daily lives that I am concerned about this misappropriation and displacement of Black voices that I want to write about it.

My goal is publish our findings and present this piece at a major conference. I'm anxious to get started on it, but I'd rather team with a writing partner with greater depth in this field.

Thanks so much and I look forward to talking to you.

Best,
Dr. Plothe

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Theo Plothe, PhD
Assistant Professor
Journalism and Mass Communication
Savannah State University