Nader Hotait

Nader Hotait

Sociologist, Research and Data Scientist

Sitemap

A list of all the posts and pages found on the site. For you robots out there is an XML version available for digesting as well.

Pages

Posts

Swipe with Caution: Unveiling the TikTok Algorithm and its Gateway to Problematic Content through Engagement with Martial Arts

less than 1 minute read

Published:

On August 9th, 2022, I undertook a self-experiment to investigate the underlying mechanisms of TikTok’s algorithmic curation. The specific approach involved immersing myself in a focused stream of martial arts content, aiming to comprehend the platform’s content recommendation system. My curiosity stemmed from a Media Matters study on TikTok, who did a similar approach for transphobic and right-wing-extremist content. Methodologically, the self-experiment entailed a comprehensive day-long observation (or rather consumption) of TikTok, during which I exclusively engaged with martial arts content and followed five accounts associated with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Muslim Interaktiv. Or: How to Leverage TikTok for Political Influence

less than 1 minute read

Published:

This blog presents a study on the TikTok activities of Muslim Interaktiv, a group often linked to Hizb ut-Tahrir, although this is contested. The primary objective of this research is to gain insights into their effective occupation of digital discourses and their ability to amass spectatorship for their content. By examining their strategies, I aim to identify knowledge on one way virality is fostered on TikTok. Additionally, I argue the urgency for practitioners to adopt similar tactics to engage in these very discourses for social good. To achieve this, I have transcribed, coded, and analyzed of all Muslim Interaktiv videos for the year 2021. The findings are presented below.

The Importance of Muslim Grievance in Public Communication - Exploring German Muslim Organizations on Twitter

47 minute read

Published:

This post examines Twitter accounts of German Muslim organizations, specifically Generation Islam (GI), which is mostly labelled as radical in the German context. The study highlights the significance of grievance as a central theme for GI and compares the response of other organizations towards Muslim grievances - i.a. how they lack similar level of condemnation. Graphs visually represent and compare the role of grievances for GI, while commentary provides interpretations. Coding details and prerequisites can be skipped, focusing on the graphs and commentary for a concise understanding of the topic.

portfolio

publications

talks

“Islamistische” Strategien der Radikalisierung

Published:

This presentation (“Islamist” strategies of radicalization) was held at the Wissenschaftskonferenz (Science Conference) by the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) in 2021, providing an introduction to the novel D:Islam project and its then first module. I was the chair for corresponding panel called “Ways into the rabbit hole.”

Narratives of Xeno- and Islamophobia in “Islamist” Communication

Published:

As the chair of the panel, I had the privilege of hosting presentations by Mujtaba Isani, Nicole Doerr, and Liriam Sponholz, while also delivering my own presentation entitled “Narratives of Xeno- and Islamophobia in ‘Islamist’ Communication: An Analysis of Hizb ut-Tahrir Adjacent Twitter Accounts in Germany.” The panel, titled “Islamism and Xenophobia in Europe: Dynamics of Extremism and Feedback Effects,” explored the reciprocal relationship between xenophobia and ‘Islamism’, highlighting how anti-Muslim sentiments and radicalization can mutually influence each other.

Potenziale der Radikalisierung auf TikTok

Published:

MOTRA is a “Monitoring system and transfer platform for radicalization [research].” In their annual conference in 2022, I elaborated on the potentials for radicalization through TikTok and provided data I had collected through a “self-experiment” and analysis of the TikTok account “Muslim Interaktiv.” The presentation was titled “Potentials of Radicalization on TikTok.”

Kollektive Emotionen in Radikalisierungsprozessen und die Rolle von TikTok

Published:

I held this Webtalk, hosted by Ufuq.de, which primarily catered to practitioners and researchers. During my presentation, I provided outlined of how TikTok could potentially facilitate radicalization and emphasized the role that collective emotions might play here. At the end, I presented concrete examples of accounts that use emotive triggers to substantiate my arguments. My slides are right here.

Investigating Radical Content on TikTok - A Computational Approach

Published:

“Social Science Meets Digital Data: Methods of Computational Social Science” was an amazing workshop hosted by Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM). I had the honour of presenting the current research design of RaPoTik (Radicalization Potentials on TikTok). The slides I used are here.

teaching

Teaching experience 1

Undergraduate course, University 1, Department, 2014

This is a description of a teaching experience. You can use markdown like any other post.

Teaching experience 2

Workshop, University 1, Department, 2015

This is a description of a teaching experience. You can use markdown like any other post.