Death of Official Media

Nizar Sahal

As Thomas Friedman mentioned, the biggest dilemma of the current war in Gaza is that it is happening in the era of TikTok. The wars in Gaza and Sudan, in the age of platforms like TikTok, have robbed Israeli narrative of its credibility and deprived its supporters of their rapid backing and propaganda.

This narrative, which has always been promoted by mainstream media in previous wars, explains the shift in the American public opinion, especially among the youth, regarding the Gaza war according to opinion polls.

War in the era of TikTok has turned into a war "on" TikTok, leading to a rush of legislative steps in the United States to ban TikTok fervently, perhaps even surpassing the formation of the Ministry of Truth as in the novel "1984".

In my opinion, social media has spiraled out of control from its intended purpose, and the tables have turned, transforming from merely shedding light on reality to altering and influencing events. This change also explains the rush for everyone to start a podcast during this period, especially the linguists of the old media who are seeking a foothold in this new world after being dragged into the realm of platforms, realizing the demise of their old world. However, most of them have come to refill their old wine in the vessels of TikTok and YouTube.