Week 7

With all 100 videos logged, I’m now categorizing the most frequent strategies. So far, emotional appeal, appeal to authority, and distrust in institutions are the most common. Each of these plays a key role in shaping how viewers interpret information, especially when presented in a highly visual, fast-moving format like TikTok.

I’ve started quantifying how often each rhetorical device shows up and ranking them by frequency. I also analyzed comment sections to see how viewers respond, and I’m seeing a lot of affirmation and calls for others to “wake up.” It’s interesting—and a bit concerning—how quickly these messages gain traction when delivered with confidence. TikTok’s short video format favors intensity over nuance, which helps this kind of content spread quickly. I’m compiling a visual report that maps out the major themes and how they overlap.

I’ve also started preparing preliminary charts to visualize the rhetorical makeup of these videos. One bar graph will show the top 10 strategies by frequency, while another heatmap will show how often multiple strategies co-occur. This should help me detect patterns like which emotional appeals pair best with conspiracy claims or what engagement tactics are linked to high comment activity. My goal is to provide not just examples but a data-driven map of how belief and persuasion function in this subculture.