Digital Education and TikTok

new perspectives for history teaching

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5335/rep.v33.17559

Keywords:

Public communication of science, Digital education, History teaching, TikTok, Popularization of historical knowledge

Abstract

This article analyzes TikTok as a tool for the public communication of science applied to history teaching, based on a netnographic study of five history content creators. The study combines categorical content analysis with a multiple case study design to examine each profile's most popular videos and identify how multimodal resources, pedagogical strategies, and algorithmic mechanisms shape the tension between entertainment and historical rigor. The research shows distinct strategies of popularization, including spectacularization, affective attachment to the creator, and critical engagement, which do not always align with the deficit-dialogic spectrum of public science communication, and shows how monetization strategies strain creators' commitment to scientific rigor. The article argues that TikTok functions as an ambivalent space for the democratization of historical knowledge, whose pedagogical potential coexists with risks of superficiality and misinformation.

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Author Biographies

  • Gabriel Antonio Butzen, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP)

    PhD candidate in History in the Graduate Program in History (PPGHIS) at the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), with a scholarship from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). Holds a Master’s degree in History from the PPGHIS at the Federal University for Latin American Integration (UNILA), where he also completed a Bachelor’s degree in History (Teaching track) and a specialization in the Teaching of Latin American History. He also holds a degree in Philosophy (distance learning) from the International University Center UNINTER. Creator of the TikTok profile @gabrielantoniobutzen, dedicated to public history and science communication, with more than 41,000 followers. He publishes content and reflections on history, history teaching, and the Brazilian military dictatorship, engaging with digital languages and broader audiences. For his work on TikTok, he received the seal of the Historical Knowledge Forum, being a signatory of the ethical commitment letter. He received an honorable mention from the Brazilian Society for the Theory and History of Historiography (SBTHH) in the award for best dissertation in General Historiography (2023). He also received an honorable mention for a Scientific Initiation project developed at UNILA in 2018. His main research interests include theory and history of historiography, public history, and digital history. He is also a member of the National Association of History (ANPUH) and the Brazilian Society for the Theory and History of Historiography (SBTHH).

  • Tereza Maria Spyer Dulci, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) / Federal University for Latin American Integration (UNILA)

    Bachelor’s and licensed degree in History from the University of São Paulo (USP), with a Master’s and PhD in Social History from the same institution. Holds specializations in: (1) Southern Epistemologies, (2) Afro–Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and (3) Collective Memories, Human Rights, and Resistance, all granted by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO). Completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CIALC) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). From 2011 to 2023, served as a professor at the Federal University for Latin American Integration (UNILA), where she remains affiliated, teaching in the Specialization Program in History and Latin America (EHAL), the Graduate Program in Contemporary Latin American Integration (PPGICAL), and the Graduate Program in History (PPGHIS). Currently, she is a faculty member of the Department of History (DEHIS) at the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), where she also teaches in the Graduate Program in History (PPGHIS/UFOP). Her academic expertise lies in the fields of Latin American History and the History of International Relations. She is Editor-in-Chief of Revista Espirales (UNILA – Qualis A1) and Revista Laje (UFBA). Member of the Brazilian National Association of History (ANPUH) and the National Association of Researchers and Professors of History of the Americas (ANPHLAC), where she served as president from 2020 to 2022.

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Published

2026-08-27

Issue

Vol. 33 (2026): PUBLICAÇÃO CONTÍNUA

Section

Dossiê - Diálogos entre Ciência e Sociedade: o papel da Popularização, Divulgaçã

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Gabriel Antonio Butzen, Tereza Maria Spyer Dulci (Autor)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Os direitos autorais são mantidos pelos autores, os quais concedem à revista o direito de primeira publicação. 

How to Cite

Digital Education and TikTok: new perspectives for history teaching. Revista Espaço Pedagógico, v. 33, p. e17559, 27 Aug.2026.