This article introduces the concept of scrolling television to describe TikTok-based viewing practices where television content is experienced through continuous, personalised scrolling. Drawing on an empirical study of TV-related videos on TikTok and a case study of Netflix Italia’s editorial strategies, the research examines how platform affordances, algorithms, and user practices co-construct a televisual flow. The findings show that scrolling functions not as passive distraction but as an active mode of televisual engagement, in which user-generated clips, edits, and remixes coexist with professional content, reshaping television consumption and fandom practices within algorithmically curated environments.
Scrolling Television. Video-Sharing Practices of Television Texts on TikTok / Firth, E., Marinelli, A.. - In: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN TELEVISION HISTORY AND CULTURE. - ISSN 2213-0969. - 15:29(2026), pp. 1-14. [10.18146/view.404]
Scrolling Television. Video-Sharing Practices of Television Texts on TikTok
Ellenrose Firth
;Alberto Marinelli
2026
Abstract
This article introduces the concept of scrolling television to describe TikTok-based viewing practices where television content is experienced through continuous, personalised scrolling. Drawing on an empirical study of TV-related videos on TikTok and a case study of Netflix Italia’s editorial strategies, the research examines how platform affordances, algorithms, and user practices co-construct a televisual flow. The findings show that scrolling functions not as passive distraction but as an active mode of televisual engagement, in which user-generated clips, edits, and remixes coexist with professional content, reshaping television consumption and fandom practices within algorithmically curated environments.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
