Influencers, Online Alliances and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe: #Balkans

This book explores the transformative role of social media in fostering reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia, a region still grappling with unresolved conflicts and ethnic divides. Focusing on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, it highlights how Balkan influencers blend personal storytelling with commercial outreach to promote interethnic understanding. The study employs digital ethnography and narrative analysis to reveal the intricate dynamics between human actors and algorithms, uncovering how social media facilitate grassroots reconciliation initiatives.

The author critiques traditional reconciliation efforts driven by political elites and emphasises the potential of bottom-up approaches enabled by social media. It presents the concept of ＂algorithmic reconciliation＂, where social media algorithms inadvertently foster interethnic collaborations and create transnational online communities. By examining the economic and cultural practices of influencers, the book illustrates how digital platforms can serve as modern arenas for peacebuilding.

This book is primarily aimed at undergraduates and postgraduates in social history, digital media studies, and peace studies, but will also be relevant to academics, policymakers, and anyone interested in the intersection of technology and social change.

Ivana Stepanovic is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg in Hungary since February 2021. She has previously served as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Serbia from February 2014 to December 2022.