Being a camorrist: narratives and self-representation of the Bari camorra on TikTok

This chapter explores how members and affiliates of the Bari Camorra construct and perform their identity on TikTok through narratives and visual self-representation. Drawing on a digital ethnographic approach combined with visual analysis, the study examines how criminal identities are communicated, legitimised and aestheticised within a contemporary social media platform. The analysis focuses on public TikTok profiles active between 2021 and 2023, highlighting recurring symbolic elements such as luxury consumption, references to imprisonment, family loyalty and the celebration of power and respect. The findings show how TikTok functions as a strategic communication space where criminal actors reinforce their reputational capital and normalise deviant behaviours through highly visual and emotionally charged content. The chapter contributes to the broader debate on digital cultures, organised crime and social media by demonstrating how platform affordances support the circulation and reinforcement of mafia subcultures in the digital environment.