#HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice

“Of course, people around the world learn of major protests quickly, almost instantaneously today, given social media (Chenoweth, 2020, p. 72; Heaney, 2020; Jackson et al., 2020; Pickerill & Krinsky, 2012; Tufekci, 2017).”

“…allow for ‘the direct communication of raw and immediate images, emotions, and ideas and their widespread dissemination in a way previously unknown’ (Jackson et al., 2020, p. XXX), but also ambient affiliation, in that an individual using a hashtag may not know or interact directly with others…”

“…and amplifies existing mechanisms at play: “It is to this underrepresentation and misrepresentation, along with efforts toward solidarity and community building, that contemporary counterpublics respond, using media technologies available to them” (Jackson, Bailey, and Welles 2020, p. xxvii).”

“They offer a distinction to Twitter hashtags themselves, which are generally seen as ‘ discursive and user-generated ’ (Jackson et al., 2020, p. xxviii).”

“…theoretical concept of digital counterpublics describes the processes by which politically disenfranchised and minoritized populations use social media platforms as subversive channels for challenging dominant social norms and participating in digital forms of activism (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“…have led to proposing different conceptual and theoretical tools to catch such vibrancies, e.g., connective action (Bennett & Segerberg, 2012), hashtag activism (Jackson et al., 2020; Wonneberger et al., 2020), networked publics (boyd, 2010), and counterpublics (Jackson & Foucault Welles, 2015).”

“Twitter, in particular, has enabled counter-publics to coalesce around consequential hashtags related to gender discrimination and sexual violence (#MeToo), as well as race relations and police brutality (#BlackLivesMatter) in recent years (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“These intertextual processes characterize networked publics and counterpublics that have expanded their boundaries and impact thanks to the power of producing and distributing content in the digital era (Jackson et al., 2020; Jenkins et al., 2013; Papacharissi, 2014).”

“A similar focus can also be felt in the study of online feminisms, with researchers exploring a wide range of hashtag movements, such as #MeToo, #YesAllWomen, #SayHerName, or #EverydaySexism (e.g., Jackson et al., 2020; PortwoodStacer & Berridge, 2014; Pruchniewska, 2019; Quan-Haase et al., 2021).”

“For data, we use Twitter as a vast, noisy, and distributed news and opinion aggregation service [19–23], Beyond the centrality of Twitter to Trump’s communications [24–29], a key benefit of using Twitter as “text as data” [30–34] is that popularity of story is encoded and recorded through social amplification by retwe…”

“Jackson et al. (2020) argue that hashtags relating to race and gender justice serve multiple important functions.”

“This is in line with emerging frameworks (Jackson et al., 2020) that look beyond the tactical goals (e.”

“Ray Du’s campaign, calling for people around the world to promote the hashtags #TWforWHO and #TaiwanCanHelp, can be seen as an example of hashtag activism (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“One example of SM misogynoir, or misogyny directed toward Black women, is displayed on Twitter through #RuinABlackGirlsMonday, under which people posted photos of White women that they deemed to be more attractive than Black women (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“Jackson et al. (2020) cite hashtags like #blacklivesmatter as examples of movements that emerge on Twitter, often generated by marginalized people on the platform and in response to dominant publics.”

“…hashtag and feature use is affirmed on Twitter to the point of developing the capacity for collective action on specific topics/events (Sharma, 2012; see also Bonilla and Rosa, 2015; Jackson and Foucault Welles, 2015; Rambukkana, 2015; Lindgren, 2019; Jackson et al., 2020; Olmedo Neri, 2021).”

“Additionally, research has highlighted the powerful role of digital technology, the use of hashtags and social media in activism (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“Social movements ranging from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter have effectively used Twitter to coordinate and broadcast offline activity (Jackson et al., 2020; Penney and Dadas, 2014).”

“…public at large by analysing both structural inequalities regarding different dimensions of power such as economics, racial orders, or gender relations and their manifestation in media representation, as well as discursive practices countering dominant narratives (Jackson, Bailey, and Welles 2020).”

“…allowed marginalized groups to force topics onto the public agenda in unique ways, while also generating considerable backlash among elites (clark 2020; Jackson, Bailey, and Foucault Welles 2020; Parham 2022). it’s true that many of the ugliest and most visible networked harassment cam-paigns have…”

“In the past two decades, social media has facilitated the emergence of networked counterpublics created by socially or politically marginalized groups (Jackson et al., 2020; Jackson and Foucault Welles, 2015).”

“Social justice campaigns are complex, as they are often intertwined with racial, cultural, and political factors (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“Beyond connecting social media users using similar linguistic symbols, hashtags are also useful for broadening discursive communities, for example, by attracting the attention of journalists and other elites [39].”

“Material agency depends on Internet neutrality and the ability of users to access platforms from mobile devices (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“…opportunities and challenges that youth face with online civic engagement, including the role of social media in promoting not only youth activism (Jackson et al., 2020) but also the spread of disinformation during elections (Allcott et al., 2019), and contributing to political polarisation…”

“For instance, social network analysis can quantify the relative impact of different types of “crowdsourced elites” (Jackson et al., 2020) or “crowd-enabled elites” (Shahin et al., 2024) within the hashtag public.”

“for the broad purposes of breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration” (Johnson et al., 2007, p. 123). For Twitter-based research, Murthy (2016) has recommended mixed methods approaches because the open coding typical of qualitative research adds nuance and context, leading to a balanced means of analysis.”

“The potential for social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to influence social movements (e.g., #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter) has been critical (Jackson et al., 2020; Mundt et al., 2018).”

“…on social media has been shown to be particularly relevant for disempowered groups or groups traditionally marginalized in society and the public sphere for developing and promoting more positive narratives about the self (Jackson et al., 2020; Lane et al., 2022; Velasquez & Montgomery, 2020).”

“The Keep It Oakland movement builds on both these traditions and the larger realm of hashtag activism (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“…an indispensable part of contemporary social movements (Van Dijk, 2013; Castells, 2015; Papacharissi, 2015a) and is already a well-practised means of feminist networking through, for instance, hashtag activism (Jackson et al., 2020) and the formation of affective publics (Papacharissi, 2015b).”

“Hashtag activism, therefore, refers to how specific groups or individuals on Twitter employ this shortcut to make political contentions about identity politics that advocate for social change, identity redefinition, and political inclusions (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“In this regard, it becomes crucial to acknowledge such digital counter-publics, which Jackson et al. (2020) define as “the alternative networks of debate created by marginalized members of the public” (p. 33).”

“The expectation for political expression may also lead to expression that is more performative in nature than actually geared toward bringing about social change — potentially causing more harm than good (see Jackson et al., 2020).”

“The algorithms governing social media, designed to prioritize engaging content, have amplified the visibility of BLM-related posts and hashtags, facilitating their penetration into mainstream public discourse (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“…a wide audience, and online movements that originated or gained prominence on Twitter (e.g., #BlackLivesMatter) have inspired broad discussion and coverage in mainstream media, shaped public awareness of political issues, and mobilized offline protests about inequality (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“For example, Twitter’s hashtag-enabled communication has enabled marginalized groups to establish connections with news media, promote alternative narratives, and foster diverse networks of dissent (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“…racial injustice seizes social media as an alternative space. hashtags have the power to move issues from the margins to the center of public debate (Jackson et al., 2020). importantly, as a form of discursive activism, hashtag activism uses text and images to problematize and counter mainstream…”

“…turn has been studied in the context of relationship between existing feminist organisations and online activism (e.g. Fotopoulou, 2016), practices of hashtag activism (e.g. Jackson et al., 2020), and emerging informal feminist solidarities (e.g. Retallack et al., 2016), amongst countless others.”

“These activists use a hashtag symbol to signal solidarity with a particular movement, such as #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter, as a way for ‘historically disenfranchised populations to advance counternarratives and advocate for social change’ (Jackson et al ., 2020, p. xxxviii).”

“For instance, scholars have discussed Black women’s cultivation of Twitter communities by using Black feminist hashtags (e.g., #SayHerName, #BlackGirlMagic, #OverheardWhileBlack; (Jackson et al., 2020; Peterson-Salahuddin, 2022).”

“These theories describe some of the mechanisms through which social media affords personalized political communication, and they are continually confirmed by empirical work (Gallagher et al., 2019; Hautea et al., 2021; Jackson et al., 2020; Mann, 2018; Yang, 2016).”

“For some groups, social media provides not only a refuge through affordances like secret groups (Van Duyn, 2022) but also affords activists the ability to connect with supporters to form networked counterpublics (Jackson et al., 2020; see also Freelon et al., 2020).”

“Building bridges with the media is often a key intermediary goal for connective movements, and one which helps bring pressure to bear on politicians (Freelon et al., 2018; Jackson et al., 2020).”

“In addition, the use of consistent hashtags was found to be a useful tool for attracting attention and support from elites, including journalists and the mainstream media (Jackson et al., 2020).”

“Yet, platforms also generate ‘networked counterpublics’ (Jackson, Bailey, and Foucault Welles 2020, p. 45), allowing marginalized voices (often culturally defined) to challenge dominant narratives (Bestvater, Gelles-Watnick, and Odabaş 2023; Palmere 2021; Strickland 2022; Taylor 2017).”