Narrative as the Heart of Hashtag Activism: the Case Study of #MeToo

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Narrative as the Heart of Hashtag Activism:

the Case Study of #MeToo

Keywords: hashtag activism, narrative, framing, collective identity, agency

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The hashtag #MeToo has gone viral after an actress and activist, Alyssa Milano, tweeted “Me Too. Suggested by a friend: ‘If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too.’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” The overwhelming support resulted in the instant virality following its initiation on October 15, 2017; overnight, the hashtag has been used over 53 thousand times (CBS News 2017). The conversation introduced by the hashtag spread over to more than 85 countries and has been translated into other languages permitting its speedy travel across the continents and cultures. The media attention has been instantly directed towards the hashtag as a social movement. The formalization can be seen as an extension of the dual intention which is embedded within the #MeToo.

Firstly, it builds upon the publicity against Harvey Weinstein who was accused of sexual misconduct earlier that month. Secondly, the hashtag aims to expose the gravity and persistence of sexual harassment as a continuous problem. Its outreach is largely defined through its linguistic framing of the hashtag #MeToo as a message of solidarity, understanding and, crucially, association. Gilbert (2017) exposes that “for a long time, most women defined their own sexual harassment and assault…as something unspoken, something private, something to be ashamed of acknowledging.” (n.p.) It has been noted that the feminists since the 1960s to 1970s gave applauded the individualization of the narrative by promoting personal as political (Schuster 2017). The discursive activism throughout the third wave of feminism has been a touchstone of the progress towards women’s equality, essentially characterized as the ‘everyday feminism’ movement. Multiple feminist initiatives on Twitter, such as #WhyIStayed, #YesAllWomen, #YouOKSis and others, have similarly targeted the production of the alternative stories that “challenge the stock stories, and offer ways to interrupt the status quo to work for change.” (Dimond et al n.p.)

Yet, the social value generated by hashtag activism has come under severe scrutiny amongst the academics. The principal question revolves around the unmeasurable and, consequently, misunderstood potential to generate the active transformation to the targeted unfavorable condition. Typically, the conflicting factor is presented as the lack of the long-term engagement and active offline commitment, which is usually denoted as clicktivism. The researchers such as Evgeny Morozov (2009) have long been pre-occupied with the understanding why the Internet does not permit development of the coherent social movements or collective action.

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For instance, one of the central questions addressed by the researcher exposes “Do they really expect that their “slacktivism” – a catchy new word that describes such feel-good but useless Internet activism – would have some impact?” (Morozov 13). To justify and theorize the importance of hashtag activism, the researchers have focused on the attempts to expose the amplifying (Barisione et al 2017) potential to the message and the organizational (Bennett and Segerberg 2012) potential for the coherent social movement formation. Both approaches typically highlight the impact of the hashtag activism on the external movement, rather than assessing the authentic and unique elements of the digitally facilitated activism.

The importance of the hashtag has been reviewed in the context of the institutional association that has been made following the outbreak of the hashtag. Since 2006, the Me Too Movement Organization was founded by Tarana Burke. The institution aimed “to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly young women of color from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing.” (Me Too Movement Organization, n.p.) Despite dealing with the same problem, the link between the organization and the hashtag was established in the prescriptive manner. Alyssa Milano was made aware of the earlier initiative only a few days after the hashtag momentum was gained. The initiator of the hashtag acknowledged Burke’s contribution by proclaiming her the founder of the movement. The announcement resulted in conceptualizing the hashtag as a movement and simultaneously establishing association to an organization. Therefore, the complex positioning and structure of the hashtag proposes an interesting scope for understanding collectivity and identity of the movement, within an outside of the institutional bounds.

1.1 Why do the Narratives Matter?

Can one encapsulate the significance of the hashtag activism only as a tool to amplify the social movement organization? This research aims to explore the assumption that the social media platforms transform themselves into the sites of the social struggle, rather than simply equipping its users. Our understanding of the world around us is largely dependent on the narratives that are created, told, and subsequently retold. Eric Selbin (2010) proposes that “it is reasonable to assume that these same stories might exist not ‘simply’ to report on that condition but as catalysts for changing it” (26). The author’s statement draws on the dual intention implanted in the narratives: their informational capacity and the element of agency that can potentially provoke and encourage change. Indeed, “historically, storytelling has been used in many social movements, and, in particular, anti-racist movements” (Dimond et al n.p.).

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Dimond and others (2013) particularly highlight that people’s actions are often driven and inspired by these social and cultural elements that are embedded within the plots. Therefore, the agency embedded in the narrative shapes the repertoire for action and to a large extent determines the significance of the movement. With the rapid technological and infrastructural developments, the process of the narration has been digitalized and its potential, in turn, extended. Primarily, if one considers the process of storytelling as “how people learn and exercise agency” (Dimond et al n.p.), the emphasis on the user generated content and the growth of the social media platforms exhibit an extension of the opportunities for narration and adaptation of agency. For Shaw (2012) this exhibits the active extension of discursive activism. Specifically, the social media platforms enable mediation of space and opportunity for creating, distributing and re-sharing of these stories. Yet, more crucially, the social media platforms permit collective co-creation of the narrative, due to the presence of the low barriers of entry.

The hashtag activism due to its construction and implementation is one of the most appropriate types of digital activism to review in the light of the analytical feature of a narrative. This activism branch implies the use of the structural marker “#” combined with a word or a phrase to spread the message about the social phenomenon or injustice. It is used in a hope to generate support for the cause or expose the gravity of the problem in question. While multiple social media platforms adapted the use of hashtags, Twitter remains the principal landscape for hashtag activism, particularly due to its technical and social centering around the generation of the global conversation, independent of follower and followee dynamics. Apart from entering the conversation, the users of the platform are also invited to review the conversation in isolation from the general flow of tweets. It provides a strong narrative-like character to the exchange. The visibility is simultaneously granted to the users, issues, as well as to the chronological development of the conversation. These parts imitate the fundamental parts of the traditional narrative.

Nevertheless, the narrative remains under-researched and is often taken for granted. The selective emphasis has created a substantial gap in the digital activism and particularly in the hashtag activism related research. As Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) address “comparatively little research has concerned itself with issues of collective identity and connected forms of expressive, rather than instrumental communication” (865). This thesis attempts to explore these breaches by adopting narrative as both an analytical tool and a metaphor for the construction of hashtag activism. This study proposes reviewing Twitter as a network for formation of a digital narrative that is framed through the expressive means of the participants

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that may or may not initiate offline action but remains a prominent way to challenge the social or political injustice. In Shaw’s (2012) perspective, this very quality defines the discursive activism as a separate and viable form of protest. Evaluation of the hashtags in terms of discursive activism therefore can expose the undervalued attributes of the digital movements and encourage the research in similar direction.

1.2 Research Questions

This research aims to challenge the clicktivist and slacktivist appreciation of hashtag activism, through the assessment of the hashtag’s narrative as a central predisposition for facilitation of the socio-cultural movement. This research aims to investigate how the sense of collectivity arises as a result of co-creation of the narrative over time. The central focus revolves around the question: how does understanding of the narratives grant the importance to the hashtag activism? Through the assessment of the separate sub-questions this research hopes to establish the implications of narrative structure and the translatability of the ‘story’ as the main determining factors in the assessment of its significance.

1. How is the narrative of the hashtag #MeToo framed over time?

By understanding the main conceptual blocks of the narrative over time, the research aims to assess the influential factors that constitute users understanding of the story. Specifically, the aim is to debark the changes in character and the presentation of the problem and to evaluate how the hashtag adopts to the changes and reinforces its persistence as part of the socio-cultural discourse.

2. How does the narrative enhance understanding of collectivity in hashtag activism? By assessing the association to and from the narrative, the research aims to portray the consciousness-building significance that is embedded within the hashtag activism. Through the analysis of the framing and the conceptualization of the problem, this study attempts to also expose how the narrative in term is capable of framing institutional agenda in turn. It specifically inquires how the hashtag activism alternates the collective identity within the established in Me Too Movement Organization to expose the deep affectionate character that the narrative possesses.

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7 1.3 Research Approach and Organization

This study builds on the previously conducted studies by academics such as Yang (2016), Siapera and others (2018), Dimond and others (2013) who acknowledge the agentic importance of narratives and further address the activist potential that is beheld within such construction with a potential for movement formation and organization. The research will first address the Theoretical Framework (Chapter II) within which the question is explored. It will introduce the concepts that are central to the discussion of the narrative agency and narrative construction within the socio-technical setting. It will also target the importance of the narratives to the socio-cultural building of the identity. Through the acknowledgements of the concepts such as socio-technical system, hybrid media, affective publics, mass media logic, collective identity the complexity of the digital narration is explored, and the networked framing processes are addressed. The primary focus is to understand the discursive activism and its socio-technical construction as the premise for effective and affective narration.

Then, the detailed Methodology section (Chapter III) will be reviewed to denote the methodological approach and the practical execution of the data analysis. Twitter, as a social media platform, does not only permit the collective co-creation of the narrative, but it also archives the process of the digital story-telling though the use of the platform metrics. The access to the data through the Digital Methods Initiative Twitter Capture and Analysis Toolset (DMI T-CAT), developed by Borra and Rieder (2014), enables understanding of the evolving nature of the conversation and the emerging narrative. By assessing the peak points, also referred to as the climactic points, the research constructs progression evident in the development of the plot over time. By addressing the studies conducted by Venturini and others (2017) to understand the potential of storytelling using networks and the Agent Network Theory (Latour 2005) to assemble the social, this thesis aims to expand our appreciation of the digital storytelling and narration within the context of issue mapping. The research will also address the traditional means of narration, by assessing the linguistic constructions that are evident using the most frequent words used in the narrative and the most influential messages in the form of the retweets. This initiative attempts to contextualize the findings and understand the popular framing of the narrative on Twitter, particularly through the references to the linguistic, cultural and external influences present or discussed. Then, the Case Study (Chapter IV) which will address individual elements of the research in the chronological order predetermined by the climactic points in the data set of the hashtag #MeToo. Based on the

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observations evident in the Case Study, the research will then observe the patterns of framing and significance of the in the wider context in the Discussion (Chapter V). The research will present the arguments that direct the significance of the narration and the observation of its translation into the other dimensions. Finally, the research significance, limitations and opportunities for future researchers are addressed in the Conclusion (Chapter VI).

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9 Chapter II – Literature Review

Through the appreciation of the previously conducted research around the topic of hashtag activism and hashtag movements, this chapter aims to position the narrative as the primary compositional element within the hashtag activism. The literature review helps to articulate the research gap that has been formed due to the overwhelming persistence of the offline mobilization as the defining factor in the evaluation of effect and significance behind this mode of protest. On the contrary to the evaluation of the aforementioned amplifying and organizational opportunities granted by the hashtag activism, this literature review will decompose the hashtag’s narrative as the articulation of the discursive activism (Shaw 2012), which according to Clark (2016) stands at the core of the social movement’s roots.

The structural elements of the narrative will be contextualized within the socio-technical composition of the narrative. Particularly, this chapter aims to expose the technicalities of the Twitter as a platform for generation and deduction of the narrative. Furthermore, the social contextualization of the social media platform will address the ideas of the affective publics proposed by Papacharissi (2016) and circulation of public opinion as the premise or the reaction-based response (Barisione et al 2017) embedded within the use of the hashtag. This part will culminate in understanding the social construction behind the technical aspects of the platform and the evidently adapted theory of the mass media logic.

To further debark the approach towards the hashtag activism as a viable form of protest with an outstanding expressive and consciousness-building significance, the attention will be shifted towards the issues of empowerment, participation and the formation of the collective identity. The research also turns to means behind theorizing the significance of the narratives in the context of hashtag activism. It will further regard these constructions on the basis of cultural aspects that are also evident in this branching of digital activism. Hence, this chapter is aimed at exploring the complexity of the questions imposed by this research while simultaneously presenting an opportunity for the operationalization of the research and navigation through the imposed complexities.

2.1 The Power of Hashtag Activism

Castells (2007) understands the communication to rear the political power within the social media platforms. In his view, “communication and information” (Castells 238) are essential in

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appreciating the developing communicative power derived from the hashtag movements. Thus, the opportunities for communication and association embedded within the social media platforms often are placed at the center of the academic attention, especially within the inquiry of hashtag activism. However, the concern typically addresses the organization of the narration, rather than the message that evolves through it. One of the most influential theories of the Connective Action, proposed by Bennett and Segerberg (2012), targets the network as a stipulation of communication. The fundamental focus of the theory is constructed around the understanding and theorizing the pattern of connectivity and the way it differs from the organizations that adhere to the traditional collective action. Whereby, the online protest evolves into “more personalized, digitally mediated collective action formations have frequently been larger; have scaled up more quickly; and have been flexible in tracking moving political targets and bridging different issues.” (Bennett and Segerberg 742)

The theorists, such as Dean (2003) and Bennett (2003), also attempt to address the complexity of network as an articulation of the public space. While both studies were conducted prior to shifting emphasis towards the user-generated input, the contestation of the public sphere remains relevant until today. Yet again, the theorization addresses the space as the location for engagement while attempting to equate it to the Habermesian understanding of the public sphere. Bennett (2003) turns to this concept as the concluding remark to expose the overlapping potential between communication and activism. He claims that “the rise of distributed electronic public spheres may ultimately become the model for public information in many areas of politics, whether establishment or oppositional” (Bennett 165). Dean (2003) urges to explore the ideological concept instead, as opposed to seek for literal enactment of the Habermesian public sphere. While Dean’s article will be referred in the later section of this chapter in more detail, it is necessary to grasp the ongoing emphasis on the opportunity for participation and the organization of the space at the center of the research. Consequently, it intensifies the “mobilization tradition of analysis of social movements” (Gerbaudo and Treré 866) that focus on the effectiveness of the hashtag movements, while undermining the affective quality of the construction. These notions are perceived as the translatable unit into the traditional offline activism, and particularly into the social movement theory.

On the contrary, Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) challenge the focus of the exclusively effective and measurable qualities of the hashtag activism. The researchers address that “it obscures the symbolic and cultural aspect inherent in social media activism and in protest communications more generally.” (Gerbaudo and Treré 865) The same concern is addressed in the work of

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Barisione and others (2017) formalize this issue as the “conceptual void” (2) in the field of digital activism. These statements address the fallacy behind the rigid theorization of the tactics, which undermine the expressive aspect that is inherent in the activism. Gerbaudo and Treré’s (2015) statement attempts to redefine the approach to the social movements theory by advocating “collective identity” (865) as a vital construction, which persists even in the online contexts. The researchers oppose the quick dismissal of the collective identity of the premises of the connective logic. Instead Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) aim to explore the affective character of the mobilization and the facilitation of the mutual sense of collectiveness. Poletta and Jasper (2001) argue that “since the mobilization does not always require preexisting collective identities, activists’ efforts to strategically “frame” identities are critical in recruiting participants” (291). Therefore, the expressive factors that dominate the discourse are crucial for understanding the origins, incentives for action, strategy and cultural interference (Poletta and Jasper 2001).

Moreover, the reviewal of the narrative formulated through the discursive activism feeds into the origin of the social movement theory. Indeed, “hashtag’s narrative logic—its ability to produce and connect individual stories—fuels its political growth” (Clark 789) and subsequently stimulates the “affect in political participation” (Shaw 41). Shaw’s (2012) understanding of the discursive activism stems from Fine (1992) who defines discursive activism as “speech or texts that seek to challenge opposing discourses by exposing power relations within these discourses, denaturalizing what appears natural” (Shaw 42). The reviewal of the collective identity on the premises of the discursive activism with an adoption the metaphoric understanding of the hashtag activism as the storytelling technique and facilitation of the narrative, permits to inquire within the proposed frames of the collectivity. As a result, the adoption of the narrative perspective enables to review the process of the storytelling as an act of activism in itself, while addressing the product of hashtag activism – the narrative as a building block within the collective identity with a real impact on the construction of the social movement.

2.2 The Socio-Technical Narration

The narratives are created and distributed through the complex socio-technical interplay which defines its digital nature. Niederer and van Dijck (2010) address the understanding of the sociotechnical system as “the intricate collaboration between human users and automated content agents” (1368). However, when speculating the topic of the repertoire of action, this

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assumption can be extended to the logic in narration: that which is driven by the direct affordances of the platform and that which results from through the social interpretations of the technical set of actions. Papacharissi’s (2012) commitment to the “performative props” (1992) in the article “Without You, I’m Nothing: Performances of the Self of Twitter” suggest that the technicality of the platform presents a crucial factor in the structure and distribution of the stories. It mirrors the theory proposed by the American psychologist James Jerome Gibson (1979) who initiated the term affordances.

The theory is built on the idea that “the affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill” (Gibson 127). Thus, the opportunity for building the collective identity and action frame stems from the “social relationships [that] are formed within the context of a pre-existing habitus of practices.” (Papacharissi 1991) The understanding of the furnishing equips the animal with the necessary tools for utilization of the physical context (Gibson 1979), such as one created through Twitter. boyd (2010) further builds on this statement by exposing that the “architecture shapes and is shaped by the practice in mediated environments just as physical spaces” (58) which further denotes the nature of the socio-technical relationship in the construction of the narratives. It parallels the suggestion that there is a “complementary of the animal and the environment” (Gibson 127). Hence, the technical features permit certain range of activities; however, the interpretation of those functions stems also from their social enactment. This, in turn provides a more sophisticated repertoire of actions, that may have been permitted but not necessarily deliberately purposed through the technological design. Papacharissi (2016) also refers to this potential as the “understanding social media as structures of feeling, as soft structure of storytelling, [which] permits us to examine them as soft structures of meaning-making practices that may be revolutionary” (15). The emphasis on the “soft” structures mirrors the extent to which the technical composition is mended with the social application.

Researchers such as Yang (2016) argue that Twitter’s technical design formulates the discursive appreciation of the hashtag activism. Primarily, the research focuses on the creation of the time frames embedded within the social media platform. The sequencing of the tweets mirrors the convention that the “narrative form accounts for the progression from beginning through middle to an end” (Yang 13). Applying Yang’s literary hypothesis on the case study can therefore derive the plot within the narrative formed through hashtag activism. Clark (2016) further justifies this observation through the application of “three stages of McFanrland’s Turner-inspired model of analysing the dramatic qualities of collective action –

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breach, crisis and re-integration – [which] parallel the plot elements of beginning, middle and end.” (793) Papacharissi (2012) highlights that the temporal sequencing resembles the storytelling within which the user seeks for his or her own place. The author refers to this phenomenon as “saturating the self” (Papacharissi 1992) whereby the performativity of entering the narration is pre-assumed through the construction of the plot.

However, it is not only the structural affordances that are exhibited through the hashtag activism on Twitter. As argued by Milan (2015) hashtag activism is driven by the “personalized yet universal narratives: this hashtag-style collective narrative is flexible real time, and crowd controlled.” (6) Through the permission of the indexing of the user-generated input in the form of Tweets, the narrative develops through different points of entry. Papacharissi (2016) addresses this technological phenomenon as the personalization of the narrative, which inevitably leads to the facilitation of the “story of stories” (10) as part of the narrative’s composition. Additionally, the composition is not centralized as denoted by Bennett and Segerberg (2012), rather it is enhanced through popularity and the dissemination of the messages. The horizontalizm and low barriers of entry prevent the controlled development of the story due to the lack of strong hierarchical structure. The “real time” (Milan 6) aspect addressed here, also denotes the potential offline-inspired framing that may come into the interplay when evaluating the compositional elements of the narrative. The situatedness of the hashtag in here and now exposes its ability to address those changes instantly, if the users have an incentive to do so. In that sense, the narrative is not only personalized, but is “crowd controlled.” (Milan 6)

Even the structural marker itself becomes a frame of reference within the storytelling evident on Twitter. Papacharissi (2016) argues that the structural marker of the hashtag is not an empty signifier, but the enactment of the structural and symbolic process. Considering such observation in the case of the hashtag #MeToo, the linguistic element presupposes certain actions of the hashtag through the combination of words. While the phrase does not accentuate the scandal which has sparked the use of the hashtag, it denotes an element of solidarity, appropriation and association that are carried within the phrase. Barisione and others (2017) also highlight that “using a hashtag can be seen as an explicit attempt to address an imagined community of users” (4). Therefore, there is socio-technical interplay evident in the hashtag activism, whereby the function is combined with the social implication to unite the users around the issue or topic. Simultaneously, the use of the structural marker is seen as an invitation for co-creation and the framing of in-groupness through its adoption.

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14 2.3 Affective Publics

Still, reviewing the socio-technically enhanced affordances of the platform fails to elaborate on the conditions that are influencing the construction and the content of the narrative. Building on the affective scope introduced earlier in this chapter, it is necessary to further build on the social setting within which the hashtag activism develops. Papacharissi’s (2016) claim about the “soft structure of storytelling” (15) emphasizes the flexible character of the narration that can be enacted through the story. While it builds on the programmability of the platform, it also ensures the opportunity for re-interpretation. Many researchers have addressed the potential of the Internet and social media to offer publicness to the debates, controversies and social issues. The ability to contest issues has lead to the adaptation of the Habermasian construction of the public sphere within the debates. The visibility permits problematization of discourse without localizing it through the organization or individual; it carries the connotation as a problem for all (Baer 2015). Baer’s (2015) understanding of the construction stems from the elevated opportunity for the users to join the conversation.

On the other hand, Jodi Dean (2003) argues that the absolution of the public sphere model is inapplicable to the online realm. While the formation of network may incorporate public-like elements embedded such as “common concern, matters that are contested and about which it seems necessary to reach a consensus” (Dean 95), the platforms and the discourses retain “exclusionary dimensions” (Dean 96) that challenge the taken for granted entry homogeneity in Baer’s (2015) arguments. Indeed, even when the users have the opportunity to enter, their active presence and visibility is not guaranteed on the premises of the network. According to the study conducted by Hunt (2016) the participants of the digital movements often have different self-reflection on the participatory mode: some participants have referred to themselves as “shadow” (115), while others considered themselves “messengers” (115). The finding of this study “indicated the powerlessness each activist felt within her own respective network” (Hunt 115), thereby exposing the matter of self-reflection when analysing the space inhibited by the users. In Dean’s (2003) perspective the different extent and ability to participate in the network constitutes the primary idea of a group. By definition, a group implies selectivity and there does not conform to the Habermasian understanding of public. Indeed, Dean’s (2003) observation concludes that the in-group dynamic can be regarded as the collectives that are driven by interest. Thus, the technical infrastructure cannot account for user

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dynamics that function not in the open and homogenous fashion but remain a subject to social selection.

Also, Dean (2003) proposes that the idea of public is treated as an abstract concept open to critique and opposition, as its ideology is useful in formulating the appreciation for the technical design and social adaptation. Understanding the Internet as a “zero-institution” (105), encapsulates the opportunity for the affective framing. It provides the “paradoxical combination of singularity and collectivity, collision and convergence. It brings people together both the unity and the split, both the hope and the antagonism, the imaginary and the real in one site” (Dean 106). Papacharissi (2016) further transformed the understanding of the one-space-for-all. Through her introduction to the affective publics, that refer to “public formations” (Papacharissi 4), she addresses the content that is “affective in nature” (Papacharissi 4). The affective publics retain the political character proposed through the traditional understanding of the public sphere, but they simultaneously expose the motivation to participation, creative input and initiate an additional structural element to the narration as a result (Papacharissi 2016).

Barisione, Michailidou and Airoldi (2017) further attempt to build on the framework by introducing the Digital Movement of Opinion (DMO) framework. As claimed, the “DMO is best represented as a quasi-instant reaction to an event with a very high salience in the global media environment” (Barisione et al 4). The framework highlights the inescapable force of public opinion which is integrated using hashtag activism, however the researchers deny its applicability within the hashtags that shape themselves as the social movements. Yet, understanding the framework as the as the premise for the users to “react” (Barisione et al 2), exposes the different appropriation of the social media platform. In other words, the affective publics permit the “expressive” (Gerbaudo and Treré 865) logic, even if it self-conceptualizes as a movement. Milan’s (2015) commentary that the “experiential” (6) element permits formation of the collective identity, therefore the centrality is further denoted in the affective transmission and understanding of the narrative. While the case study cannot adhere to the DMO framework, it extends the understanding of the social media functions and incentives for user participation, which will be further elaborated later in this chapter.

2.4 Mass Media Logic and the Narrative Implications

Perception of the narrative cannot be only regarded through its affective framing and socio-technical implications. Couldry (2008) understands the digital storytelling as the incorporation

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of digital formats in the delivery of the narrative. The theorist suggests that the digital storytelling needs to be perceived as the mediatization whereby “certain consistent patters and logics” (Couldry 381) affect the process. The design of the platform itself mirrors and integrates these, which in turn guide the distribution of the narrative and exercises control over the narrative formation. Similarly, the work of van Dijck and Poell (2013) reflects that the control over the narrative is not exclusively “crowd-controlled” (Milan 6), as it has been proposed earlier, but incorporates strong influences from the mass media logic. While it is evident that the certain degree of performativity and visibility is insinuated through the users themselves, the design of the platform pre-determines the value of each individual user through the metric system used within Twitter.

Primarily, van Dijck and Poell’s (2013) argument is based on the observations that the “platform’s metrics are increasingly accepted as legitimate standards to measure and rank people and ideas; these rankings are then amplified through mass media and in turn reinforced by users through social buttons such as following and liking.” (7) Undoubtedly, the statement curates the extent to which the social standing, influence and power are translated into the digital space, and in turn prioritize and highlight elements of the story, rather than being driven by the logic of horizontalizm and low-barriers of entry. Van Dijck and Poell’s (2013) observation is the exposition of the lack of homogeneity which has been spoken earlier in this chapter. The mass media logic embedded within the design of Twitter is one of the most observable obstacles to the utopian appreciation of the generation power. While Castells (2007) argues that the “media is the space for power making, not the source of power holding” (244), there is an element of the pre-decided social influence which gives priority to certain messages over others. Van Dijck and Poell (2013) thus justify the mediation of content using “likeable people” (7) or “superusers” (7), which constricts the co-editing ability of the narrative in hashtag activism.

Stefania Milan (2015), on the other hand, challenges the absolution of the mass media logic in the reviewal of the narrative creation and distribution, on the premises that the user-engagement may challenge the domination of the narrative by the “superusers” (van Dijck and Poell 7). There is a need to acknowledge the multiplicity of influences over the narrative, which this research attempts to recognise through this chapter. However, in reviewing the case of the hashtag #MeToo, the mass media logic cannot be ignored due to the initiation of the movement by an actress and an activism Alyssa Milano and the rooting of the Weinstein scandal in the traditional media. The work of Papacharissi and De Fatima Oliveira (2012) is also sensitive to

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the issue of the entanglement of the traditional media through the general principals of the mass media logic. According to their study, the narrative embedded in the hashtag activism often resembles the “dominant news story.” (Papacharissi and De Fatima Oliveira 274)

Nevertheless, the implications for distribution of the narrative through Twitter need to be considered and assessed. Primarily, the “stories are differently intelligible, useful, and authoritative depending on who tells them, when, for what purpose, and in what setting” (Polletta 3). Freedman (2017) problematizes the capability of the traditional media to adequately represent the social issue and struggle. Indeed, the researcher is convinced that due to the existent constraints imposed through the governing of the traditional media “we cannot rely on the mainstream media to cover our struggles, indeed to represent our lives as they are lived” (Freedman 126). Rosen’s (2006) adaptation of the metaphor of the passengers “who got a boat of their own” (Rosen n.p.) implies the freeing quality the alternative news channels possess. Returning to the statement earlier addressed by Freedman, the freedom implied through the opposition of mainstream media is derived from the self-representation, authenticity and self-curation of the narrative in the absence of the middlemen such as journalists, editors and sponsors. Instead, the alternation of the medium “makes the form trustworthy” (Polletta 26), whereby the medium becomes a crucial part of the message. These observations also direct a plausible amount of agency in the hands of the storytellers. In other words, the ability to determine the content represents the potential to exercise one’s own agency over the problematization of the concept.

2.5 Participation and Empowerment of Women

Evidently, the definition of agency is not homogenous within the network, due to the blurry definition of the participation in hashtag activism and lack of the formalization of what it entails. The proposition that the public opinion needs to be regarded within the hashtag activism as a vital component (Barisione et al 2017) already pre-determines the need to reassess the issue of participation. In other words, the use of the platform cannot be simply encapsulated by formalization of the users as the activists. Similarly, Julia Schuster (2017) imposes a distinction between a feminist and an activist in her study. The phenomenon is not exclusive to the digital realm and hashtag activism. Schuster (2017) observes that the offline protests and demonstrations also need to re-address the driving force behind participation. Consequently, the modes of hashtag activists cannot be “reduced to either one of these established forms of participation.” (Barisione et al 15) Alternatively, the adaptation of the narrative as a frame of

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reference avoids the inconsistency of participation to the common denominator of storytelling, other than prescribing labels to the users. As Poletta (2006) assesses through the diversion of the focus towards the narrative and the framing involved in the issue formation one can elaborate on the collective attempt to reconfigure or resolve the social condition, regardless of their self-conceptualization as a feminist, activist, or user.

However, the participation in the hashtag activism remains one of the dominant predispositions in the empowerment of women. Traditionally, the stories about social struggles are “intended to encourage individuals with similar experiences and to let them know they are not alone” (Schuster 655). The quantity which defines the visibility of the discourse on Twitter, yields visibility to the issues that may not be actively discussed in public. Clark (2016) observes the extent to which based on this premise the societal taboos are challenged. Similarly, Baer (2015) argues that “using the digital to make visible the global scarce of gender oppression and to link feminist protest movements across national borders, these actions exemplify central aspects of digital feminism today.” (18) By vocalizing the uncomfortable and unspoken struggles, women often attempt to provide the element of comfort and reassurance, as well as provide the precedent to speak against the social condition experienced. The organizations that deal with the cases of sexual misconduct often highlight the importance of demolishing the impression of solitude experienced by the victims. The studies have shown that through the act of narrating, the victims are able to deliberate and reclaim their power. Indeed, a common denominator in these stories was challenging the position of the victim: the narratives curate the victim emerging “from powerlessness and passivity to insight, enlightenment, and self-deliberation” (Polletta 16). The researcher addresses this moment as transcendence over the victimhood, which points out the way in which the power is regained from the act of narrating. Additionally, the assumption that those who have experienced the traumatic condition obtain the “knowledge that is superior” (Polletta 29) further feeds into the trustworthiness of the narrative. These stories also heighten the potential of the story be reviewed “as widespread and as persuasive” (Polletta 136). Thus, the discursive and narration space provided by social media platforms such as Twitter, may initiate regaining of the power by those who have previously felt powerless or unheard.

Indeed, the construction of the narrative through hashtag activism permits the “successful feminist hashtag [to] become enduring frames of reference for interpreting and responding to current and future social phenomena” (Clark 801). Therefore, the narrative in the feminist studies encapsulates not only the potential for dynamic co-creation of the story, but it is also

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utilized as an independent entity that can be translated and used in the future. Clark (2016) is convinced that the de-formalization of organizational structure and lack of direction of the conversation motivate women to join the conversation. Schuster (2017) further coincides the absence of the organizational control to the struggle between the second and third waves of feminism. While the earlier evokes the idea of formal organization and a strong sense of the collective identity, the latter argues that the personal initiates the political. Thus, the feminism saw a shift of attention to the private relationships and personal experiences, as opposed to controlled and rigid forms of participation. Yet, in the reviewing of the narrative logic in hashtag activism, the digital feminism encapsulates elements of the both waves and challenges their mutual exclusivity.

2.7 Framing a Collective Identity

As a result, the social media becomes the space for building the collective identity through the same narrational affordances that enable low barrier of entry as opposed to the formal organizations. As outlined by Polletta (2006) narrative enables “to generate the political analysis of their [women’s] oppression that was the first step to collective action.” (116-117) Alberto Melucci (2003) identifies collective identity as “an interactive and shared definition produced by several individuals … and concerned with the orientations of action and the field of opportunities and constraints in which the action takes place.” (44) In the researcher’s opinion, the collective identity is derived from the “cognitive definitions” (Melucci 44), “active relationships” (Melucci 45) and “emotional investment” (Melucci 45). However, the final product is the result of the constant negotiation of the variables to produce a community with a distinct sense of in-groupness. Understanding the collective in terms of the narrative permits to view the ongoing conflict of negotiations and to explore the formation of the value systems which is addressed in social movement theory (Dimond et al n.p.). Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) actively regard the expressive affordances of the platform as the building block for the collective identity. Their emphasis on the narrative as the means of building of identity is insinuated through the “symbolic and cultural aspect” (Gerbaudo and Treré 866) that is employed in hashtag activism. The symbolism (Polletta 2006, Milan 2015) of the narrative addresses the potential for negotiating or framing the scope of issue formation. It also evokes the principal means for sustaining “groups as they fight for reform, helping them build the collective identities, link current actions to heroic pasts and glorious futures, and restyle setbacks as stations to victory.” (Polletta 3) Polletta’s (2006) statement mirrors Papacharissi’s

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(2016) outlook on the soft structures of the social media in which the mediation and self-definition takes place.

Unlike the study of Bennett and Segerberg (2012), the collective identity cannot be simply encapsulated through the logic of connective action and weak-tie relationships. As argued by Milan (2015) the assumption of the automatic, pre-set unity amongst the users cannot encapsulate the formation of the social force. The “personalized and collective narratives” (Milan 1) should be addressed in the understanding of the collective identity and used to understand the repertoire of the collective action. In line with Milan’s (2015) understanding, other researchers have expressed that the collective action should be reviewed as “a set of communication process, involving the crossing of boundaries between private and public life” (Bimber et al 367). The mediation of these boundaries adds to the “experiential” (Milan 6) quality that is embedded in the collective identity. Brown (2006) also claims that the understanding of the narrative is not an assessment of the fiction, as it is often perceived by the researchers, but an inquiry into the “complex, and often fragmented, but suffused with power” (Brown 746) stories that govern both the meaning and the structure.

One of principal ways into looking at the narrative is through the theory of frames. As claimed by Benford and Snow (2000) the frames are the result of the continuous meaning negotiation that takes place in a social movement. Hence, “frames help individuals to interpret individual experiences and guide to action” (Dimond et al n.p.) and thereby constitute an important element in the collective identity and its maintenance over time. In the crowd-sourced environment, however, these frames arise due to the participants imposing certain conditions for interpretation. As pointed out by Benford and Snow (2000), these frames provide an opportunity to simplify “the world out there” (614) and thus provide the necessary elements for understanding the conditions for a social problem. However, the frames are not the static element of reference, as they exist within the “socio-cultural context in which they are embedded” (Benford and Snow 628). Thus, Dimond and others (2013) refer to the opportunity of “frame extension” (n.p.) which further engages with the correlating issues within the formation of a collective. Particularly, the authors observed that “the experience of street harassment” (Dimond et al n.p.) have been coincided “with a greater frame of not being able to participate in public space and the position of women in society in general.” (Dimond et al n.p.) Benford and Snow (2000) also refer to the diagnostic and boundary framing that specifically address the formulation of the issue and “delineate the boundaries between “good” and “evil” and construct movement protagonists and antagonists” (616) respectively.

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Therefore, the important aspect of the formulated narrative is the extent to which the formation becomes a “collective representation of “who we are”” (Milan 6). The vitality behind the imposed frames in the building of the narrative is also derived in ‘who we are not’, through the formulation of the inclusiveness and exclusiveness of the narrative.

2.8 Application of the Narratives

The social and cultural significance of the narratives cannot be understood by addressing Twitter as the space for narrative-building or exclusively inquiring the organization of the narrative. It is also important to review several factors that solidify the persistence of the narrative as part of the cultural agenda. The framework proposed by Couldry (2008), which is based on Wuthnow’s arguments, is applied for understanding the narrative’s affective quality and elements that ensure that the story persists and continues to circulate. Couldry (2008) understands Wuthnow’s arguments as the value system within which the digital storytelling is integrated within the wider discourse to increase its endurance. The researcher deliberately appropriates the earlier argument to suit the context of the twenty-first century and the quick transformation of the digital space.

The first measure relates to the institutionalization within the digital storytelling. It goes beyond the scope of the understanding the functionality of the narrative, but also includes the role of the narrator or who is now in control of the story. Secondly, Couldry (2008) highlights the importance of the different “resources and agents” (385) that are interacting in the formation of the digital storytelling. As stated by Bennett (2003) “application of the Internet and other digital media may also affect the internal development of organizations themselves” (159). Therefore, one of the potential ways of exposing the significance of the collective narrative is through reviewing its adaptation in the organizations which are linked to the hashtag in question. The case study of the hashtag #MeToo presents an ideal opportunity to review the integration and re-adaptation of the narrative in the other circumstances which heighten its social impact and applicability. Thirdly, the researcher addresses the potential for “new circuits for the distribution of digital stories” (Couldry 385), which in other words identifies the extent to which the story can be translated in under other social or technical conditions. Lastly, he focuses on the links that are formed to “other fields of practice – education, civic activism, mainstream media production, popular culture generally and politics.” (Couldry 385)

While the proposed framework ignores the individual motivations as part of the narrative’s significance, it insinuates that the narrative’s organization is one of the primary elements for

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deducing the potential significance that it holds in the socio-cultural context. Furthermore, the proposed questions inquire the ability of the narrative-building being able to compose a compelling plot or a story that can in turn be re-applied in different contexts. While Couldry (2008) does not provide an exhaustive clarification or measurement of the narrative’s importance, it highlights the domains by which one can address the consciousness-building and affective significance of the mediation and mediatization of story. Therefore, this framework will be utilized and addressed in the later chapters to debark on how the hashtag movement constitutes a significant element in the social movement theory.

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This chapter aims to elaborate upon the practical means of operationalization behind the questions that are imposed in this research. The complexities exposed in Chapter II elevate the need for careful understanding of the formations and the signals that they intend. The first section of this chapter will debark the understanding of the issue mapping in the context of understanding narratives, as both socio-technical and socio-cultural objects. By consulting the works of Latour (2005), Venturini and others (2018), Marres and Weltevrede (2013), Rogers (2013), this study aims to justify the adoption of the issue mapping as an approach for re-narration of the “story of stories” (Papacharissi 10) that are derived from hashtag activism. The tentative attention will be given to the issues of how collection of data through Twitter may enhance and challenge understanding of the narrative and framing tactics that are ongoing and real-time based in Twitter.

The second part of this methodology will link the opportunities of digital cartography and issue mapping to the practical means of understanding the narratives within the boundaries of questions that have been proposed by Couldry (2008). This will further clarify the ability of the individual measures to contribute to the assessment of the narrative structure and the socio-cultural significance of the narrative. By establishing gaps in the study, this chapter will then attempt to readdress the opportunity to utilize other initiatives, such as the Web Archive. Overall, the aim of this methodological approach is to deliberately expose the questions that can be answered by adopting the narrative as not only the metaphor for the construction formed through the hashtag activism, but also as an analytical tool that can be re-constructed and traced.

3.1 Digital Cartography and Issue Mapping

Twitter as a platform performs triple function for understanding hashtag movements and collectivity on the premises of the analytical tool of narratives. Firstly, the socio-technical design permits construction of narratives. It inevitably proposes a set of affordances to the users which permit creative and deliberate co-creation of the thematic story as reviewed in the earlier chapter. Secondly, it represents the story to the wider audience through the means of algorithmic channeling and therefore positions itself as a distribution tool for the narrative. Thirdly, and more importantly within the scope of this research, it permits the re-narration of the narrative on the premises of data collection. The individual input is formatted to construct

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often extensive and lengthy account of the way that the narrative is formulated by addressing crucial information that can be used in the social studies. Indeed, Twitter as a platform represents an opportunity for “traceability of collective actions” (Venturini et al 2) and “the advent of digital media has increased the quantity and variety of the traces” (Venturini et al 2) which encouraged the development of the digitally enhanced social studies.

Venturini and others (2018) expose that the incorporation of digital methods is only possible when “the investigated phenomenon must be to some extent performed or, at least, reflected in such platforms.” (4) In other words, the incorporation of digital methods to study the social is not a predisposition for all the social movements and phenomena; it is a result of the deliberate inclusion of the digital means in the act of activism itself. In this way, the hashtag #MeToo represents an ideal object of study to be reviewed in the light of the computational turn which is evident amongst the researchers in the last decade (Venturini et al 2018, Marres and Weltevrede 2013). Rogers (2013) emphasizes the distinction between “the natively digital and the digitized” (19) content which appears on the Web. Understanding hashtag activism as the extension of the discursive activism derives from its natively digital character, whereby the entity is formed within its own socio-technical environment. In the light of this statement, the activist issue is not translated to the social media platform, but instead it is the native space for the mediation and contestation of the issue. As a result, incorporation of the digital methods permits to encapsulate the “online groundedness” (Rogers 23) of the narrative within the research.

Due to the focus on the construction and framing of the social-cultural narrative investigating the dynamics and practices of the hashtag activism are central to this research. Venturini (2010) argues that “the cartography of controversies is the exercise of crafting devices to observe and describe social debate.” (258) Venturini’s (2010) work is largely based on Latourian perception that the observation of the digital space is based upon fallacy of the sociologists to prioritize offline contextualization, rather than active assessment of the data itself. Latour (2005) highlights the extent to which the broad notions are used “straight ahead to connect vast arrays of life and history” (22). Renzi and Langlois (2015) point out that Latourian understanding of the digital cartography is applicable when using big data in the research practices. It permits often elaborate ways of descriptive, rather than prescriptive approaches towards the issue formations.

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On the other hand, understanding the essentialism behind the drive towards limiting the scope of contextualization proposed by Latour (2005), is not holistically evident throughout this research. This research agrees that the lack of ties to the context should be applicable in the way that the data is collected; whereby, the effect of data discrimination and selectiveness through the means of scraping is limited, as pointed out in the research conducted by Marres and Weltevrede (2013). Furthermore, addressing possible offline presuppositions in data collection may elevate the element of bias and prevent the data from acquiring the central position within the research. Directing the data to support the narrative is therefore inefficient and disbalanced way of assessing the findings. Thus, the data collection and primary ordering of the data should resemble the metaphor adapted by Latour (2005), where the researcher attempts to outline the “foreign coast” (23), as opposed to the drive to furnish the surroundings using the selective data. The processing of this data should be therefore done without the imposition of prior expectation or result that must be achieved.

On the other hand, the researcher’s argument that “the task of defining and ordering the social should be left to the actors themselves” (Latour 23) opposes the observational scope of this research. As Venturini (2010) problematizes the practice of “just observing” (263) that “doesn’t promise anything other than complications and difficulties.” (263) Instead, the emphasis should be placed on actor-networks, where the new network can redefine the pre-existent networks, through the new formation, consequently “redefining the identity of actors” (Venturini 264). Principally, due to the conviction that the hashtag activism functions within the socio-technical system, where both social and technical aspects come into play, the post-data-collection contextualization presents a necessary and crucial step in the later analysis of the data. It helps deducing the social and cultural aspect and influences that serve as clarifications for network formation and understanding its localization within the setting of the offline debates. Rogers (2013) also highlights the importance of this distinction by pointing out that the digital and the analogue do not exist in isolation. The adoption of the narrative as an analytic tool points to the necessity of both appreciating the narrative formation as an independent entity, and simultaneously as socio-culturally mediated construction.

3.2 Quality versus Quantity of Data

The techniques of the issue mapping have been developed for “making sense of the issues, and communicating them” (Rogers et al 9) thereby making the issue mapping an ideal approach towards the narrative formations. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, it is based on the

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technical predisposition of the digitally operated platforms and websites to gather the large amounts of data, which are often referred to as Big Data. In turn, the job of the analyst revolves around an attempt to organize the little bits and bytes into a coherent narrative. According to Marres and Weltevrede (2013) “it enables a form of ‘live’ social research, in which the formats and life-cycles of online data may lend structure to the analytic objects and findings of social research” (313) thus enabling practical realization of the social research. The scraping of the data has permitted to address “the increasing valorization of instantaneity and liveliness, the drive towards the condensation of the past, present and future in the digital networked media, and the conjuring up of an ‘eternal now’ in this context.” (Marres and Weltevrede 325) Indeed, when reviewing the formation of the narrative over time, the liveliness permits to distinguish the changes within the narrative formation and present comparative issue mapping of the same issue over time.

Yet, simultaneously the researchers propose a viable question in data analysis: “scraping is usually described as a technique for data collection, but isn’t this scraper also analyzing data?” (Marres and Weltevrede 316) Gilterman’s (2013) statement that “raw data is an oxymoron” embedded in the title of the book is extremely important in understanding the pre-determined function of scraping and sorting the data, prior to the analysts own layer of analysis to further encapsulate and contextualize the scope of the information gathered. The current analysis is both enhanced and limited through the standardization of the data collection practices and the pre-defined measures on what it is that will be collected. When dealing with the data collected from the social platforms, one must keep in mind that the infrastructural design of the platform is directing the elements of data that are retrieved. For example, while the data such as user names, hashtags, tweets and sources are easily extractable, other dimensions such as geographical location are not prioritized, which results in the incomplete data set. Twitter’s API further produces levels of restrictions for the collection of data, thereby highlighting the importance of the scrapers and data market in understanding of the digital sociology. In Latourian sense, Twitter should be reviewed as a “mediator [that can] transform, translate, distort, and modify the meaning or elements they are supposed to carry.” (Latour 39) Furthermore, using different digital tools may permit access to different varieties of the information. The scraping tool, therefore, is another gate-keeper that further preprocesses the segments of data that are collected and can be analyzed.

Additionally, the Big Data itself proposes often a problematic scope for the social researchers and data analysts. As pointed out by Venturini and others (2018) “exhaustiveness is a false

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ideal in digital research – not only because there are just too many digital traces out there for researchers to hope to seize them all but also – and more importantly – because extending one’s coverage may produce more noise than signal” (16). Rogers (2013) similarly upholds Venturini and others’ (2018) commentary that there is often a quantity versus quality debate in data analysis. The extensive quantity does not always guarantee the quality of the data which is accessed. Therefore, when accessing the Big Data it is necessary to prioritize certain elements over the others in an attempt to direct the research and make it feasible. To establish the assessment of signals rather than noise in the narration of the hashtag #MeToo, the research will focus on the peak periods in which the climactic points of the narration are evident. Furthermore, the data collected will also be minimized on the premises of heightened co-occurrence to enable generation of traits, rather than expose the holistic picture of all narrational aspects. As a result, the data reviewed in the Case Study (see Chapter IV) is not Big Data, but rather its sample, that can be addressed as the medium-sized data.

3.3 Digital Tools and Operationalization

3.3.1 DMI T-CAT

For the purposes of the operationalization of the issue mapping in the context of the #MeToo, Digital Methods Initiative’s Twitter Capture and Analysis Toolset (DMI T-CAT) developed by Eric Borra and Bernhard Rieder (2014) is utilized, as opposed to the use of the commercial data collectors. As stated by the developers, it is “an open-source, freely available data capture, and analysis platform for the Twitter micro blogging service.” (Borra and Rieder 263) The DMI T-CAT tool allows access to the data-sets that are collected through the hashtag(s) or user(s). The data-set “metoo” is used in this research; it is collected through the scraping of the #MeToo specifically and it has gathered over 7 million tweets at the time of operationalization of the research. While #MeToo has spread to other platforms, only Twitter’s data is retrieved to narrate the framing of the story and the consequent implication on the collective identity. Symbolically, the platform has been the starting point of the movements. In addition, independent of the follower and followee dynamic, the analysis of the hashtag use on Twitter enables the correlation of an open and horizontal entering points in the narrative. Unlike other platforms, such as Facebook, the network created on Twitter through the use of hashtags is less formal (Borra and Rieder 2014). While Facebook permits adoption of ‘open’ groups that do not require high levels of formality in joining the group, there is a more evident hierarchy of

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human actors such as the creators of the page or moderators who often formalize the scope of the group through the description.

The starting point for the scraping and creation of the data-set is 18th of October 2017, which is three days after the hashtag #MeToo was adopted. The gap does not necessarily impose a problem on the operationalization of the research, as it has been described earlier in this chapter, rather than using the big data concept, this research will attempt to sample the climactic points of the data-set instead. The climactic points were deduced from the start of the dataset until 17 of April 2018, the date when the research was taking place. Therefore, the starting point still manages to capture the first peak in the data set, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Overview of the MeToo Data-set. Captured 17.04.2018. Source: DMI T-CAT

Adopting the Latourian approach, the important peaks in the formation of the narrative are deduces from the overview of the data-set (Figure 1), rather than through the selection of the specific dates that have been addressed in media as the climactic points for the movement. Subsequently, the course of the hashtag narrative was divided into four different time slots by addressing the peaks that reached over 120,000 tweets. The individual time periods are presented in the following Table 1.

Table 1: Sample of the Data-set

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 18 October 2017 – 21 October 2017 5 December 2017 – 8 December 2017 7 January 2018 – 10 January 2018 8 March 2018 – 11 March 2018

Narrative as the Heart of Hashtag Activism: the Case Study of #MeToo

Narrative as the Heart of Hashtag Activism:

the Case Study of #MeToo

Table of Contents