ABSTRACT
This paper delves into the power of ‘hashtag activism’, in enhancing the global awareness and accessible conversation generated by online social activist campaigns. Often disregarded as “slacktivism”, in which a lot of energy is put into drawing attention to a cause but the significant impact made is dismal, this paper aims reveal how hashtag activism has successfully inspired and empowered positive changes both on and offline through the exploration of examples such as #MeToo, #TimesUp and #BlackLivesMatter.
The use of hashtags to promote social movements on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram has strengthened the power of online activism through rapid generations of global awareness and accessible conversation. Originally intended to be used purely as a form of folksonomy that aided searches for conversations of interest on social networking sites, hashtags have cemented themselves over the past decade as one of the most essential tools in online communications (Salazar, 2017). In recent years, hashtags have facilitated a huge increase in online social campaigning by enabling an international exchange of news, information and awareness regarding topical examples of social injustices (Xiong, Cho & Boatwright, 2019) through what is now referred to as ‘hashtag activism’. So, what exactly is hashtag activism? Tombleson and Wolf (2017) describe it as “the act of fighting for or supporting a cause with the use of hashtags as primary channel to raise awareness of an issue and encourage debate via social media”. Building upon this, the use of hashtags as a tool for social activism aims to break down geographical barriers (Xiong, Cho & Boatwright, 2019) and connect people with similar passions, situations or hardships (Olsen, 2016), often in relation to the rights and wellbeing of different genders, sexualities, races and religions. In doing this, hashtag activism heightens the achievable strength and success of online social campaigns by ensuring accessibility and awareness on a global scale.
Perhaps the most prominent examples of hashtag activism in recent times, ‘#MeToo’ acts as a clear illustration of the ways in which Web 2.0 technologies such as hashtags create a participatory culture (Tombleson & Wolf, 2017) that strengthens activist campaigns’ ability to form vast networks of support by initiating a global conversation (Olsen, 2016). The original ‘Me Too’ movement was founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke to “help survivors of sexual violence find pathways to healing” (Me Too Movement, n.d). Taking a jump forward to 2017, the campaign was then catapulted into the public sphere by actress Alyssa Milano (2017) when she tweeted “If you’ve ever been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet” in an attempt to give magnitude to sexual violence and harassment as a global issue. Milano’s call out gained millions of online shares and responses from a diverse range of survivors, including many large name celebrities, as well as supporters commending the survivors on their bravery for sharing. The overwhelming response to this tweet across a variety of platforms, and the global spotlight it received as a result, reveals the undeniable power of the hashtag’s ability to encourage users to actively contribute and communicate rather than passively consume (Clark, 2015). The spurred #WhyWeWearBlack movement, a hashtag used to promote celebrities wearing all black to the 75th Annual Golden Globes in protest of sexual harassment, is a clear example of how a hashtag campaign like #MeToo can inspire new relationships and even stimulate impactful offline action. As an illustration of how hashtags can be used across a range of social networking sites as a tool for connecting and empowering a group of otherwise unconnected people, #MeToo reveals that the significance of Web 2.0 technologies lies within the participatory culture they enable (Tombleson & Wolf, 2017). According to Rodino-Colocino (2018) the purpose of the #MeToo movement was, and is, to inspire empowerment through empathy. The #MeToo hashtag achieves this through its creation of a safe space that promotes listening and self-reflexivity (Rodino-Colocino, 2018) by not only encouraging people to share their experiences and opinions with their friends for support but also allowing them to contribute as part of a global conversation that is focused on making positive change. Though the #MeToo movement gained its initial online traction through posts by high profile individuals, such as the previously noted tweet by Alyssa Milano (2017), its global success and rapid fire spread into the mainstream conversation is considered an example of what Hill (2013) refers to as ‘networked horizontalism’. This term refers to the working patterns of non-hierarchical online movements that bring individuals and groups together without any organised leadership or hierarchal authority (Hill, 2013). Milano may have lit the initial sparks for #MeToo, however she did not take it upon herself to ensure the hashtag was picked up globally. This occurred organically through the public nature of hashtags in combination with the participatory culture of social networking, exemplifying the power they hold together for online social activist campaigns.
Use of the #TimesUp hashtag, as well as the supporting #WhyWeWearBlack hashtag, across Twitter and Instagram surrounding the 2018 Golden Globes exemplifies the ability a hashtag campaign holds to further extend its overall accessibility and visibility by capturing the attention of wider, offline public and mainstream media. While #MeToo exposed an issue and inspired a conversation, #TimesUp was created to move the conversation from ‘me’ to ‘we’, in a natural progression towards broader, more active change (Garber, 2018). Shortly after celebrities took to the 75th Annual Golden Globes red carpet dressed in all black to protest sexual harassment and industry power imbalances that lead to abuse and/or discrimination (Gonzales, 2018), mainstream media outlets that would usually be have producing ‘hot or not’ content or scrutinising style choices were instead inclined to report on the circulating #TimesUp movement. This shift in the media’s attention reveals the influence of social media’s participatory culture, showing that a large influx of tagging and (re)tweeting around a specific issue can apply pressure on the media to address it. This kind of mainstream media broadcast then launches hashtag campaigns even further into the public eye and gains them even more exposure, further expanding the range of people able to be involved in contributing to the conversation (Moscato, 2016). Moscato (2016) argues that Twitter is a medium for ‘virality’ and can be considered one of social activism’s major keys to obtaining “leverage for wider distribution” online. Furthermore, Moscato’s (2016) studies have also found that the use of social media to promote campaigns allows activists and other participants to “disseminate self-representations that are not subjected to mass media filters”. This works to instil a maintained sense of integrity that is both important to the success of a campaign and also not guaranteed with more traditional forms of media. The way in which Twitter provides its users with the tools to publicly and organically cluster, share or reply to each other’s messages not only allows for the easy contribution and categorisation of information but also encourages real time participation in dialogue (Moscato, 2016). This can empower a campaign in a number of ways including allowing activists at events to live-stream first hand perspectives and experiences for those following along at home unable to attend and amplifying important, relevant information well beyond the original author’s personal following (Moscato, 2016). This was certainly the case for #TimesUp, which exploded online following both the social and traditional media coverage of the Golden Globes event (Garber, 2018) and as a result managed to raise over $24 million for women’s legal rights and defence (GoFundMe, n.d.). Now an essential part of online social campaigning, hashtags provide a platform for dynamic communities to make themselves visible and accessible to both the general public and the mainstream media. Without this curation of accessible content on platforms such as Twitter via the hashtag function, active global responses such as that obtained by #TimesUp would be much more difficult to achieve.
The #BlackLivesMatter (#BLM) movement remains an ongoing example of the ways in which a hashtag campaign can generate not only awareness and community, but real world action. Founded in 2012 by Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors, and Alicia Garza in response to the clearance of George Zimmerman for the murder of teenager Trayvon Martin, the movement in its original form aimed to draw focus on “police brutality, police killings, and the overrepresentation of black people in the criminal justice system” in the United States (Duvall & Heckemeyer, 2018). Since its initial establishment, the phrase has been somewhat decentralised and the hashtag is now used across a wide variety of contexts and countries in consideration of many different sociological, ethical and racial issues surrounding people of colour (Ince, Rojas & Davis, 2017). Like #MeToo, the #BLM hashtag has not only ignited a global conversation, but also sustained a community of like-minded individuals and created a platform for their relevant ideas and opinions to be shared. Stepping beyond this, it has even mobilised them to make offline connection and actions in an attempt to further the fight for real world change (Ince, Rojas & Davis, 2017). Gunn (2015) states that one of the main criticisms of hashtag activism as a method of social campaigning is that it is a form of “slacktivism”. Slacktivism refers to cases in which a lot of energy is put into drawing attention to a cause but the significant impact made is dismal. This certainly is not the case for movements such as #BLM with the hashtag being used regularly across Twitter and other social networking sites to facilitate and promote relevant offline events, such as rallies, protests, workshops, meetings and demonstrations in cities all over the world (Cumberbatch & Trujillo-Pagan, 2016). An example of this is the groups of social activists who met with and placed pressure upon politicians to support the #BLM agenda in the lead up to the 2016 US election (Duvall & Heckemeyer, 2018). That being said, for other members within the #BLM community, Gunn (2015) writes that “it is not even intended in all cases to raise awareness of any particular issue or societal concern, but rather to do the work of raising one’s own consciousness, and to be in dialogue with other people of colour engaged in similar pursuits”, showing that hashtag activism can, even in its “slackest” form, promote a healthy sense of community and belonging or understanding for marginalised social groups. This developed and dynamic support system is an example of how the use of hashtags within online campaigns can harness accessibility to achieve both awareness and community.
When it comes to communicating and
connecting on a global scale, hashtags are perhaps the most integral part of
all Web 2.0 technological advancements. Now considered “a tool for building
collective identities that serve as the foundations for action” (Clark, 2016),
hashtags have almost entirely changed the way in which successful social activist
campaigns function, reducing both the effort and cost involved in launching a campaign
by decentralising leadership and reducing overall participation costs (Clark,
2016). This is made possible by social media platforms such as Twitter
(Moscato, 2016) which encourage users to both generate content and interact
with the content created by others. This participatory culture lays a solid
foundation upon which meaningful strong activist campaigns can be established,
developed and maintained. In creating a safe space for individuals to share and
connect, platforms such as Twitter allow hashtag activists to engage with
like-minded or similarly situated people that they may not in any other case
have been put into contact with (Olsen, 2016). This new form of globalised
communication is important for the future of online activism in that it not
only extends the barriers of available awareness, but also encourages responses
and opinions from a diverse range of global contexts (Xiong, Cho &
Boatwright, 2019) in order to produce and promote a well-rounded campaign. Building
upon this, hashtag activism works to inspire real world changes by encouraging its
wide spread audiences to become proactive about developing or participating in
rallies, meetings, classes and events (Cumberbatch & Trujillo-Pagan, 2016)
that make sense for them and the other activists in their own areas. The nature
of platforms such as Twitter then also allow for those unable to attend such
events to not only help promote the event to ensure its success, but also keep
up to date with live information as if they were there (Moscato, 2016). The power
of hashtag activism to strengthen an online campaign’s global awareness and
accessibility has become increasingly evident througho online campaigns that
have used it successfully, such as #MeToo, #TimesUp, #WhyWeWearBlack and
#BlackLivesMatter. Breaking down geographical barriers and connecting people (Xiong,
Cho & Boatwright, 2019) of all genders, sexualities, races and religions
against a common cause (Olsen, 2016), hashtags have immensely empowered the
future of social activist campaigns online.
References:
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This is a really interesting and relevant topic to discuss. There is no doubt hashtag and social media are bringing people closer together and it helps communities to organise and promote a particular movement. However, I wonder after the initial gathering of attention to a particular cause or agenda, does the hashtag system allow the organisers to use it to enhance the movement or does the hashtag becomes so popular that it loses its meaning as time goes on. I feel that after the initial push via social media using hashtags and the movement or cause has gained some attention, it would be good to have another social media effort to then sustain the large group of followers. Rather than simply continuing to use the hashtag where people might abuse it since it is so popular.
Hi Federick,
I agree with you that in some cases the over-saturation of a hashtag can lead to some unclarity.
From my research I’ve found that once this occurs, the hashtag usually transitions from a point of action into more of a point of conversation – which can still be an important and reliable sense of community for individuals involved. For example, though #MeToo was initially used to spark action and change, it has become so widely used that rather than inspiring rallies, it is now more inspiring support and conversation (which, for some people, is arguably more important). That being said, this change in the application in #MeToo also lead to the birth of more action driven campaigns, such as #TimesUp. I think you’re definitely right in that there is much room to grow within this new realm of online activism. At the moment, the connection is both made and sustained through the hashtag, but it would be excellent to see something more solid evolve as a sort of “second phase” in this process.
Much of what I’ve seen in terms of hashtag activities certainly supports your thoughts on the fading away of the meaning over time. Looking at the #metoo movement, although there is still ver important work being done under the banner of this hashtag, it’s also been repurposed and bastardised, including by the people that are being targeted by #metoo in the first place. This happened most memorably during the Kavanaugh hearing in the US last year, as discussed in this interesting article from wired: https://www.wired.com/story/brett-kavanaugh-hearings-himtoo-metoo-christine-blasey-ford/
Hi Jayden,
I really enjoyed reading your paper. As I mentioned to Tracey Clarke on her paper, I could see a lot of similarities in the hashtags you mention and the one used by Share The Dignity (#axthetax), which she explores.
I get quite frustrated by the term ‘slacktivism’ and the dismissal and disregard that term conveys (as you mention). Vie, Carter, and Meyr (2018) conducted a literature review on slacktivism and found that scholars hold a wide range of views. These views ranged from slacktivism is ineffective, only serving to make the platform user feel good about themselves to slacktivism has significant potential to affect political change, noting successful campaigns and stating that online activism promoted an increase in voter participation in the US. Evidence of successful or unsuccessful online campaigns can be found to argue either side of this Christensen (2011) points out that online petition sites cherry pick their successful campaigns to make a case for their efficacy.
I feel that what a lot of these studies into slacktivism or online activism (depending on if you are trying to dismiss it or not) fail to take in to account is the success rate of offline activism. In 2003 over 600,000 people in Australia marched against the invasion on Iraq to absolutely no avail (Hamilton, 2016). Since then, there have been countless large rallies in support of refugees which have largely been unsuccessful as well as, to date, unsuccessful climate change rallies. Hamilton (2016) discusses the successful protests during the 60s and 70s including rallies against the Vietnam war, workers and women rights and the environmental movement as the glory days of the protest movement.
I wonder if this dismissal of online activism comes from those who lived through those movements and associate this form of political activism with success. To me, the cries of ‘slacktivism’ rings of anti millennial prejudiced and a lack of understanding about how our world and politics has changed and continues to change.
End rant.
—-
Christensen, Henrik Serup. 2011. “Political Activities on the Internet: Slacktivism or Political Participation by Other Means?” First Monday 16 (2). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i2.3336.
Hamilton, Clive. 2016. “What Do We Want? Charting the Rise and Fall of Protest in Australia.” The Conversation, 2016. http://theconversation.com/what-do-we-want-charting-the-rise-and-fall-of-protest-in-australia-68436.
Vie, Stephanie, Daniel Carter, and Jessica Meyr. 2018. “Occupy Rhetoric: Responding to Charges of ‘Slacktivism’ With Digital Activism Successes.” In Media Influence: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice, 64–78. https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/occupy-rhetoric/192614.
Hi Emily,
I agree with your comments regarding the recent decline in successful offline activism. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem believe all of our largest fights as a western culture have already been fought (i.e. womens rights, indigenous rights, marriage equality, etc.). In my opinion, there will be plenty more to face on our way to an idealistic world.
I believe, in order to truly create lasting impact and change for the future, it is going to be important to harness new age technologies, such as those Web2.0 has to offer. After all, rallies that were once local now have the opportunity to be national, or even global! I feel it would be unwise for activists to disregard this kind potential.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people seem believe all of our largest fights as a western culture have already been fought (i.e. womens rights, indigenous rights, marriage equality, etc.)”
I’m pretty sure none of those people are members of the LGBTI community, women or indigenous. Or any other oppressed minority for that matter!
I totally agree with you about the potential current and future technologies have for changing the face of activism as we know it and I look forward to reflecting on all the positive change and how technology has influenced these changes when I’m 90.
Your comments mirror my own thoughts, Emily. ‘Slacktivism’ stinks of old guys getting their knickers in a twist because the kids have come in and done something different with better results. I believe that in the years to come, we will look back in wonder at the way activism was undertaken in the years before Web 2.0, both that it took so long to get things done, and that there was so much resistance to utilising the tools at our disposal.
I’m glad it’s not just me. I raise similar concerns on Tafadzwa’s papers about Tinder and Bumble and their claim that a reduction in face-to-face interaction is inherently negative and reducing people’s wellbeing.
Douglas Adam’s put it best:
“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
—–
Adams, Douglas. 2002. The Salmon Of Doubt. UK: William Heinemann Ltd.
Extremely well quoted!
Hi Emily
I couldn’t agree more about the difference in the way dissent is organised today and the effectiveness of both online and offline campaigns, and the 60s and 70s certainly appeared to be the glory days of protest. However, in a personal example, my partner involved himself in many of the anti-Vietnam and equal rights campaigns of that time, honestly believing the world would change, yet today he is one of the most cynical and disillusioned people I know. He has also often pointed out that as is the case currently, only a very small fraction of the population were out protesting (I am referring only to Australia in this instance). I wonder if history has perhaps been romanticised when it comes to the effectiveness of dissent in that era.
I think the failure of some of the campaigns you discuss is due to state of politics today, where political parties enact populace policies designed only to keep them in power. It also appears the ‘economy’ holds the role of a deity in the current political climate and we should all defer to its power, thereby paralysing governments from making bold decisions, an example being action on climate change. And I think your statement about millennial prejudice absolutely rings true.
Loved your rant.
J
Hello Jayden.
I found this paper really interesting as I know next to nothing about hashtags or how they are used in social media. It surprised me when Jayden explained how hashtags have changed over time from a symbol for Twitter into a functioning tool, reducing the start-up but “decentralising leadership” and keeping costs down. I have been following the #MeToo campaign as I have an interest in the number of people connecting all using hashtags giving their campaign a massive audience. I agree with you that the hashtags have “immensely empowered the future of social activist campaigns online.” It’s ironic that such a small symbol has grown as the Web2.0 has grown into a phenomena used by so many social media outlets to bring in an audience. Well done.
Hi Robin,
Thanks for you support on my paper! I appreciate you taking this time to read.
I would be interested to know if you have come across #MeToo in your personal online circles at all or whether your exposure was restricted to purely celebrities and/or public figures? I think the different ways in which people have come across it online, and how that has shaped their overall response to the matter, is very interesting.
For example, I first came across #MeToo when a couple of Facebook friends of mine shared their own personal stories publicly on their pages. As someone who this campaign does not directly connect to, I feel this kind of informal exposure through friends has made my response to the campaign quite personal in that the issues are made to feel very real and close to home in ways that they might not have had I heard of them through a public figure.
Hi Jayden,
Thanks for such an interesting paper. Hashtag activism is definitely a great benefit of SNS like Twitter, because as you highlight it enables people from all walks of life all over the world to be made aware of and participate in discussions on important issues they would otherwise be unaware of or have little exposure to (with that exposure often skewed by traditional mass media) or limited ability to participate in. I like how you also highlight that hashtag activism encourages users to “actively contribute and communicate rather than passively consume”. I think there are many situations where people give the impression online of being a ‘social warrior’ so to speak by sharing images and other posts about a particular cause, but do nothing in the real world to support the cause. Hashtag activism on the other hand as you highlight seems to be more of an active rather than passive form of activism that’s often brought into the real-world space through events like protests, rallies and demonstrations.
Similarly, hashtags have also brought about real-world collaboration and action in times of crises, such as #qldfloods during the 2011 South East Queensland floods crisis and #sidibouzid and #Jan25 during the 2011 Arab Springs. Increasingly, people are relying less on mass media and turning to social media to keep up-to-date with what’s going on in the world. Many people want more personalised situational information – what Mark and Semaan (2008) (as cited in Bruns et al., 2012, p. 15) describe as a “situational awareness” – through their social networks online. Hashtags help people around the world understand first-hand what’s going on in a particular situation, without the ‘filters’ of the mass media or other powers that be that try to skew the truth.
As your paper effectively highlights, hashtags are an excellent platform for raising awareness around issues and initiating collaboration and action.
(References: Bruns, A., Burgess, J., Crawford, K., & Shaw, F. (2012). #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods (Media Ecologies Project) Queensland: ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI). Retrieved from http://www.mappingonlinepublics.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/qldfloods-and-@QPSMedia.pdf)
Hi Lana,
Yes, I love your examples of how hashtags have brought about real-world collaboration. I totally agree that people are relying more heavily on social media for their news and current affairs. Personally, as someone who doesn’t spend a lot of time watching TV or listening to the radio, most of my news comes straight from my social networking sites, such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. As this type of media consumption is becoming more and more common in Western culture, I think the way in which mass media outlets transfer their communications into online methods in order to remain accessible and relevant is going to become increasingly important. Hashtags have already proved to be a useful tool in this area, also encouraging participation! As the mass media presence on online begins to develop even further away from traditional communication methods, it will be interesting to see whether hashtag activism can even further dictate what classifies as ‘newsworthy’.
Hi Jayden,
That’s a great point! Given that hashtag activism seems to spark such large followings around the world, it could definitely play a part in what traditional mass media classifies as newsworthy. I don’t think it’s enough anymore for traditional media outlets to simply regurgitate their own agendas and dictate in silos what’s newsworthy. They’re increasingly looking to social media to help them figure out what the public want to know about and in many cases, to do the groundwork for them. I know the BBC website for example often invites the public to share their images/videos related to a specific news item at the end of their articles. Other mainstream media channels around the world also increasingly utilise content provided by the public through social media channels. It’s good to see a bit of a shake-up happening of the traditional mass media!
Hi Jayden,
Thanks for your article. I found it a pretty fascinating subject matter. I actually haven’t heard of the term slacktivism. Although the connotations of the word seem like it is a lazy way of promoting a movement or cause, to me it highlights how the world has become more efficient in getting communications out across global borders. I believe the digital world is a community that has no physical or geographical boundaries. How we use the internet and web 2.0 can potentially have an impact on every single person in the world. Using Hashtags is just an example of how it can be done. What is important after creating awareness has to be an ongoing tool that will automate how we interact with our connected followers. Maybe this is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) kicks in? Maybe organisations are already using AI and we don’t even know it! Activism is all about communications and building communities and ‘Hashtagism’ can be the catalyst to creating growth within the supporter base tapping into peoples digital networking base. Well done again on the insightful essay.
Cheers,
Luki
Hi Luki,
Thanks so much for the kind words. I agree with you that there is a lot of potential of AI type technological advances to even further increase the abilities of tools such as hashtagging. In recent months, I’ve noticed that a lot of social networks are already adopting this sort of automated response to what their users are doing and engaging with. For example, I work in floristry and often like instagram photos that are tagged with common industry tags such as #perthflorist and #dsfloral. My Instagram app now often notifies me with things like “You have liked 6 photos with #dsfloral this week. Would you like to follow this tag or explore more photos with this tag”. I definitely consider this new feature an example of the ways in which social networks are building a stronger bridge for hashtag communication and conversation between users.
Hi Jayden,
It seems like you are doing something that works for you and have adapted well to the Instagram world. Florists should use it as it is a visual tool for the senses. Do you an automated posting tool?
Cheers,
Luki
Definitley a relevant topic. I am quite interested in the “slacktivism” critique of hashtag activism. Are these hashtag campaigns actually making any offline difference in political or social spheres, rather than just encouraging people to participate in a ‘feel-good’ online campaign? I have been particularly interested in the use of social media by vegan activists groups to engage the public in protests around the consumption of animal products. While many Australian meat consumers reject online animal weflare activism (particularly from vegan minorities) for being too extreme (Buddle, Bray and Ankeny 2018), there is no doubt that their campaigning is having some influence on attitudes towards livestock production. So I am interested in how engaging in hashtag campaigns are ultimately impacting consumer decisions, whether it be food or other consumables such as fast fashion. However, the question remains – what impact does the use of social media have on changing attitudes towards certain issues such as meat consumption, or are changing attitudes within a much more broader social shift. Very difficult to disentangle.
There is also some work around micropublics and how the use of hashtags may actually result in the conversation remaining within an already existing online network (see Barbour et al. 2014). This proves to be problematic if you are trying to engage new people to the cause, rather than engaging those who may already be within the community, and do not have the opportunity to engage a high-profile celebrity to your cause.
Barbour, K., Marshall, P. D., & Moore, C. (2014). Persona to persona studies. M/C Journal, 17(3). Retrieved from http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/841
Buddle, E.A., Bray, H.J. & Ankeny, R.A. (2018). Why would we believe them? Meat consumers’ reactions to online farm animal welfare activism in Australia. Communication Research and Practice, 4(3), 246-260.
Hi Emily,
Though not vegan myself, I do maintain a general interest in sustainability and impact had by the meat industry on our planet and have therefore had a few experiences with vegan activist hashtags online. From my experience, though I haven’t personally used these hashtags on my own social media feeds to join or contribute to the conversation, I have definitely used the hashtags on the posts of others to better educate myself on not only the issue itself but the current climate of the conversation being held around the issue.
I think what is interesting about these kinds of hashtags is that they are not always used in support of the cause. In fact, a lot of the time they are instead picked up and used by people completely dragging them out.
From the perspective of someone coming into the campaign with no impressive amount of prior knowledge, I have found the explorations of hashtags such as #govegan and #dairyisscary on Twitter and Instagram quite interesting in that they have provided me with a range of information upon which I have been able to form my own opinions.
Though this angle on the use of hashtags quite varies from the focus within my paper, I think it reiterates the thesis statement that hashtags create a global platform for both awareness and conversation.
Thanks Jayden.
I am a farmer (in my spare time – ha!) and there has been ample amounts of concern coming out from the farming communities about the information people are spreading about livestock production, particularly the parts that “aren’t true” (we could spend a very long time arguing about what is “true” vs. “untrue” in relation to food and personal opinion, but I will leave that for another day.)
I think what the struggle is, is the fact that the content posted using hashtags such as #govegan and #dairyisscary is shocking/controversial/“newsworthy” if you like, so people are more likely to engage or be interested in it. There have been many a campaign or page developed from the agricultural industry to share their “side of the story” which has not been nearly as successful. We know farmers are able to rally lots of support as we have seen in the current drought, but the drought is shocking/controversial/“newsworthy” as it appeals to the human emotion, much like animal cruelty does. The challenge comes when you are trying to communicate about the things that farmers do do well to the broader public but isn’t as shocking or remotely as interesting as the content which animal welfare activists may share. I hope my point is clear – very difficult topic to disentangle.
This paper was a very interesting read. As someone you is on Twitter quite a lot, I have often seen the beginning of some of these hashtags and the uproar that is caused just by the beginning of a hashtag. I would definitely agree that often there is an over saturation of some hashtags once an initial protest or event is held but that often wears off when the next outrage happens and the momentum continues. This is strongly evident with BLM which took the world by storm and resulted in many, many protests being held across America in an attempt to get and hold attention on the amount of black individuals losing their lives mainly due to police brutality.
Although hashtags can often be seen as actions that won’t wield much change, they have become a large part of activism and change within the world. Your paper was great and really explored the impact that a simple hashtag can have!
No surprises Jayden that your paper is probably the one I’ve most enjoyed reading during the conference. That hashtags have moved from predominant use on twitter and Instagram, to a now universal acceptance across the major social networking channels, only supports the importance of these tiny strings of letters and numbers. I didn’t explore the hashtag itself as a contributing factor the success of the #axethetax campaign, but after reading your paper I’m wishing that I had, if only to understand the part that it played in the background.
Hi Jayden
This paper is an insightful look at the activist hashtag phenomenon. In my essay I explored a number of Indigenous hashtag campaigns, which Petray (2010) labels “resistance hashtags”, and I agree that they are a powerful force in uniting ad hoc communities under a single banner across time and space. Petray (2010) defines these communities as having a “collective identity” which assists in sustaining the resolution of both the individuals and the movement as a whole.
Unfortunately, this may be as far as a campaign progresses. From my research, it appears that the success of a movement depends on it expanding from the online community to the offline space (Petray 2010) garnering support from mainstream population to challenge the prevailing discourse or government policy. The difficulty appears to be how to make this happen. The echo chamber of social media often means that hashtags are shared with others in a like-minded network and therefore don’t necessarily spread to a wider audience.
In a personal example, I follow #StopAdani and while this movement has generated some action in the offline space, the message is drowned out by misinformation and abuse from conservative politicians and a hostile media. It also seems to motivate action in specific socio-economic groups outside the mainstream. The recent Stop Adani convoy led by Bob Brown garnered some support in the capital cities on the way north to the proposed Adani mine site. However, by the time it reached our area, where the mine is being built, only the rusted on #StopAdani campaigners attended the rallies. It appears the message of the convoy couldn’t move beyond the echo chamber of social media and into the mainstream, and I believe this is a challenge for hashtag campaigns.
In an interesting twist, there is now a #StartAdani campaign running in opposition. Although I find this repugnant, it is an example of the creative way hashtags can be used to challenge prevailing thought. However, I hope their message stays within their own echo chamber.
J
Petray, T. (2010). Push-button activism: the use of technology by Townsville Aboriginal activists. Paper presented at The Australian Sociological Association conference; social causes, private lives. Sydney, NSW, Australia. Retrieved from https://tasa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/Petray-Teresa.pdf
#StopAdani Convoy (2019) https://www.stopadani.com/convoy
Hi Jayden
A well-researched paper that has been an absolute pleasure to read!
Your paper has enlightened me on a topic that I am honestly not very familiar with. Whilst I do have a Twitter account, I use it predominately for university purposes.
I have witnessed how global conversations on a specific topic can rapidly flow. You have used two excellent examples of Hashtag Activism with the #MeToo and #BLM movements discussed in your paper. These conversations not only raise awareness on specific social causes, but once they gain traction they can effect meaningful change.
Lana has provided some great examples of how Twitter has been used during a crisis, and I found Tracey Clarke’s comment on how hashtags are being ‘repurposed’, quite fascinating.
Some great conversations sparked here by an excellent paper, Jayden!
I thought I would add a few interesting Twitter stats.
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-stats-tips
Hi Jayden,
I have to admit that the majoirty of my exposure to the use of hashtags has been predominately in relation to study, although that is changing in increments as my family and friends become more active with Instagram and Twitter.
Having said that, I am quite interested in the organic nature of hashtag activism that you mention. Combined with the participatory culture of social networking, the potential for the outward ripple effect of hashtag activism into offline media is key in taking messages to the broader community. While Web 2.0 technologies are reaching many people, there are still many others that cling to mainstream media sources and offline information provision so, as you say, it is often still required that hastags causes are picked up and promoted by offline media.
I agree that hashtags don’t always have to be about convincing people about the validity or worthiness of a cause, but can first be utilised to effectively elevate a cause into consciousness and awareness.
Thank you for a though provoking paper.