This paper discusses the efficacy of Web 2.0 technologies to encourage individuals spread across time and space to unite into virtual activist communities, campaigning for Indigenous Australian recognition through the creation of alternative narratives to the traditional colonialist discourse. It considers the ephemeral and unstable nature of virtual communities, and the value to activism of the weak ties they produce. The paper examines the creation of \u201cresistance hashtags\u201d (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.7) employed for the #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA, #IndigenousDads, #InvasionDay, #SurvivalDay and #WhiteProverbs campaigns to determine the level of success achieved through virtual community activism, and explores the possible risks and vulnerabilities attached to social media activism for Indigenous Australian people. It concludes that, despite the acrimony these communities attract, Web 2.0 technologies facilitate the effective formation of virtual activist communities which unite to empower Indigenous Australian voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keywords:<\/em> Indigenous Australian, activism, community,\nhashtag, social media, Web2.0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Web 2.0 technologies, primarily social media, offers Indigenous activists unprecedented opportunities to connect and interact with other people both locally and across the globe, and campaigns organised by Indigenous Australians have dotted the social media landscape in recent years (Carlson & Dreher, 2018, p.17). However, there appears a dearth of research specifically exploring Indigenous Australian online activism and the virtual communities which emerge from the campaigns they support. Over time, Indigenous Australians have creatively repurposed social media to deliver a contemporary space in which to form virtual communities of activists (Wilson, Carlson & Sciascia, 2017, p.1), providing these communities with both a place for, and an instrument of protest, shaping the way they structure and model online campaigns (Petray, 2013, p.7). This enables Indigenous activist communities to resourcefully employ new ways of challenging colonialist discourse (Carlson & Dreher, 2018, p.17) and invoke innovative strategies to dislocate dominant power structures and agitate for alternatives to replace them (Carlson & Frazer, 2018, p.45). However, social media are not balanced or unprejudiced milieus, instead remaining embedded with hierarchies and cultural and social norms (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.1). Indigenous Australians often experience the online activist space as malicious, suffering trolling, racism, abuse and violent threats (Carlson & Frazer, 2018, p.50). In addition, virtual community protest voices often remain unheard by governments and policymakers (Carlson & Dreher, 2018, p.17). This paper focuses on several Indigenous campaigns and the communities that unite around them in support, challenging mainstream discourse and essentialist rhetoric. It argues that, despite the acrimony these communities attract, Web 2.0 technologies facilitate the effective formation of virtual activist communities which unite to empower Indigenous Australian voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ephemeral Communities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The affordances of social media and\nthe weak ties they generate encourage the creation and development of Indigenous\nactivist communities, encompassing people from different geographical locations,\ncultures and nations connected in a common purpose (Carlson & Frazer, 2016,\np.90). Petray (2013) describes\nthese communities as containing a \u201ccollective identity\u201d (p.4), a shared space\nessential for providing activists with a sense of unity and determination,\nthereby maintaining the endurance of a movement (Petray, 2013, p.4). Online\nactivist communities emerge through \u201cshared interests\u201d rather than \u201cshared\nplace or ancestry\u201d (Wellman, & Gulia, 1999 p.171) and they\ndevelop organically, creating themselves (Katz, Rice, Acord, Dasgupta &\nDavid, 2004, p.321) by forming\n\u201cintimate secondary relationships: informal, frequent and supportive community\nties that \u2026operate only in one specialized domain\u201d (Wellman & Gulia, 1999\np.180). Described by Katz et al (2004) as\n\u201cneo-tribes\u201d (p.342) and defined as \u201cunstable, self-defined communities marked\nby fluidity and dispersal\u201d (Katz et al, 2004, p.342), online communities and\nthe weak ties they produce present as more evanescent, difficult to maintain\nand volatile in comparison to ties in a physical community (Katz et al, 2004,\np.336). However, the affordances of Web 2.0 also facilitate the expansion of\nthe \u201c\u2019virtual we\u2019 of Indigenous solidarity\u201d (Petray, 2010, p.11) embodying both\nIndigenous and non-Indigenous advocates and sympathisers from across the globe (Petray,\n2010, p.11), and Indigenous activists manifest this solidarity through online \u201cresistance hashtags\u201d (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resistance hashtags<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Web\n2.0 affordances create and activate virtual communities much faster and across\nlarger geographical spaces than communities which develop offline (Katz et al,\n2004, p.319). One vital social media tool, employed by online Indigenous activists to organise protests and rapidly\nform communities of weak ties to further resistance to the colonialist dogma,\nis the hashtag (Carlson & Dreher, 2018, p.17). As\nFransen-Taylor and Narayan (2018) observe, \u201cthe speed with which hashtags can\ncome into being in response to emerging issues allows them to facilitate the\nformation of ad hoc publics\u201d (p.312).\nThe plethora of information on social media suggests \u201caccess and visibility is\nparticularly transient in cyberspace\u201d (Fransen-Taylor,\n& Narayan, 2018, p.319) and Petray (2010) argues\nthat the increase in \u201cpush-button activism\u201d (p.2), while encouraging participation\nby the activist community, \u201calso changes the notion of participation as marches\nand demonstrations give way to electronic petitions and Facebook fan pages\u201d\n(Petray, 2010, p.2). Within the space of a few minutes, individuals can sign petitions,\nshare information, write an email or join an online campaign, creating the\nperception of involvement in a cause with nominal participation (Petray, 2010,\np.13). Therefore,\n\u201cresistance hashtags\u201d\n(Petray & Collin, 2017, p.7) provide an effective\ncampaign tool to grow online communities consisting of\npreviously unconnected individuals who gather information, engage in\nconversations and share strategies under a specific banner (Fransen-Taylor,\n& Narayan, 2018, p.312).<\/p>\n\n\n\n #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most successful \u201cresistance hashtags\u201d (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.7), employed to agitate an online activist community, was #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA<\/a>. In a move reminiscent of the forced removal of Indigenous Australians from their land during colonisation, the West Australian government, in 2014, proposed closing 274 remote Indigenous communities (Carlson & Frazer, 2018, p.45), potentially displacing as many as 12,000 people from their homes (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.84). Then Prime Minister Abbott\u2019s ill-advised comments further incensed Indigenous Australians when he suggested the \u201cnotion of Indigenous people living in the country as a \u2018lifestyle choice\u2019\u201d (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.89). Carlson and Frazer (2016) refer to this as a \u201ccritical event\u201d, infuriating both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians enough to spurn them into united protest (p.90). The Bieundurry family from the Wangkatjungka community took to the internet to connect with kin across the country via a private Facebook group and from here; an international movement began (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.89).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Web\n2.0 activism achieves greater community participation when it works in conjunction\nwith offline physical demonstrations (Petray, 2010, p.13). The #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA campaign sent\nout a call to action, and over 4000 members of this online community took to the\nstreets in united offline protests (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.90). Response\nfrom mainstream media was less than supportive, referring to the protesters as\n\u201cselfish rabble\u201d (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.90). Undeterred, the #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA\ncommunity responded by appropriating the phrase and applying the tag\n#selfishrabble to tweets, photos and memes which they shared on Twitter and\nFacebook. Social media provided creative avenues for the #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA\ncommunity to voice alternative perspectives and responses to mainstream media\nattacks (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.90).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The burgeoning community mobilized\nonce again and online protests spilled over into offline spaces culminating in\nmuch larger numbers of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people demonstrating at\nrallies across Australia and the world (McCallum,\nWaller & Dreher, 2016, p.33). Their communal message: \u201cStop the forced closures of Aboriginal\ncommunities\u201d (#SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA website). The former West Australian Premier\nColin Barnett questioned the legitimacy of the protests, intimating most of the\nactivists were not part of the communities involved and therefore should not\nhave a say in the matter, reflecting \u201can homogenous, unified set of values, to the notion that only\n\u2018remote\u2019 Aboriginal people could have a say in this particular case\u201d (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.91). Furthermore, rather\nthan reporting the facts behind the demonstrations, mainstream media again\npreferred to demonise the protesters (McCallum et al., 2016, p.33). The #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA community\nemployed social media again to ridicule the hegemonic discourse \u201camplifying the voices of those ignored\nby mainstream media\u201d (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.91). The\noutcome of the #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA movement in regards to funding remains contentious,\nhowever the West Australian government eventually shelved plans to close\ncommunities (Perpitch, 2018). The #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA movement\ndemonstrates \u201ccommunity-level social media activism of national significance\nand international reach\u201d (McCallum et al., 2016, p.32). #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA provides an example of social media as a\npowerful tool for gathering activist communities under a single banner and\npropelling them into action. It offers creative opportunities to challenge the\ngovernment and mainstream media narrative which labours to silence Indigenous\nAustralian voices (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.92).<\/p>\n\n\n\n #IndigenousDads<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cresistance hashtag\u201d (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.7) #IndigenousDads<\/a> was created to collate messages on social media of dignity and love for Indigenous Australian fathers. The activist community was responding to a cartoon drawn by Bill Leak and published in The Australian characterizing Indigenous fathers as abusive (Carlson & Frazer, 2018, p.45). The cartoon was shared on social media, replete with derogatory remarks aimed at Indigenous fathers (Carlson, Jones, Harris, Quezada & Frazer, 2017, p.3). Community anger towards the cartoon instigated the #IndigenousDads campaign, encouraging Indigenous children and parents to post images and comments applauding fathers as loving role models and inspirations (Carlson et al., 2017, p.5). The Australian Press Council determined that the cartoon did not cause \u201csubstantial offence, distress or prejudice\u201d (Carlson et al., 2017, p.3), however this was not the lived experience for Indigenous Australians, who turned to social media to voice their exasperation and resentment in a \u201cshared recognition\u201d of the trauma they experienced (Carlson et al., 2017, p.3). The term \u201cshared recognition\u201d describes a \u201ccollective sense of anger and frustration experienced by Indigenous people when traumatic events in the public domain act as reminders of the enduring-ness of colonial violence\u201d (Carlson et al., 2017, p.1). This term acknowledges a communal rejection of racism directed at Indigenous Australians on social media platforms (Carlson et al., 2017, p.1). The #IndigenousDads campaign functioned to challenge the essentialist narrative of Leak\u2019s cartoon, creating an online space for the community to celebrate Indigenous men and their contribution to family care. (Carlson et al., 2017, p.13)<\/p>\n\n\n\n #InvasionDay<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u2018Australia Day You Way\u2019 campaign began in 2014, encouraging Australians to post individual celebrations under the hashtag #AustraliaDay, the intention to encapsulate the festivities \u201cto an annual time capsule stored by the National Museum of Australia\u201d (Fransen-Taylor, & Narayan, 2018, p.311). For Indigenous Australians however, the symbolism of this day represents decades of dispossession, persecution and anguish and demonstrates \u201cthe tension between the mainstream Australian discourse and the hurt and anger felt by Australian Indigenous people in regard to Australia Day\u201d (Fransen-Taylor, & Narayan, 2018, p.315). The Indigenous community turned to social media again, employing the \u201cresistance hashtags\u201d (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.7) #Invasion Day<\/a> and #SurvivalDay<\/a> to counteract the Australia Day celebratory discourse. The hashtags gathered together an ad hoc virtual community that sought to resist the essentialist rhetoric of commemoration in the \u2018Australia Day Your Way\u2019 campaign, providing instead alternative representations and voices of dissent (Fransen-Taylor, & Narayan, 2018, p.316). The results from research conducted by Fransen-Taylor and Narayan (2018) noted \u201cthis alternate narrative was excluded from the official time capsule\u201d (Fransen-Taylor, & Narayan, 2018, p.311), indicating that alternative perspectives which contest dominant narratives suffer similar treatment to public graffiti in that they are expunged from public spaces (Fransen-Taylor, & Narayan, 2018, p.313). <\/p>\n\n\n\n #WhiteProverbs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Indigenous online activism operates not just nationally but internationally, uniting Indigenous people on a global scale. From its creation in 2014, the \u201cresistance hashtag\u201d (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.7) #WhiteProverbs<\/a> produced a virtual activist community as it trended across the world (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.1). The goal of #WhiteProverbs is to challenge racism and White privilege through a series of satirical memes and tweets (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.2) which draw \u201cattention to racist and ethnocentric comments used to justify or mask White privilege\u201d (Petray & Collin, 2017, p.1). A vital part of defeating racism is for non-Indigenous people to recognise and confront their own White privilege, however, Petray and Collin (2017) note the difficulty of holding up a mirror to non-Indigenous people and reflecting back their White privilege and associated benefits, amassed at the expense of Indigenous Australians (p.3). While memes may be used to counter racist and essentialist discourse, they may also work to perpetuate existing stereotypes, a narrative often excused by colonial discourse as protecting free speech and humour (Frazer & Carlson, 2017, p.5) which demonstrates the tensions that exist for Indigenous people in overcoming mainstream racist narratives and representations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indigenous activist challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Each of these activist movements,\nalthough varied in their purpose, exploits the affordances of Web 2.0 to\nestablish virtual communities designed to deliver an alternative narrative and challenge\ndominant culture (Frazer & Carlson, 2017, p.2). However, although social media provide the\nopportunities for activist communities to unite across geographical boundaries,\nthis doesn\u2019t necessarily produce positive political or social outcomes for\nIndigenous Australians (Carlson & Frazer, 2016, p.88). Doubts\nexist as to the effectiveness of this space in ensuring Indigenous voices are\nheard by policy makers. The inability of \u201cinfluential\nplayers to listen sits at the heart of the failure of Indigenous policy\nin Australia\u201d (McCallum et al., 2016, p.24), and \u201ca\nvoice that is not heard or recognized cannot fully achieve the promise of\ndemocratic participation or media justice\u201d (McCallum et al., 2016, p.27).\nPetray (2011) argues that although social media platforms offer\ninnovative ways for communities to engage in activist protests, they may also\ngenerate a \u201cdigital subaltern\u201d (p.935), a group concealed and ignored in\nsociety due to their inability to participate in Web 2.0 activist movements (Petray, 2011, p.935). Online community activists may experience\na kind of \u201cconnected solitude\u201d (Carlson & Frazer, 2018, p.44) due to the ephemeral\nnature of virtual communities (Carlson & Frazer, 2018, p.44) and the\ndiscourse of colonialism is formidable, therefore protesting often results in\npain and a sense of defeat (Carlson & Frazer, 2018, p.44) when \u201ccolonial normativities invariably\nposition Indigenous people as the strange \u2018other\u2019 necessitating homogenisation\u201d\n(Carlson & Frazer,\n2018, p.51). These challenges highlight the continuing biases which exist within\nonline spaces however further research into Indigenous\nAustralian online activism and the virtual communities which emerge from the\ncampaigns they support may assist in refining activist participation, thereby\nimproving outcomes for Indigenous Australians. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Web\n2.0 presents unprecedented opportunities for Indigenous Australian activists to\nform virtual communities across time and space under a united banner, and social\nmedia platforms offer innovative ways for these communities to engage in\nactivist protests. However, online Indigenous activists continue to suffer\nracism, trolling, violence and a persistent struggle against mainstream\nAustralia\u2019s essentialist notions of colonialism. By amassing support through a\nhashtag community Indigenous Australians create opportunities to provide an\nalternative narrative to predominant discourse and racial vilification. In this way, despite the acrimony they\nattract, Web 2.0 technologies facilitate the effective formation of virtual\nactivist communities which unite to empower Indigenous Australian voices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlson, B., & Dreher, T. (2018). Introduction: Indigenous innovation in social media. Media International Australia<\/em>, 169<\/em>(1), 16\u201320. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1329878X18803798<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlson, B. & Frazer, R. (2016). Indigenous activism and social media: a global response to #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA. In: McCosker A, Vivienne S and Johns A (eds) Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest and Culture<\/em>. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.115\u2013130. Retrieved from https:\/\/slideblast.com\/negotiating-digital-citizenship_5ab18c2e1723dd2d20d90d6f.html#page=84<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlson, B., & Frazer, R. (2018). Yarning circles and social media activism. Media International Australia<\/em>, 169<\/em>(1), 43\u201353. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1329878X18803762<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlson, B., Jones, L., Harris, M., Quezada, N., & Frazer, R. (2017). Trauma, shared recognition and Indigenous resistance on social media. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21<\/em>. 1-18. http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.3127\/ajis.v21i0.1570<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fransen-Taylor, P., & Narayan, B. (2018). Challenging prevailing narratives with Twitter: an #AustraliaDay case study of participation, representation and elimination of voice in an archive. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science<\/em>, 50<\/em>(3), 310\u2013321. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0961000618769981 <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Frazer, R., & Carlson, B. (2017). Indigenous memes and the invention of a people. Social Media + Society<\/em>. 3<\/em>(4), 1-12. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2056305117738993<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Katz, J., Rice, R., Acord, S., Dasgupta, K., & David, K. (2004). Personal mediated communication and the concept of community in theory and practice. In P. Kalbfleisch (Ed.), Communication and Community: Communication Yearbook 28 <\/em>(pp. 315-371). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.comm.ucsb.edu\/faculty\/rrice\/A80KatzRiceAcordDasguptaDavid2004.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n McCallum, K., Waller, L., & Dreher, T. (2016). Mediatisation, marginalisation and disruption in Australian Indigenous affairs. Media and Communication, 4<\/em>(4), 30-42. http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.17645\/mac.v4i4.695<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perpitch, N, (2018). State and Commonwealth strike deal on WA Indigenous community funding, but arguing continues. ABC online. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2018-12-08\/deal-struck-on-remote-indigenous-housing-but-bickering-continues\/10596434<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Petray, T. (2010 December 6-9). Push-button activism: the use of technology by Townsville Aboriginal activists.<\/em> 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<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Petray, T. (2011). Protest 2.0: online interactions and Aboriginal activists. Media Culture & Society<\/em>, 33(6), 923-940. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0163443711411009<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Petray, T. (2013) Self-writing a movement and contesting indigeneity: being an Aboriginal activist on social media.<\/em> Global Media Journal<\/em>, 7<\/em> (1), 1-20. Retrieved from https:\/\/researchonline.jcu.edu.au\/28188\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Petray, T., & Collin, R. (2017). Your privilege is trending: confronting Whiteness on social media. Social Media + Society<\/em>. (3)<\/em>2, 1-10. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2056305117706783<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA. n.d. Making the difference, for humanities sake. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.sosblakaustralia.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilson, A., Carlson, B. & Sciascia, A. (2017). Reterritorialising social media: Indigenous people rise up. Australasian Journal of Information Systems<\/em>, 21<\/em>(0), 1-4. http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.3127\/ajis.v21i0.1591<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the acrimony these communities attract, Web 2.0 technologies facilitate the effective formation of virtual activist communities which unite to empower Indigenous Australian voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[163,28,164,24,162,166,29,129,130],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indigenous","tag-activism","tag-community","tag-hashtag","tag-indigenous","tag-indigenousaustralians","tag-resistance","tag-virtualcommunities","tag-socialmedia","tag-web2-0"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":445,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions\/445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/i.creativecommons.org\/l\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/88x31.png\")
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