Identity and Online Advocacy

How can you always Identify the Vegan in the room? They’ll tell you.

Social media can be attributed for the massive uptake in veganism, as seen by the prevalence of veganism among millennials who actively engage in social media. Vegan communities on Instagram and other social media construct their online identity as vegans and advocate lifestyle changes using different techniques, yet ethical vegans tend to be viewed as extreme or forceful. This paper discusses the different techniques vegan influencers on social media use to express their own identity based on their motivations for becoming vegan, as well as advocate their lifestyle. It also explores public reception of such techniques.

Identity and Online Advocacy

Hijab wearing Muslim women’s advocacy by performing the self online

Download PDF to read offlineDownload Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of how Hijab wearing women perform their identities online and the resulting social advocacy facilitated via virtual communities. It will focus on the use of the Hijab (garment used to cover hair) as a symbol used to advocate for Muslim women who utilise it in the content they broadcast online. Networked individualism along with influencer culture allows these symbols to be propagated to Read more […]

Online Networks and Social Change

Facebook as a construct of social change and collaboration for activists.

Due to the rapid innovation of social media platforms introduced into the twenty-first century as an invention of the recently developed world wide web or commonly referred to as web 2.0, this form of media convergence acts as a technological breakthrough combining outdated sources of media networks with new foundations of media creating a remediation of interesting and pre-existing content and entertainment (Papacharissi, 2011). Papacharissi (2011; Guidry et al, 2014) state these online social Read more […]

Identity and Online Advocacy

TikTok’s Bimbo Feminism: Feminist Activism in the Digital Age.

Abstract As our use and understanding of social media evolve, so does its utilisation as a tool for advocacy and activism. Social media has been utilised by many as a tool for activism and advocacy and has provided a platform for social change. While some have criticised social media activism as a form of apathetic and performative political participation called “slacktivism” (Morozov 2009), this paper argues that even behaviours deemed as ‘slacktivist’ retain the potential for enacting Read more […]

Online Networks and Social Change

Disinformation is Limiting Participation in Online Climate Change Activism

Abstract
Humans are causing climate change, and global action needs to be taken to limit any negative effects on humankind and the Earth. This paper will show that, although climate activism on Facebook and Twitter by individuals has increased in popularity and effectiveness in the last two years, the ongoing dissemination of disinformation to these same social networking sites (“SNSs”) causes confusion, which results in public interest in action to curb climate change remaining limited. SNSs produce a networked public, with influencers such as Greta Thunberg and organizations such as Fridays for Future and the Climate Council able to use platform affordances to effectively advocate for climate action, encouraging likeminded individuals to form networks on Facebook and Twitter which assist with online and offline actions to pressure policymakers to act on climate change. Simultaneously, the widespread release of disinformation on Facebook and Twitter means these same affordances lead users to innocently share disinformation and distribute misinformation which is reinforced and amplified in users’ filter bubbles and echo chambers, resulting in ongoing public confusion about the reality of climate change. Such misinformation limits the number of participants acting to achieve social change, restricting real social change and effective collective action.

Online Networks and Social Change

Change.org: Empowering Everyday Citizens to Enact Social Change

Change.org_Empowering-Everyday-Citizens_Conference_Upload-1Download Abstract  Trends in Australian political opinion show that citizens are not satisfied with traditional democratic processes and systems and are looking to alternative online spaces to engage in civic action. Additionally, citizens are more likely to engage in politics online and feel empowered by the ease, affordability and reach that decentralised digital platforms like Change.org and social networking sites Read more […]

Online Networks and Social Change

The effectiveness of feminist hashtags such as #MeToo on empowering women, mobilising protests and enacting political and societal change

Elissa_Duck_DebatingCommunitiesAndNetworksConference12Download Abstract:  This paper discusses the influence that digital feminist hashtags such as #MeToo have on individuals, and protest movements, both online and offline. It also looks at whether the hashtags have any influence on shifting long held societal beliefs, or policy change. This paper found that digital feminist hashtags have the ability to influence and affect individuals deeply. The hashtags allow for the creation Read more […]