Keywords: websleuths, hashtag activism, #FreeBritney, social media, advocacy.
In the case of the #FreeBritney movement, websleuthing fans on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram have used online advocacy and hashtag activism as weapons of control.
Websleuthing and Hashtag Activism is an online activity that has impacted digital media’s representation of social identity. Throughout the years, community movements such as ‘MeToo’ and ‘BlackLivesMatter” dominated social platforms and hashtag activism to expose injustice and create global change. Unfortunately, not all community movements maintain a positive agenda, and the ‘#FREEBRITNEY’ movement is no exception. Websleuthes and hashtag activists fought to free Britney from her conservatorship, but the triumph was short-lived as their devotion to the cause became an invasion of her privacy, an obsession to know more, a modern-day witch hunt. Through social media, fans actively facilitated toxic conspiracy theories and investigations for self-gain and glorification purposes, proving that her freedom is only within the measures of their satisfied expectation. This paper explores the sinister intentions of the #FreeBritney movement that began in 2019, using evidence from academic journals, books, online news articles and video documentaries to detail the way in which the insidious obsession of websleuths and hashtag activists has tainted the purity of a worthy movement.
On February 1st 2008, pop singer Britney Spears was involuntarily placed under a conservatorship after concerns were raised due to her erratic behaviour throughout the year. Britney Spears dominated the world when she burst onto the scene in 1998, maintaining an unmatched superstar rain. In the years that followed, Britney’s mental state and emotional well-being unravelled in ways the public had never seen before resulting in a public meltdown and drug-related hospitalisation that saw the megastar tumble from grace. Following this, an emergency court hearing was arranged and Britney’s father, Jamie Spears took complete control. He was appointed Britney’s sole guardian and caretaker within a legal conservatorship, granting him complete control of her personal and financial affairs (Bromley, 2017).
FreeBritney.net was launched in 2009 in response to the announcement of the conservatorship, It wasn’t until 2019 however, that a Britney Spears fan podcast ‘Britney’s Gram’ coined the hashtag “FreeBritney”, sparking this online social movement and uniting her fans as a global community. After years of suspecting foul play due to bizarre and cryptic posts from Britney’s instagram account, these fans became devoted to investigating and ultimately helping to free the pop icon from an almost
fourteen year conservatorship that was destroying and controlling her life (Angulano,
2021).
In November 2021, Britney was finally granted her freedom when a judge terminated the conservatorship that had been ruling her life and her finances. Although the conservatorship ended, the online movement, however, did not. What had started as online advocacy, was now obsessive and invasive and saw the emergence of a new problem altogether – “Websleuthing”. Websleuthing is a relatively new term used to describe online investigative work that can be performed by anyone with an internet connection, regardless of their area of expertise. Websleuthing started out as a way to expose wrong-doings by dangerous individuals, locate missing persons, and help rectify acts of injustice by ways of online investigation. However, as websleuthing groups have become more intrusive and prone to conspiracy theories, this online activity has now become quite controversial. Pantumsinchai argued that collective intelligence during unfolding events can be problematic. (Walkington, Z. et al, 2021) He goes on to discuss an official police investigation that was taking place into the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 where Reddit users “conducted their own investigation naming innocent people who had not been involved.” (Walkington, Z. et al, 2021)
The celebratory world has also been taken over by the websleuthing community. In most cases, websleuths will attach themselves to mainstream media. In doing so they absorb the initial narrative before taking matters into their own hands which can help advocate for their favourite celebrity via deep online research. The collection of hidden information, contracts and documentation can exonerate an individual or particular group being threatened, victimised or discredited. (Yardley, E., Lynes, G. A., and Kelly, E. 2016).
It’s not a secret that social media can be a valid source for investigative work. With 4.76 billion people using social media worldwide, law enforcement relies heavily on the information that social media and digital platforms can provide in order to solve a case (Statista, 2023). In the case of Britney websleuths however, their claims and theories lack authenticity as they cannot be supported by trustworthy evidence. The Netflix original documentary titled ‘Don’t f*** with Cats’ also shows how data gathered through websleuthing is often unusable in the eyes of the law. The websleuths in this documentary became actively obsessed with hunting down a dangerous individual. While websleuthing seemed to be a plausible approach, there was no legislation in place to regulate how sensitive information was gathered in this way and as a result, it was disregarded. Even police who have professional training and access to quality resources have a low return rate when cracking cases that lack substantial evidence. For untrained individuals using their home computers, the chances of finding and solving cases are even lower (Benyamin, 2022).
The act of websleuthing itself not only endangers the subject being investigated, but is also dangerous for the sleuther themselves. Websleuthing has the power to become a full-time obsession, often impacting the identity of the individual sleuther. Between secret profiles, alarming revelations, and online witch hunts, websleuths often need to seek professional support pre-and post-investigation due to traumatic events that unfold during the case. Unlike law enforcement officers, websleuths are required to pay for such therapy themselves (Doganis and Hawkins, 2019). Websleuths have admitted to suffering from a decline in their mental health, often struggling with guilt and shame over potentially amplifying situations that should have been left alone. The ‘Don’t F*** With Cats’ documentary concludes with one particular websleuth admitting that the work comes with great risk and suggests that it’s time to turn off their machines for good (Doganis and Hawkins, 2019).
In addition to websleuthing, a second online impact known as ‘hashtag activism’ has emerged. Hashtag activism is designed to provide the necessary awareness for important causes on social media through the use of hashtags. By trending an important mission or cause on platforms such as Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, the hashtag gains momentum at an expeditious rate, securing the world’s attention (Powell, 2022).
Two popular examples of hashtag activism include #BlackLivesMatter and the #Metoo movement. Both hashtags became globally recognised and have been used by millions of people in support of the cause. Although hashtag activism can be helpful in spreading awareness and reaching larger audiences, some argue that people can exploit the hashtags for their own benefit, reaping glorification or popularity by simply sharing the hashtag on their social media accounts. Due to the nature of hashtags and cyber activism, information is constantly being produced and manipulated which results in disinformation being spread and shared over multiple platforms.
Recently, fans have started making extreme accusations and developing new hashtags on social media such as #Britney’sNotFree and #WhereIsBritney. The facilitation of such obnoxious conspiracy theories and creating “echo chambers” within the community has accumulated over 200 million views on TikTok (Pullar, 2023). Due to this activism and hashtag exposure, individual websleuths from around the world started discussing and investigating outlandish theories that painted Britney in a negative light without her control or consent. This new community of hashtag activists are carelessly representing Britney in an extremely unhealthy and toxic manner. This often sees Britney introverting and/or isolating from the public, forcing her to shut down her social media
accounts to minimise the harassment.
The conservatorship stripped her of all human rights, effectively transforming her into a cash cow for those who controlled her. Britney lost the ability to make any decisions for herself, including managing her own social media accounts. Britney’s representation of “self” was greatly controlled by her conservatorship team, who had access to platforms that supported the process and readjustment of her online identity. Not only did they control decisions regarding her health and personal life, but they were also able to reinvent Britney as a brand, creating a newly manufactured personality for the public (Papacharissi, 2012). Fortunately, Britney now has control of her online presence and social media accounts. She has been able to rediscover her identity and now has the autonomy for the world to see her true authentic self which is vastly different to the version of Britney that has been previously manufactured. (Leaver, 2015).
In the case of websleuths and activists alike, fandom has its own self-representation through ‘front stage’ performances. Whether this be via posts, blogs, tweets or video recordings, they project the necessary version of “self” that is most fitting for topic-portrayal and disregard the accurate representation of their victim. Their truth becomes the only truth available, which is why personal narrative and storytelling in the wrong hands is poisonous in today’s contagious digital age (Barassi, 2018). Given Britney’s history with mental health, the unknown impact that these trending conspiracies may have on her life is troubling. Britney Spears is under no obligation to reassure, acknowledge or establish a connection with such theories/stories just because they are trending, yet fans demand answers.
It is hard to believe that some fans refuse to adjust to Britney’s newfound freedom given the dramatic battle of the #FreeBritney Movement, which begs the question: are these new hashtag activists more interested in self-gain and social exposure, or simply desperate for continued community connection? It’s important to remember that hashtags have the power to drive traffic to a personal account, creating activity on a global scale. An individual using social media with a popular or trending hashtag has the ability to bank thousands of views, comments and followers for their own gain. It also supports the momentum of an existing movement in order to stay relevant and maintain continuous community engagement that many individuals thrive off (Barassi, 2018).
Some of the comments emerging from fans are suggestive of their dissatisfaction or concern as to why Britney has not been photographed by paparazzi since the termination of the conservatorship. They question whether her new fiancé Sam Asghari is keeping her hostage and manipulating home videos and photographs before posting them online. They continue with darker theories regarding Britney’s physical appearance and compare her to older photographs from over ten years ago, insisting that she was murdered and replaced with a “Britney clone” (The Project, 2023).
In a recent episode of The Project Australia, the panel welcomed Sydney-based author, podcaster and Britney super sleuth, Jessie Stephens, to discuss the recent headlines surrounding the pop star. Jessie comments that while most of these headlines are in fact wildly fabricated, the conspiracy theorists behind them genuinely believe them to be true. Regarding the conservatorship and the #FreeBritney movement, Jessie states that fans have not been able to detach and are now behaving as though they are entitled to know every intimate detail of Britney’s life. (Project Australia, 2023)
Britney recently made headlines for dancing with sweat patches on her T-shirt and fans couldn’t wait to share their concerns and conspiracies. Britney locked the comment section in her Instagram posts to avoid intense harassment, but that didn’t stop fans from re-tweeting the video and sharing their negative reactions with the world
(Johnson, 2023). It appears that fans are on the edge of their seats waiting for the next drama to unfold that they can sink their teeth into.
In conclusion, the fandom surrounding Britney has created an internet community that is unhealthy and dangerous. During the conservatorship, the ruling judge who initially rejected Britney’s plea for freedom began receiving death threats from fans which forced her to request a $50,000 flat fee for additional security measures to be put in place amid the case (Wegmeister, 2021). Britney fans seem to be more turbulent and toxic than Britney will ever be and even when they have genuine intentions, it is still at the detriment of Britney’s safety or sanity. More action needs to be taken such as flagging content that is potentially deceptive with additional penalties for any repeating offences in order to prevent false information from circulating on social media platforms.
How ironic is it that the community that once advocated to free Britney is now the same community that holds her captive in the virtual world.
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Hi L, The thing is the paper is mainly concentrated on the African continent particularly.If you make an analysis of…