The proliferation of social media has given rise to widespread study
and speculation about the impact of digital technologies on politics,
activism, and social change. Key among these debates is the role of
social media in shaping the contemporary public sphere, and by proxy,
our democracy. Maligned by some as “slacktivism,” it will be argued that
social media platforms such as Twitter created unique opportunities for
traditionally excluded voices to challenge the terms of public debate.
Using the evidence from Twitter hashtag networks such as
#BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, we will demonstrate how hashtag activism
complemented other forms of activism and changed the terms of mainstream
discussions about race and gender justice in the United States. We will
also reflect on the continued capacity of social media for social
change, in light of recent changes to Twitter and other platforms.
This talk draws on research from #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race
and Gender Justice, available for free through MIT Press Direct: https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4597/HashtagActivismNetworks-of-Race-and-Gender-Justice
Bio:
Brooke Foucault Welles (she/her) is the Associate Dean for Research
in the College of Arts, Media, and Design and Director of the Network
Science Ph.D. Program at Northeastern University in Boston. Combining
the methods of network science with theories from the social sciences,
Welles studies influence and amplification in online communication
networks, with particular emphasis on how these networks mitigate and
exacerbate marginalization. Her work is interdisciplinary and
collaborative, with co-authors from computer science, political science,
digital humanities, design, and public health. She is the co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice and co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Networked Communication. For more information, see https://camd.northeastern.edu/faculty/brooke-foucault-welles/