Narrative As the Heart of Hashtag Activism: the Case Study of #Metoo

Narrative as the Heart of Hashtag Activism: the Case Study of #MeToo

Keywords: hashtag activism, narrative, framing, collective identity, agency

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts (M.A)

Table of Contents Chapter I – Introduction ...... 3 1.1 Why do the Narratives Matter? ...... 4 1.2 Research Questions ...... 6 1.3 Research Approach and Organization ...... 7 Chapter II – Literature Review ...... 9 2.1 The Power of Hashtag Activism ...... 9 2.2 The Socio-Technical Narration ...... 11 2.3 Affective Publics ...... 14 2.4 Mass Media Logic and the Narrative Implications ...... 15 2.5 Participation and Empowerment of Women ...... 17 2.7 Framing a Collective Identity ...... 19 2.8 Application of the Narratives ...... 21 Chapter III – Methodological Approach ...... 23 3.1 Digital Cartography and Issue Mapping ...... 23 3.2 Quality versus Quantity of Data ...... 25 3.3 Digital Tools and Operationalization ...... 27 3.3.1 DMI T-CAT ...... 27 3.3.2 Internet Archive’s Way Back Machine ...... 30 Chapter IV – The Case Study ...... 32 4.1 Period 1 – The Problem of Sexual Harassment ...... 32 4.2 Period 2 – Time’s Person of the Year Award ...... 40 4.3 Period 3 – The Golder Globes...... 45 4.4 Period 4 – The Death of Jo Min-ki ...... 51 4.5 Institutionalization of the Narrative ...... 56 4.6 Overall Findings ...... 60 Chapter V – Discussion ...... 62 5.1 Narratives as Pervasive Constructions ...... 62 5.2 Mass Media Logic and Framing of the ‘Super-Narrative’ ...... 65 5.3 The Political and Institutional Capacity of the Narrative ...... 68 5.4 Collective Identity in the Narrative ...... 70 Chapter VI – Conclusion ...... 73 Digital Appendix ...... 76 Bibliography ...... 77

Chapter I – Introduction

The hashtag #MeToo has gone viral after an actress and activist, Alyssa Milano, tweeted “Me Too. Suggested by a friend: ‘If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too.’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” The overwhelming support resulted in the instant virality following its initiation on October 15, 2017; overnight, the hashtag has been used over 53 thousand times (CBS News 2017). The conversation introduced by the hashtag spread over to more than 85 countries and has been translated into other languages permitting its speedy travel across the continents and cultures. The media attention has been instantly directed towards the hashtag as a social movement. The formalization can be seen as an extension of the dual intention which is embedded within the #MeToo.

Firstly, it builds upon the publicity against Harvey Weinstein who was accused of sexual misconduct earlier that month. Secondly, the hashtag aims to expose the gravity and persistence of sexual harassment as a continuous problem. Its outreach is largely defined through its linguistic framing of the hashtag #MeToo as a message of solidarity, understanding and, crucially, association. Gilbert (2017) exposes that “for a long time, most women defined their own sexual harassment and assault…as something unspoken, something private, something to be ashamed of acknowledging.” (n.p.) It has been noted that the feminists since the 1960s to 1970s gave applauded the individualization of the narrative by promoting personal as political (Schuster 2017). The discursive activism throughout the third wave of feminism has been a touchstone of the progress towards women’s equality, essentially characterized as the ‘everyday feminism’ movement. Multiple feminist initiatives on Twitter, such as #WhyIStayed, #YesAllWomen, #YouOKSis and others, have similarly targeted the production of the alternative stories that “challenge the stock stories, and offer ways to interrupt the status quo to work for change.” (Dimond et al n.p.)

Yet, the social value generated by hashtag activism has come under severe scrutiny amongst the academics. The principal question revolves around the unmeasurable and, consequently, misunderstood potential to generate the active transformation to the targeted unfavorable condition. Typically, the conflicting factor is presented as the lack of the long-term engagement and active offline commitment, which is usually denoted as clicktivism. The researchers such as Evgeny Morozov (2009) have long been pre-occupied with the understanding why the Internet does not permit development of the coherent social movements or collective action.

For instance, one of the central questions addressed by the researcher exposes “Do they really expect that their “slacktivism” – a catchy new word that describes such feel-good but useless Internet activism – would have some impact?” (Morozov 13). To justify and theorize the importance of hashtag activism, the researchers have focused on the attempts to expose the amplifying (Barisione et al 2017) potential to the message and the organizational (Bennett and Segerberg 2012) potential for the coherent social movement formation. Both approaches typically highlight the impact of the hashtag activism on the external movement, rather than assessing the authentic and unique elements of the digitally facilitated activism.

The importance of the hashtag has been reviewed in the context of the institutional association that has been made following the outbreak of the hashtag. Since 2006, the Me Too Movement Organization was founded by Tarana Burke. The institution aimed “to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly young women of color from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing.” (Me Too Movement Organization, n.p.) Despite dealing with the same problem, the link between the organization and the hashtag was established in the prescriptive manner. Alyssa Milano was made aware of the earlier initiative only a few days after the hashtag momentum was gained. The initiator of the hashtag acknowledged Burke’s contribution by proclaiming her the founder of the movement. The announcement resulted in conceptualizing the hashtag as a movement and simultaneously establishing association to an organization. Therefore, the complex positioning and structure of the hashtag proposes an interesting scope for understanding collectivity and identity of the movement, within an outside of the institutional bounds.

1.1 Why do the Narratives Matter?

Can one encapsulate the significance of the hashtag activism only as a tool to amplify the social movement organization? This research aims to explore the assumption that the social media platforms transform themselves into the sites of the social struggle, rather than simply equipping its users. Our understanding of the world around us is largely dependent on the narratives that are created, told, and subsequently retold. Eric Selbin (2010) proposes that “it is reasonable to assume that these same stories might exist not ‘simply’ to report on that condition but as catalysts for changing it” (26). The author’s statement draws on the dual intention implanted in the narratives: their informational capacity and the element of agency that can potentially provoke and encourage change. Indeed, “historically, storytelling has been used in many social movements, and, in particular, anti-racist movements” (Dimond et al n.p.).

Dimond and others (2013) particularly highlight that people’s actions are often driven and inspired by these social and cultural elements that are embedded within the plots. Therefore, the agency embedded in the narrative shapes the repertoire for action and to a large extent determines the significance of the movement. With the rapid technological and infrastructural developments, the process of the narration has been digitalized and its potential, in turn, extended. Primarily, if one considers the process of storytelling as “how people learn and exercise agency” (Dimond et al n.p.), the emphasis on the user generated content and the growth of the social media platforms exhibit an extension of the opportunities for narration and adaptation of agency. For Shaw (2012) this exhibits the active extension of discursive activism. Specifically, the social media platforms enable mediation of space and opportunity for creating, distributing and re-sharing of these stories. Yet, more crucially, the social media platforms permit collective co-creation of the narrative, due to the presence of the low barriers of entry.

The hashtag activism due to its construction and implementation is one of the most appropriate types of digital activism to review in the light of the analytical feature of a narrative. This activism branch implies the use of the structural marker “#” combined with a word or a phrase to spread the message about the social phenomenon or injustice. It is used in a hope to generate support for the cause or expose the gravity of the problem in question. While multiple social media platforms adapted the use of hashtags, Twitter remains the principal landscape for hashtag activism, particularly due to its technical and social centering around the generation of the global conversation, independent of follower and followee dynamics. Apart from entering the conversation, the users of the platform are also invited to review the conversation in isolation from the general flow of tweets. It provides a strong narrative-like character to the exchange. The visibility is simultaneously granted to the users, issues, as well as to the chronological development of the conversation. These parts imitate the fundamental parts of the traditional narrative.

Nevertheless, the narrative remains under-researched and is often taken for granted. The selective emphasis has created a substantial gap in the digital activism and particularly in the hashtag activism related research. As Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) address “comparatively little research has concerned itself with issues of collective identity and connected forms of expressive, rather than instrumental communication” (865). This thesis attempts to explore these breaches by adopting narrative as both an analytical tool and a metaphor for the construction of hashtag activism. This study proposes reviewing Twitter as a network for formation of a digital narrative that is framed through the expressive means of the participants

5 that may or may not initiate offline action but remains a prominent way to challenge the social or political injustice. In Shaw’s (2012) perspective, this very quality defines the discursive activism as a separate and viable form of protest. Evaluation of the hashtags in terms of discursive activism therefore can expose the undervalued attributes of the digital movements and encourage the research in similar direction.

1.2 Research Questions

This research aims to challenge the clicktivist and slacktivist appreciation of hashtag activism, through the assessment of the hashtag’s narrative as a central predisposition for facilitation of the socio-cultural movement. This research aims to investigate how the sense of collectivity arises as a result of co-creation of the narrative over time. The central focus revolves around the question: how does understanding of the narratives grant the importance to the hashtag activism? Through the assessment of the separate sub-questions this research hopes to establish the implications of narrative structure and the translatability of the ‘story’ as the main determining factors in the assessment of its significance.

1. How is the narrative of the hashtag #MeToo framed over time?

By understanding the main conceptual blocks of the narrative over time, the research aims to assess the influential factors that constitute users understanding of the story. Specifically, the aim is to debark the changes in character and the presentation of the problem and to evaluate how the hashtag adopts to the changes and reinforces its persistence as part of the socio-cultural discourse.

2. How does the narrative enhance understanding of collectivity in hashtag activism?

By assessing the association to and from the narrative, the research aims to portray the consciousness-building significance that is embedded within the hashtag activism. Through the analysis of the framing and the conceptualization of the problem, this study attempts to also expose how the narrative in term is capable of framing institutional agenda in turn. It specifically inquires how the hashtag activism alternates the collective identity within the established in Me Too Movement Organization to expose the deep affectionate character that the narrative possesses.

1.3 Research Approach and Organization

This study builds on the previously conducted studies by academics such as Yang (2016), Siapera and others (2018), Dimond and others (2013) who acknowledge the agentic importance of narratives and further address the activist potential that is beheld within such construction with a potential for movement formation and organization. The research will first address the Theoretical Framework (Chapter II) within which the question is explored. It will introduce the concepts that are central to the discussion of the narrative agency and narrative construction within the socio-technical setting. It will also target the importance of the narratives to the socio-cultural building of the identity. Through the acknowledgements of the concepts such as socio-technical system, hybrid media, affective publics, mass media logic, collective identity the complexity of the digital narration is explored, and the networked framing processes are addressed. The primary focus is to understand the discursive activism and its socio-technical construction as the premise for effective and affective narration.

Then, the detailed Methodology section (Chapter III) will be reviewed to denote the methodological approach and the practical execution of the data analysis. Twitter, as a social media platform, does not only permit the collective co-creation of the narrative, but it also archives the process of the digital story-telling though the use of the platform metrics. The access to the data through the Digital Methods Initiative Twitter Capture and Analysis Toolset (DMI T-CAT), developed by Borra and Rieder (2014), enables understanding of the evolving nature of the conversation and the emerging narrative. By assessing the peak points, also referred to as the climactic points, the research constructs progression evident in the development of the plot over time. By addressing the studies conducted by Venturini and others (2017) to understand the potential of storytelling using networks and the Agent Network Theory (Latour 2005) to assemble the social, this thesis aims to expand our appreciation of the digital storytelling and narration within the context of issue mapping. The research will also address the traditional means of narration, by assessing the linguistic constructions that are evident using the most frequent words used in the narrative and the most influential messages in the form of the retweets. This initiative attempts to contextualize the findings and understand the popular framing of the narrative on Twitter, particularly through the references to the linguistic, cultural and external influences present or discussed. Then, the Case Study (Chapter IV) which will address individual elements of the research in the chronological order predetermined by the climactic points in the data set of the hashtag #MeToo. Based on the

7 observations evident in the Case Study, the research will then observe the patterns of framing and significance of the in the wider context in the Discussion (Chapter V). The research will present the arguments that direct the significance of the narration and the observation of its translation into the other dimensions. Finally, the research significance, limitations and opportunities for future researchers are addressed in the Conclusion (Chapter VI).

Chapter II – Literature Review

Through the appreciation of the previously conducted research around the topic of hashtag activism and hashtag movements, this chapter aims to position the narrative as the primary compositional element within the hashtag activism. The literature review helps to articulate the research gap that has been formed due to the overwhelming persistence of the offline mobilization as the defining factor in the evaluation of effect and significance behind this mode of protest. On the contrary to the evaluation of the aforementioned amplifying and organizational opportunities granted by the hashtag activism, this literature review will decompose the hashtag’s narrative as the articulation of the discursive activism (Shaw 2012), which according to Clark (2016) stands at the core of the social movement’s roots.

The structural elements of the narrative will be contextualized within the socio-technical composition of the narrative. Particularly, this chapter aims to expose the technicalities of the Twitter as a platform for generation and deduction of the narrative. Furthermore, the social contextualization of the social media platform will address the ideas of the affective publics proposed by Papacharissi (2016) and circulation of public opinion as the premise or the reaction-based response (Barisione et al 2017) embedded within the use of the hashtag. This part will culminate in understanding the social construction behind the technical aspects of the platform and the evidently adapted theory of the mass media logic.

To further debark the approach towards the hashtag activism as a viable form of protest with an outstanding expressive and consciousness-building significance, the attention will be shifted towards the issues of empowerment, participation and the formation of the collective identity. The research also turns to means behind theorizing the significance of the narratives in the context of hashtag activism. It will further regard these constructions on the basis of cultural aspects that are also evident in this branching of digital activism. Hence, this chapter is aimed at exploring the complexity of the questions imposed by this research while simultaneously presenting an opportunity for the operationalization of the research and navigation through the imposed complexities.

2.1 The Power of Hashtag Activism

Castells (2007) understands the communication to rear the political power within the social media platforms. In his view, “communication and information” (Castells 238) are essential in

9 appreciating the developing communicative power derived from the hashtag movements. Thus, the opportunities for communication and association embedded within the social media platforms often are placed at the center of the academic attention, especially within the inquiry of hashtag activism. However, the concern typically addresses the organization of the narration, rather than the message that evolves through it. One of the most influential theories of the Connective Action, proposed by Bennett and Segerberg (2012), targets the network as a stipulation of communication. The fundamental focus of the theory is constructed around the understanding and theorizing the pattern of connectivity and the way it differs from the organizations that adhere to the traditional collective action. Whereby, the online protest evolves into “more personalized, digitally mediated collective action formations have frequently been larger; have scaled up more quickly; and have been flexible in tracking moving political targets and bridging different issues.” (Bennett and Segerberg 742)

The theorists, such as Dean (2003) and Bennett (2003), also attempt to address the complexity of network as an articulation of the public space. While both studies were conducted prior to shifting emphasis towards the user-generated input, the contestation of the public sphere remains relevant until today. Yet again, the theorization addresses the space as the location for engagement while attempting to equate it to the Habermesian understanding of the public sphere. Bennett (2003) turns to this concept as the concluding remark to expose the overlapping potential between communication and activism. He claims that “the rise of distributed electronic public spheres may ultimately become the model for public information in many areas of politics, whether establishment or oppositional” (Bennett 165). Dean (2003) urges to explore the ideological concept instead, as opposed to seek for literal enactment of the Habermesian public sphere. While Dean’s article will be referred in the later section of this chapter in more detail, it is necessary to grasp the ongoing emphasis on the opportunity for participation and the organization of the space at the center of the research. Consequently, it intensifies the “mobilization tradition of analysis of social movements” (Gerbaudo and Treré 866) that focus on the effectiveness of the hashtag movements, while undermining the affective quality of the construction. These notions are perceived as the translatable unit into the traditional offline activism, and particularly into the social movement theory.

On the contrary, Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) challenge the focus of the exclusively effective and measurable qualities of the hashtag activism. The researchers address that “it obscures the symbolic and cultural aspect inherent in social media activism and in protest communications more generally.” (Gerbaudo and Treré 865) The same concern is addressed in the work of

Barisione and others (2017) formalize this issue as the “conceptual void” (2) in the field of digital activism. These statements address the fallacy behind the rigid theorization of the tactics, which undermine the expressive aspect that is inherent in the activism. Gerbaudo and Treré’s (2015) statement attempts to redefine the approach to the social movements theory by advocating “collective identity” (865) as a vital construction, which persists even in the online contexts. The researchers oppose the quick dismissal of the collective identity of the premises of the connective logic. Instead Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) aim to explore the affective character of the mobilization and the facilitation of the mutual sense of collectiveness. Poletta and Jasper (2001) argue that “since the mobilization does not always require preexisting collective identities, activists’ efforts to strategically “frame” identities are critical in recruiting participants” (291). Therefore, the expressive factors that dominate the discourse are crucial for understanding the origins, incentives for action, strategy and cultural interference (Poletta and Jasper 2001).

Moreover, the reviewal of the narrative formulated through the discursive activism feeds into the origin of the social movement theory. Indeed, “hashtag’s narrative logic—its ability to produce and connect individual stories—fuels its political growth” (Clark 789) and subsequently stimulates the “affect in political participation” (Shaw 41). Shaw’s (2012) understanding of the discursive activism stems from Fine (1992) who defines discursive activism as “speech or texts that seek to challenge opposing discourses by exposing power relations within these discourses, denaturalizing what appears natural” (Shaw 42). The reviewal of the collective identity on the premises of the discursive activism with an adoption the metaphoric understanding of the hashtag activism as the storytelling technique and facilitation of the narrative, permits to inquire within the proposed frames of the collectivity. As a result, the adoption of the narrative perspective enables to review the process of the storytelling as an act of activism in itself, while addressing the product of hashtag activism – the narrative as a building block within the collective identity with a real impact on the construction of the social movement.

2.2 The Socio-Technical Narration

The narratives are created and distributed through the complex socio-technical interplay which defines its digital nature. Niederer and van Dijck (2010) address the understanding of the sociotechnical system as “the intricate collaboration between human users and automated content agents” (1368). However, when speculating the topic of the repertoire of action, this

11 assumption can be extended to the logic in narration: that which is driven by the direct affordances of the platform and that which results from through the social interpretations of the technical set of actions. Papacharissi’s (2012) commitment to the “performative props” (1992) in the article “Without You, I’m Nothing: Performances of the Self of Twitter” suggest that the technicality of the platform presents a crucial factor in the structure and distribution of the stories. It mirrors the theory proposed by the American psychologist James Jerome Gibson (1979) who initiated the term affordances.

The theory is built on the idea that “the affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill” (Gibson 127). Thus, the opportunity for building the collective identity and action frame stems from the “social relationships [that] are formed within the context of a pre-existing habitus of practices.” (Papacharissi 1991) The understanding of the furnishing equips the animal with the necessary tools for utilization of the physical context (Gibson 1979), such as one created through Twitter. boyd (2010) further builds on this statement by exposing that the “architecture shapes and is shaped by the practice in mediated environments just as physical spaces” (58) which further denotes the nature of the socio-technical relationship in the construction of the narratives. It parallels the suggestion that there is a “complementary of the animal and the environment” (Gibson 127). Hence, the technical features permit certain range of activities; however, the interpretation of those functions stems also from their social enactment. This, in turn provides a more sophisticated repertoire of actions, that may have been permitted but not necessarily deliberately purposed through the technological design. Papacharissi (2016) also refers to this potential as the “understanding social media as structures of feeling, as soft structure of storytelling, [which] permits us to examine them as soft structures of meaning-making practices that may be revolutionary” (15). The emphasis on the “soft” structures mirrors the extent to which the technical composition is mended with the social application.

Researchers such as Yang (2016) argue that Twitter’s technical design formulates the discursive appreciation of the hashtag activism. Primarily, the research focuses on the creation of the time frames embedded within the social media platform. The sequencing of the tweets mirrors the convention that the “narrative form accounts for the progression from beginning through middle to an end” (Yang 13). Applying Yang’s literary hypothesis on the case study can therefore derive the plot within the narrative formed through hashtag activism. Clark (2016) further justifies this observation through the application of “three stages of McFanrland’s Turner-inspired model of analysing the dramatic qualities of collective action –

12 breach, crisis and re-integration – [which] parallel the plot elements of beginning, middle and end.” (793) Papacharissi (2012) highlights that the temporal sequencing resembles the storytelling within which the user seeks for his or her own place. The author refers to this phenomenon as “saturating the self” (Papacharissi 1992) whereby the performativity of entering the narration is pre-assumed through the construction of the plot.

However, it is not only the structural affordances that are exhibited through the hashtag activism on Twitter. As argued by Milan (2015) hashtag activism is driven by the “personalized yet universal narratives: this hashtag-style collective narrative is flexible real time, and crowd controlled.” (6) Through the permission of the indexing of the user-generated input in the form of Tweets, the narrative develops through different points of entry. Papacharissi (2016) addresses this technological phenomenon as the personalization of the narrative, which inevitably leads to the facilitation of the “story of stories” (10) as part of the narrative’s composition. Additionally, the composition is not centralized as denoted by Bennett and Segerberg (2012), rather it is enhanced through popularity and the dissemination of the messages. The horizontalizm and low barriers of entry prevent the controlled development of the story due to the lack of strong hierarchical structure. The “real time” (Milan 6) aspect addressed here, also denotes the potential offline-inspired framing that may come into the interplay when evaluating the compositional elements of the narrative. The situatedness of the hashtag in here and now exposes its ability to address those changes instantly, if the users have an incentive to do so. In that sense, the narrative is not only personalized, but is “crowd controlled.” (Milan 6)

Even the structural marker itself becomes a frame of reference within the storytelling evident on Twitter. Papacharissi (2016) argues that the structural marker of the hashtag is not an empty signifier, but the enactment of the structural and symbolic process. Considering such observation in the case of the hashtag #MeToo, the linguistic element presupposes certain actions of the hashtag through the combination of words. While the phrase does not accentuate the scandal which has sparked the use of the hashtag, it denotes an element of solidarity, appropriation and association that are carried within the phrase. Barisione and others (2017) also highlight that “using a hashtag can be seen as an explicit attempt to address an imagined community of users” (4). Therefore, there is socio-technical interplay evident in the hashtag activism, whereby the function is combined with the social implication to unite the users around the issue or topic. Simultaneously, the use of the structural marker is seen as an invitation for co-creation and the framing of in-groupness through its adoption.

2.3 Affective Publics

Still, reviewing the socio-technically enhanced affordances of the platform fails to elaborate on the conditions that are influencing the construction and the content of the narrative. Building on the affective scope introduced earlier in this chapter, it is necessary to further build on the social setting within which the hashtag activism develops. Papacharissi’s (2016) claim about the “soft structure of storytelling” (15) emphasizes the flexible character of the narration that can be enacted through the story. While it builds on the programmability of the platform, it also ensures the opportunity for re-interpretation. Many researchers have addressed the potential of the Internet and social media to offer publicness to the debates, controversies and social issues. The ability to contest issues has lead to the adaptation of the Habermasian construction of the public sphere within the debates. The visibility permits problematization of discourse without localizing it through the organization or individual; it carries the connotation as a problem for all (Baer 2015). Baer’s (2015) understanding of the construction stems from the elevated opportunity for the users to join the conversation.

On the other hand, Jodi Dean (2003) argues that the absolution of the public sphere model is inapplicable to the online realm. While the formation of network may incorporate public-like elements embedded such as “common concern, matters that are contested and about which it seems necessary to reach a consensus” (Dean 95), the platforms and the discourses retain “exclusionary dimensions” (Dean 96) that challenge the taken for granted entry homogeneity in Baer’s (2015) arguments. Indeed, even when the users have the opportunity to enter, their active presence and visibility is not guaranteed on the premises of the network. According to the study conducted by Hunt (2016) the participants of the digital movements often have different self-reflection on the participatory mode: some participants have referred to themselves as “shadow” (115), while others considered themselves “messengers” (115). The finding of this study “indicated the powerlessness each activist felt within her own respective network” (Hunt 115), thereby exposing the matter of self-reflection when analysing the space inhibited by the users. In Dean’s (2003) perspective the different extent and ability to participate in the network constitutes the primary idea of a group. By definition, a group implies selectivity and there does not conform to the Habermasian understanding of public. Indeed, Dean’s (2003) observation concludes that the in-group dynamic can be regarded as the collectives that are driven by interest. Thus, the technical infrastructure cannot account for user

14 dynamics that function not in the open and homogenous fashion but remain a subject to social selection.

Also, Dean (2003) proposes that the idea of public is treated as an abstract concept open to critique and opposition, as its ideology is useful in formulating the appreciation for the technical design and social adaptation. Understanding the Internet as a “zero-institution” (105), encapsulates the opportunity for the affective framing. It provides the “paradoxical combination of singularity and collectivity, collision and convergence. It brings people together both the unity and the split, both the hope and the antagonism, the imaginary and the real in one site” (Dean 106). Papacharissi (2016) further transformed the understanding of the one- space-for-all. Through her introduction to the affective publics, that refer to “public formations” (Papacharissi 4), she addresses the content that is “affective in nature” (Papacharissi 4). The affective publics retain the political character proposed through the traditional understanding of the public sphere, but they simultaneously expose the motivation to participation, creative input and initiate an additional structural element to the narration as a result (Papacharissi 2016).

Barisione, Michailidou and Airoldi (2017) further attempt to build on the framework by introducing the Digital Movement of Opinion (DMO) framework. As claimed, the “DMO is best represented as a quasi-instant reaction to an event with a very high salience in the global media environment” (Barisione et al 4). The framework highlights the inescapable force of public opinion which is integrated using hashtag activism, however the researchers deny its applicability within the hashtags that shape themselves as the social movements. Yet, understanding the framework as the as the premise for the users to “react” (Barisione et al 2), exposes the different appropriation of the social media platform. In other words, the affective publics permit the “expressive” (Gerbaudo and Treré 865) logic, even if it self-conceptualizes as a movement. Milan’s (2015) commentary that the “experiential” (6) element permits formation of the collective identity, therefore the centrality is further denoted in the affective transmission and understanding of the narrative. While the case study cannot adhere to the DMO framework, it extends the understanding of the social media functions and incentives for user participation, which will be further elaborated later in this chapter.

2.4 Mass Media Logic and the Narrative Implications

Perception of the narrative cannot be only regarded through its affective framing and socio- technical implications. Couldry (2008) understands the digital storytelling as the incorporation

15 of digital formats in the delivery of the narrative. The theorist suggests that the digital storytelling needs to be perceived as the mediatization whereby “certain consistent patters and logics” (Couldry 381) affect the process. The design of the platform itself mirrors and integrates these, which in turn guide the distribution of the narrative and exercises control over the narrative formation. Similarly, the work of van Dijck and Poell (2013) reflects that the control over the narrative is not exclusively “crowd-controlled” (Milan 6), as it has been proposed earlier, but incorporates strong influences from the mass media logic. While it is evident that the certain degree of performativity and visibility is insinuated through the users themselves, the design of the platform pre-determines the value of each individual user through the metric system used within Twitter.

Primarily, van Dijck and Poell’s (2013) argument is based on the observations that the “platform’s metrics are increasingly accepted as legitimate standards to measure and rank people and ideas; these rankings are then amplified through mass media and in turn reinforced by users through social buttons such as following and liking.” (7) Undoubtedly, the statement curates the extent to which the social standing, influence and power are translated into the digital space, and in turn prioritize and highlight elements of the story, rather than being driven by the logic of horizontalizm and low-barriers of entry. Van Dijck and Poell’s (2013) observation is the exposition of the lack of homogeneity which has been spoken earlier in this chapter. The mass media logic embedded within the design of Twitter is one of the most observable obstacles to the utopian appreciation of the generation power. While Castells (2007) argues that the “media is the space for power making, not the source of power holding” (244), there is an element of the pre-decided social influence which gives priority to certain messages over others. Van Dijck and Poell (2013) thus justify the mediation of content using “likeable people” (7) or “superusers” (7), which constricts the co-editing ability of the narrative in hashtag activism.

Stefania Milan (2015), on the other hand, challenges the absolution of the mass media logic in the reviewal of the narrative creation and distribution, on the premises that the user-engagement may challenge the domination of the narrative by the “superusers” (van Dijck and Poell 7). There is a need to acknowledge the multiplicity of influences over the narrative, which this research attempts to recognise through this chapter. However, in reviewing the case of the hashtag #MeToo, the mass media logic cannot be ignored due to the initiation of the movement by an actress and an activism Alyssa Milano and the rooting of the Weinstein scandal in the traditional media. The work of Papacharissi and De Fatima Oliveira (2012) is also sensitive to

16 the issue of the entanglement of the traditional media through the general principals of the mass media logic. According to their study, the narrative embedded in the hashtag activism often resembles the “dominant news story.” (Papacharissi and De Fatima Oliveira 274)

Nevertheless, the implications for distribution of the narrative through Twitter need to be considered and assessed. Primarily, the “stories are differently intelligible, useful, and authoritative depending on who tells them, when, for what purpose, and in what setting” (Polletta 3). Freedman (2017) problematizes the capability of the traditional media to adequately represent the social issue and struggle. Indeed, the researcher is convinced that due to the existent constraints imposed through the governing of the traditional media “we cannot rely on the mainstream media to cover our struggles, indeed to represent our lives as they are lived” (Freedman 126). Rosen’s (2006) adaptation of the metaphor of the passengers “who got a boat of their own” (Rosen n.p.) implies the freeing quality the alternative news channels possess. Returning to the statement earlier addressed by Freedman, the freedom implied through the opposition of mainstream media is derived from the self-representation, authenticity and self-curation of the narrative in the absence of the middlemen such as journalists, editors and sponsors. Instead, the alternation of the medium “makes the form trustworthy” (Polletta 26), whereby the medium becomes a crucial part of the message. These observations also direct a plausible amount of agency in the hands of the storytellers. In other words, the ability to determine the content represents the potential to exercise one’s own agency over the problematization of the concept.

2.5 Participation and Empowerment of Women

Evidently, the definition of agency is not homogenous within the network, due to the blurry definition of the participation in hashtag activism and lack of the formalization of what it entails. The proposition that the public opinion needs to be regarded within the hashtag activism as a vital component (Barisione et al 2017) already pre-determines the need to reassess the issue of participation. In other words, the use of the platform cannot be simply encapsulated by formalization of the users as the activists. Similarly, Julia Schuster (2017) imposes a distinction between a feminist and an activist in her study. The phenomenon is not exclusive to the digital realm and hashtag activism. Schuster (2017) observes that the offline protests and demonstrations also need to re-address the driving force behind participation. Consequently, the modes of hashtag activists cannot be “reduced to either one of these established forms of participation.” (Barisione et al 15) Alternatively, the adaptation of the narrative as a frame of

17 reference avoids the inconsistency of participation to the common denominator of storytelling, other than prescribing labels to the users. As Poletta (2006) assesses through the diversion of the focus towards the narrative and the framing involved in the issue formation one can elaborate on the collective attempt to reconfigure or resolve the social condition, regardless of their self-conceptualization as a feminist, activist, or user.

However, the participation in the hashtag activism remains one of the dominant predispositions in the empowerment of women. Traditionally, the stories about social struggles are “intended to encourage individuals with similar experiences and to let them know they are not alone” (Schuster 655). The quantity which defines the visibility of the discourse on Twitter, yields visibility to the issues that may not be actively discussed in public. Clark (2016) observes the extent to which based on this premise the societal taboos are challenged. Similarly, Baer (2015) argues that “using the digital to make visible the global scarce of gender oppression and to link feminist protest movements across national borders, these actions exemplify central aspects of digital feminism today.” (18) By vocalizing the uncomfortable and unspoken struggles, women often attempt to provide the element of comfort and reassurance, as well as provide the precedent to speak against the social condition experienced. The organizations that deal with the cases of sexual misconduct often highlight the importance of demolishing the impression of solitude experienced by the victims. The studies have shown that through the act of narrating, the victims are able to deliberate and reclaim their power. Indeed, a common denominator in these stories was challenging the position of the victim: the narratives curate the victim emerging “from powerlessness and passivity to insight, enlightenment, and self-deliberation” (Polletta 16). The researcher addresses this moment as transcendence over the victimhood, which points out the way in which the power is regained from the act of narrating. Additionally, the assumption that those who have experienced the traumatic condition obtain the “knowledge that is superior” (Polletta 29) further feeds into the trustworthiness of the narrative. These stories also heighten the potential of the story be reviewed “as widespread and as persuasive” (Polletta 136). Thus, the discursive and narration space provided by social media platforms such as Twitter, may initiate regaining of the power by those who have previously felt powerless or unheard.

Indeed, the construction of the narrative through hashtag activism permits the “successful feminist hashtag [to] become enduring frames of reference for interpreting and responding to current and future social phenomena” (Clark 801). Therefore, the narrative in the feminist studies encapsulates not only the potential for dynamic co-creation of the story, but it is also

18 utilized as an independent entity that can be translated and used in the future. Clark (2016) is convinced that the de-formalization of organizational structure and lack of direction of the conversation motivate women to join the conversation. Schuster (2017) further coincides the absence of the organizational control to the struggle between the second and third waves of feminism. While the earlier evokes the idea of formal organization and a strong sense of the collective identity, the latter argues that the personal initiates the political. Thus, the feminism saw a shift of attention to the private relationships and personal experiences, as opposed to controlled and rigid forms of participation. Yet, in the reviewing of the narrative logic in hashtag activism, the digital feminism encapsulates elements of the both waves and challenges their mutual exclusivity.

2.7 Framing a Collective Identity

As a result, the social media becomes the space for building the collective identity through the same narrational affordances that enable low barrier of entry as opposed to the formal organizations. As outlined by Polletta (2006) narrative enables “to generate the political analysis of their [women’s] oppression that was the first step to collective action.” (116-117) Alberto Melucci (2003) identifies collective identity as “an interactive and shared definition produced by several individuals … and concerned with the orientations of action and the field of opportunities and constraints in which the action takes place.” (44) In the researcher’s opinion, the collective identity is derived from the “cognitive definitions” (Melucci 44), “active relationships” (Melucci 45) and “emotional investment” (Melucci 45). However, the final product is the result of the constant negotiation of the variables to produce a community with a distinct sense of in-groupness. Understanding the collective in terms of the narrative permits to view the ongoing conflict of negotiations and to explore the formation of the value systems which is addressed in social movement theory (Dimond et al n.p.). Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) actively regard the expressive affordances of the platform as the building block for the collective identity. Their emphasis on the narrative as the means of building of identity is insinuated through the “symbolic and cultural aspect” (Gerbaudo and Treré 866) that is employed in hashtag activism. The symbolism (Polletta 2006, Milan 2015) of the narrative addresses the potential for negotiating or framing the scope of issue formation. It also evokes the principal means for sustaining “groups as they fight for reform, helping them build the collective identities, link current actions to heroic pasts and glorious futures, and restyle setbacks as stations to victory.” (Polletta 3) Polletta’s (2006) statement mirrors Papacharissi’s

(2016) outlook on the soft structures of the social media in which the mediation and self- definition takes place.

Unlike the study of Bennett and Segerberg (2012), the collective identity cannot be simply encapsulated through the logic of connective action and weak-tie relationships. As argued by Milan (2015) the assumption of the automatic, pre-set unity amongst the users cannot encapsulate the formation of the social force. The “personalized and collective narratives” (Milan 1) should be addressed in the understanding of the collective identity and used to understand the repertoire of the collective action. In line with Milan’s (2015) understanding, other researchers have expressed that the collective action should be reviewed as “a set of communication process, involving the crossing of boundaries between private and public life” (Bimber et al 367). The mediation of these boundaries adds to the “experiential” (Milan 6) quality that is embedded in the collective identity. Brown (2006) also claims that the understanding of the narrative is not an assessment of the fiction, as it is often perceived by the researchers, but an inquiry into the “complex, and often fragmented, but suffused with power” (Brown 746) stories that govern both the meaning and the structure.

One of principal ways into looking at the narrative is through the theory of frames. As claimed by Benford and Snow (2000) the frames are the result of the continuous meaning negotiation that takes place in a social movement. Hence, “frames help individuals to interpret individual experiences and guide to action” (Dimond et al n.p.) and thereby constitute an important element in the collective identity and its maintenance over time. In the crowd-sourced environment, however, these frames arise due to the participants imposing certain conditions for interpretation. As pointed out by Benford and Snow (2000), these frames provide an opportunity to simplify “the world out there” (614) and thus provide the necessary elements for understanding the conditions for a social problem. However, the frames are not the static element of reference, as they exist within the “socio-cultural context in which they are embedded” (Benford and Snow 628). Thus, Dimond and others (2013) refer to the opportunity of “frame extension” (n.p.) which further engages with the correlating issues within the formation of a collective. Particularly, the authors observed that “the experience of street harassment” (Dimond et al n.p.) have been coincided “with a greater frame of not being able to participate in public space and the position of women in society in general.” (Dimond et al n.p.) Benford and Snow (2000) also refer to the diagnostic and boundary framing that specifically address the formulation of the issue and “delineate the boundaries between “good” and “evil” and construct movement protagonists and antagonists” (616) respectively.

Therefore, the important aspect of the formulated narrative is the extent to which the formation becomes a “collective representation of “who we are”” (Milan 6). The vitality behind the imposed frames in the building of the narrative is also derived in ‘who we are not’, through the formulation of the inclusiveness and exclusiveness of the narrative.

2.8 Application of the Narratives

The social and cultural significance of the narratives cannot be understood by addressing Twitter as the space for narrative-building or exclusively inquiring the organization of the narrative. It is also important to review several factors that solidify the persistence of the narrative as part of the cultural agenda. The framework proposed by Couldry (2008), which is based on Wuthnow’s arguments, is applied for understanding the narrative’s affective quality and elements that ensure that the story persists and continues to circulate. Couldry (2008) understands Wuthnow’s arguments as the value system within which the digital storytelling is integrated within the wider discourse to increase its endurance. The researcher deliberately appropriates the earlier argument to suit the context of the twenty-first century and the quick transformation of the digital space.

The first measure relates to the institutionalization within the digital storytelling. It goes beyond the scope of the understanding the functionality of the narrative, but also includes the role of the narrator or who is now in control of the story. Secondly, Couldry (2008) highlights the importance of the different “resources and agents” (385) that are interacting in the formation of the digital storytelling. As stated by Bennett (2003) “application of the Internet and other digital media may also affect the internal development of organizations themselves” (159). Therefore, one of the potential ways of exposing the significance of the collective narrative is through reviewing its adaptation in the organizations which are linked to the hashtag in question. The case study of the hashtag #MeToo presents an ideal opportunity to review the integration and re-adaptation of the narrative in the other circumstances which heighten its social impact and applicability. Thirdly, the researcher addresses the potential for “new circuits for the distribution of digital stories” (Couldry 385), which in other words identifies the extent to which the story can be translated in under other social or technical conditions. Lastly, he focuses on the links that are formed to “other fields of practice – education, civic activism, mainstream media production, popular culture generally and politics.” (Couldry 385)

While the proposed framework ignores the individual motivations as part of the narrative’s significance, it insinuates that the narrative’s organization is one of the primary elements for

21 deducing the potential significance that it holds in the socio-cultural context. Furthermore, the proposed questions inquire the ability of the narrative-building being able to compose a compelling plot or a story that can in turn be re-applied in different contexts. While Couldry (2008) does not provide an exhaustive clarification or measurement of the narrative’s importance, it highlights the domains by which one can address the consciousness-building and affective significance of the mediation and mediatization of story. Therefore, this framework will be utilized and addressed in the later chapters to debark on how the hashtag movement constitutes a significant element in the social movement theory.

Chapter III – Methodological Approach

This chapter aims to elaborate upon the practical means of operationalization behind the questions that are imposed in this research. The complexities exposed in Chapter II elevate the need for careful understanding of the formations and the signals that they intend. The first section of this chapter will debark the understanding of the issue mapping in the context of understanding narratives, as both socio-technical and socio-cultural objects. By consulting the works of Latour (2005), Venturini and others (2018), Marres and Weltevrede (2013), Rogers (2013), this study aims to justify the adoption of the issue mapping as an approach for re- narration of the “story of stories” (Papacharissi 10) that are derived from hashtag activism. The tentative attention will be given to the issues of how collection of data through Twitter may enhance and challenge understanding of the narrative and framing tactics that are ongoing and real-time based in Twitter.

The second part of this methodology will link the opportunities of digital cartography and issue mapping to the practical means of understanding the narratives within the boundaries of questions that have been proposed by Couldry (2008). This will further clarify the ability of the individual measures to contribute to the assessment of the narrative structure and the socio- cultural significance of the narrative. By establishing gaps in the study, this chapter will then attempt to readdress the opportunity to utilize other initiatives, such as the Web Archive. Overall, the aim of this methodological approach is to deliberately expose the questions that can be answered by adopting the narrative as not only the metaphor for the construction formed through the hashtag activism, but also as an analytical tool that can be re-constructed and traced.

3.1 Digital Cartography and Issue Mapping

Twitter as a platform performs triple function for understanding hashtag movements and collectivity on the premises of the analytical tool of narratives. Firstly, the socio-technical design permits construction of narratives. It inevitably proposes a set of affordances to the users which permit creative and deliberate co-creation of the thematic story as reviewed in the earlier chapter. Secondly, it represents the story to the wider audience through the means of algorithmic channeling and therefore positions itself as a distribution tool for the narrative. Thirdly, and more importantly within the scope of this research, it permits the re-narration of the narrative on the premises of data collection. The individual input is formatted to construct

23 often extensive and lengthy account of the way that the narrative is formulated by addressing crucial information that can be used in the social studies. Indeed, Twitter as a platform represents an opportunity for “traceability of collective actions” (Venturini et al 2) and “the advent of digital media has increased the quantity and variety of the traces” (Venturini et al 2) which encouraged the development of the digitally enhanced social studies.

Venturini and others (2018) expose that the incorporation of digital methods is only possible when “the investigated phenomenon must be to some extent performed or, at least, reflected in such platforms.” (4) In other words, the incorporation of digital methods to study the social is not a predisposition for all the social movements and phenomena; it is a result of the deliberate inclusion of the digital means in the act of activism itself. In this way, the hashtag #MeToo represents an ideal object of study to be reviewed in the light of the computational turn which is evident amongst the researchers in the last decade (Venturini et al 2018, Marres and Weltevrede 2013). Rogers (2013) emphasizes the distinction between “the natively digital and the digitized” (19) content which appears on the Web. Understanding hashtag activism as the extension of the discursive activism derives from its natively digital character, whereby the entity is formed within its own socio-technical environment. In the light of this statement, the activist issue is not translated to the social media platform, but instead it is the native space for the mediation and contestation of the issue. As a result, incorporation of the digital methods permits to encapsulate the “online groundedness” (Rogers 23) of the narrative within the research.

Due to the focus on the construction and framing of the social-cultural narrative investigating the dynamics and practices of the hashtag activism are central to this research. Venturini (2010) argues that “the cartography of controversies is the exercise of crafting devices to observe and describe social debate.” (258) Venturini’s (2010) work is largely based on Latourian perception that the observation of the digital space is based upon fallacy of the sociologists to prioritize offline contextualization, rather than active assessment of the data itself. Latour (2005) highlights the extent to which the broad notions are used “straight ahead to connect vast arrays of life and history” (22). Renzi and Langlois (2015) point out that Latourian understanding of the digital cartography is applicable when using big data in the research practices. It permits often elaborate ways of descriptive, rather than prescriptive approaches towards the issue formations.

On the other hand, understanding the essentialism behind the drive towards limiting the scope of contextualization proposed by Latour (2005), is not holistically evident throughout this research. This research agrees that the lack of ties to the context should be applicable in the way that the data is collected; whereby, the effect of data discrimination and selectiveness through the means of scraping is limited, as pointed out in the research conducted by Marres and Weltevrede (2013). Furthermore, addressing possible offline presuppositions in data collection may elevate the element of bias and prevent the data from acquiring the central position within the research. Directing the data to support the narrative is therefore inefficient and disbalanced way of assessing the findings. Thus, the data collection and primary ordering of the data should resemble the metaphor adapted by Latour (2005), where the researcher attempts to outline the “foreign coast” (23), as opposed to the drive to furnish the surroundings using the selective data. The processing of this data should be therefore done without the imposition of prior expectation or result that must be achieved.

On the other hand, the researcher’s argument that “the task of defining and ordering the social should be left to the actors themselves” (Latour 23) opposes the observational scope of this research. As Venturini (2010) problematizes the practice of “just observing” (263) that “doesn’t promise anything other than complications and difficulties.” (263) Instead, the emphasis should be placed on actor-networks, where the new network can redefine the pre-existent networks, through the new formation, consequently “redefining the identity of actors” (Venturini 264). Principally, due to the conviction that the hashtag activism functions within the socio-technical system, where both social and technical aspects come into play, the post-data-collection contextualization presents a necessary and crucial step in the later analysis of the data. It helps deducing the social and cultural aspect and influences that serve as clarifications for network formation and understanding its localization within the setting of the offline debates. Rogers (2013) also highlights the importance of this distinction by pointing out that the digital and the analogue do not exist in isolation. The adoption of the narrative as an analytic tool points to the necessity of both appreciating the narrative formation as an independent entity, and simultaneously as socio-culturally mediated construction.

3.2 Quality versus Quantity of Data

The techniques of the issue mapping have been developed for “making sense of the issues, and communicating them” (Rogers et al 9) thereby making the issue mapping an ideal approach towards the narrative formations. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, it is based on the

25 technical predisposition of the digitally operated platforms and websites to gather the large amounts of data, which are often referred to as Big Data. In turn, the job of the analyst revolves around an attempt to organize the little bits and bytes into a coherent narrative. According to Marres and Weltevrede (2013) “it enables a form of ‘live’ social research, in which the formats and life-cycles of online data may lend structure to the analytic objects and findings of social research” (313) thus enabling practical realization of the social research. The scraping of the data has permitted to address “the increasing valorization of instantaneity and liveliness, the drive towards the condensation of the past, present and future in the digital networked media, and the conjuring up of an ‘eternal now’ in this context.” (Marres and Weltevrede 325) Indeed, when reviewing the formation of the narrative over time, the liveliness permits to distinguish the changes within the narrative formation and present comparative issue mapping of the same issue over time.

Yet, simultaneously the researchers propose a viable question in data analysis: “scraping is usually described as a technique for data collection, but isn’t this scraper also analyzing data?” (Marres and Weltevrede 316) Gilterman’s (2013) statement that “raw data is an oxymoron” embedded in the title of the book is extremely important in understanding the pre-determined function of scraping and sorting the data, prior to the analysts own layer of analysis to further encapsulate and contextualize the scope of the information gathered. The current analysis is both enhanced and limited through the standardization of the data collection practices and the pre-defined measures on what it is that will be collected. When dealing with the data collected from the social platforms, one must keep in mind that the infrastructural design of the platform is directing the elements of data that are retrieved. For example, while the data such as user names, hashtags, tweets and sources are easily extractable, other dimensions such as geographical location are not prioritized, which results in the incomplete data set. Twitter’s API further produces levels of restrictions for the collection of data, thereby highlighting the importance of the scrapers and data market in understanding of the digital sociology. In Latourian sense, Twitter should be reviewed as a “mediator [that can] transform, translate, distort, and modify the meaning or elements they are supposed to carry.” (Latour 39) Furthermore, using different digital tools may permit access to different varieties of the information. The scraping tool, therefore, is another gate-keeper that further preprocesses the segments of data that are collected and can be analyzed.

Additionally, the Big Data itself proposes often a problematic scope for the social researchers and data analysts. As pointed out by Venturini and others (2018) “exhaustiveness is a false

26 ideal in digital research – not only because there are just too many digital traces out there for researchers to hope to seize them all but also – and more importantly – because extending one’s coverage may produce more noise than signal” (16). Rogers (2013) similarly upholds Venturini and others’ (2018) commentary that there is often a quantity versus quality debate in data analysis. The extensive quantity does not always guarantee the quality of the data which is accessed. Therefore, when accessing the Big Data it is necessary to prioritize certain elements over the others in an attempt to direct the research and make it feasible. To establish the assessment of signals rather than noise in the narration of the hashtag #MeToo, the research will focus on the peak periods in which the climactic points of the narration are evident. Furthermore, the data collected will also be minimized on the premises of heightened co- occurrence to enable generation of traits, rather than expose the holistic picture of all narrational aspects. As a result, the data reviewed in the Case Study (see Chapter IV) is not Big Data, but rather its sample, that can be addressed as the medium-sized data.

3.3 Digital Tools and Operationalization

3.3.1 DMI T-CAT

For the purposes of the operationalization of the issue mapping in the context of the #MeToo, Digital Methods Initiative’s Twitter Capture and Analysis Toolset (DMI T-CAT) developed by Eric Borra and Bernhard Rieder (2014) is utilized, as opposed to the use of the commercial data collectors. As stated by the developers, it is “an open-source, freely available data capture, and analysis platform for the Twitter micro blogging service.” (Borra and Rieder 263) The DMI T-CAT tool allows access to the data-sets that are collected through the hashtag(s) or user(s). The data-set “metoo” is used in this research; it is collected through the scraping of the #MeToo specifically and it has gathered over 7 million tweets at the time of operationalization of the research. While #MeToo has spread to other platforms, only Twitter’s data is retrieved to narrate the framing of the story and the consequent implication on the collective identity. Symbolically, the platform has been the starting point of the movements. In addition, independent of the follower and followee dynamic, the analysis of the hashtag use on Twitter enables the correlation of an open and horizontal entering points in the narrative. Unlike other platforms, such as Facebook, the network created on Twitter through the use of hashtags is less formal (Borra and Rieder 2014). While Facebook permits adoption of ‘open’ groups that do not require high levels of formality in joining the group, there is a more evident hierarchy of

27 human actors such as the creators of the page or moderators who often formalize the scope of the group through the description.

The starting point for the scraping and creation of the data-set is 18th of October 2017, which is three days after the hashtag #MeToo was adopted. The gap does not necessarily impose a problem on the operationalization of the research, as it has been described earlier in this chapter, rather than using the big data concept, this research will attempt to sample the climactic points of the data-set instead. The climactic points were deduced from the start of the dataset until 17 of April 2018, the date when the research was taking place. Therefore, the starting point still manages to capture the first peak in the data set, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Overview of the MeToo Data-set. Captured 17.04.2018. Source: DMI T-CAT Adopting the Latourian approach, the important peaks in the formation of the narrative are deduces from the overview of the data-set (Figure 1), rather than through the selection of the specific dates that have been addressed in media as the climactic points for the movement. Subsequently, the course of the hashtag narrative was divided into four different time slots by addressing the peaks that reached over 120,000 tweets. The individual time periods are presented in the following Table 1.

Table 1: Sample of the Data-set

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 18 October 2017 – 5 December 2017 – 7 January 2018 – 8 March 2018 – 21 October 2017 8 December 2017 10 January 2018 11 March 2018

Again, the snapshot-based structure of this research enables to expose the extent to which framing of the issue is a dynamic process. It addresses the aforementioned “liveliness” (Marres and Weltevrede 325) of the issue formations and at the same time adheres to the potential of the frame extension addressed in Chapter II.

As the central aim of this research is to oppose the clicktivist logic of the hashtag activism through the analytical approach towards the socio-cultural narrative, Couldry’s (2008) analysis of the mediation of the narrative will be used to understand the construction and the framing of the entity in question. The institutionalization of the narrative and the agency of storytelling in hashtag activism will be reviewed through the premises of the Social Graph by Mentions. It will enable the analysis to explore the users that are associated with the conversation and deduce how their presence is framing the issue itself. The data of the top 500 mentioned users is collected and processed for each individual period specified in Table 1. Furthermore, the Social Graph by Mentions permits to observe the interactive patters between the users. These layers of analysis will also aid debarking of the other field of practice which Couldry (2008) addresses as a crucial factor in the development of the socio-culturally successful story.

However, on the premises of the Co-Hashtag analysis, the issue formations will be even more evident and contextualized. By observing the cluster formations and their composition, the Co- Hashtag analysis enables to assess the framing query imposed through this research. The hyperlinking practices that Rogers (2013) regards as the “politics of association” (39) portray the extent to the observation of the associations between the elements permit closer analysis of the issue network as a whole. For the purposes of visualization of the different clusters of issues, the #MeToo was deleted from all the co-hashtag data-sets used. It enables clearer portrayal of the different communities of hashtags by eradicating a node that pulls the other nodes closer within the design of the Force Atlas 2. Due to the design of the query, it is obvious that the hashtags relate to #MeToo, thus it is more insightful to address how different issues are articulated using other hashtags. In addition, the coloring of the nodes was done through the statistical measure of Modularity class. This measure is designed to distinguish between the communities of hashtags. These layers of analysis will be addressed through the issue mapping aided by Gephi, the “leading visualization and exploration software for all kinds of graphs and networks” (Gephi n.p.). The Giant Component is utilized for all of the graphs in order to deduce concrete and central links rather than focus on all of the elements, thereby exposing the connected elements within the narrative. For all of the network graphs exposed in Chapter IV, please see the Digital Appendix.

Furthermore, the contextual analysis of the data provided by DMI T-CAT is further debarked. The word frequency is visualized using the WordArt software, to expose the 200 most frequently used words in Tweets. The sizing of the words is correlated to their frequency within the individual sampled periods. This type of analysis is carried out to expose the level of the linguistic framing of the issue. It also aims to address the self-conceptualization of the hashtag as a collective identity through the focus on the self-depiction through the collective personal pronouns as opposed to singular person and generally vocabulary that relates to the ideas of a movement or a collective. The data was cleared of the filler words such as the articles, prepositions, modal verbs prior to its analysis. The foreign words used in the data-set were translated using Google Translate and were represented in English in the visualizations. In addition, the top 10 most retweeted messages were deduced using the Identical Tweet Frequency, to establish the dominant framing of the narrative for each of the periods. Similarly, the tweets in foreign language were translated into English using Google Translate.

3.3.2 Internet Archive’s Way Back Machine

However, the following analysis does not permit to investigate Couldry’s (2008) proposition for the new circuits for redistribution of the narratives. For the purpose of targeting this measure also, the research focuses on the Me Too Movement Organization originated by Tarana Burke that was correlated to the hashtag movement in order to depict the extent to which the narrative is not only institutionalized within, but is also translated into other related contexts. By picking one context, it limits the appreciation of the multitude of translatability, yet still proposes the extent to which the hashtag movement and the formulated narrative are socially and culturally significant even to the existent institution. As argued by Rogers (2013) “with the end of the virtual/real divide, however useful, the Internet may be rethought as a source of data about society and culture” (38). Therefore, adopting this perspective, the observation of differences in the information that is being addressed to the visitors of the website carries crucial exposition of the societal and cultural implications. By addressing these changes one can therefore encapsulate the diversions and change in these aspects. “At the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive, one can type in a single URL, view available pages, and browse them” (Rogers 34) over the time period during which the pages were crawled.

For the purposes of inquiring the link, the data crawled by the Way Back Machine since the 4th of November 2017 was scraped and analyzed to deduce the changes evident in the website’s structure, self-definition and description that is available to the users. On the premises of the

30 distinct periods of the website’s design, the manual comparison was carried out. This part of research, however, cannot be encapsulated within the proposed time-frames in Table 1, instead this research addresses the time-periods depending on the changes in the website, which are then correlated to the other findings in the next chapter.

Chapter IV – The Case Study

For the purposes of analyzing data and formulating the observations within the narrative structure and composition over time, the data gathered from T-CAT was reviewed by period in this chapter. The periods addressed in the earlier chapter (see Table 1) are now also provided with a descriptive title. These titles derive from the data, whereby the narrative is contextualized in a certain momentum that they address. This analysis is then followed by the data retrieved from the Way Back Machine software, as the changes in the website’s design do not correlate necessarily with the determined peaks within the DMI T-CAT data-set. Again, this does not impose an obstacle for the research, as this digital method is applied in order determine the significance of the narrative, rather than its active construction of the story in the hashtag activism. The final section of this chapter summarizes the most important findings of this research in the preparation for further discussion in Chapter V.

4.1 Period 1 – The Problem of Sexual Harassment

The first period, reviewed using the data from the DMI T-CAT, exposes the strong attempt of the users to articulate the issue and define the problem that has sparked the outburst of the hashtag. The narrative is largely dependent on the articulation of the scandal that has initiated the hashtag, thus exposing the extent to which reaction-based response drives the narration at the initial stage. The Co-Hashtag analysis was carried out to observe the thematic co- occurrences of the hashtags in the conversation. To represent the more prominent communities, the topological filter ‘Giant Component’ was used. In the first co-hashtag analysis the Giant Component filter exposes only the 2.29% of the nodes suggesting that there is a relatively small interconnected community of hashtags. However, the small community of hashtags is equally telling as it exposes the most persistent correlating hashtags to the hashtag #MeToo, as evident in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Co-Hashtag Analysis - Period 1. Settings applied: Scaling 500; Gravity 1.0; Node Size – Degree 1-150; Label Size - Degree 3-17; Node Colour – Partition by Modularity class; Giant Component – 2.29% nodes; no edges. The centrality of the nodes ‘harveyweinstein’ and ‘weinstein’ exposes the prominence of Harvey Weinstein within the network. This impression is further reinforced through the large sizing of the nodes which depicts frequent co-occurrence with the other hashtags in the network. Through the colour partition established on the premises of the modularity class, the correspondence of the purple colour is closely linked to the scandal that prompted Alyssa Milano to initiate the hashtag. Other nodes, such as ‘hollywood’, ‘rosearmy’, ‘alyssamilano’, ‘news’ expose the prevalence of the conversation to relate back to the mediatized events following the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, thus suggesting strong media framing of the narrative. Yet, simultaneously within the same modularity cluster there is an ongoing reference to the problem of the sexual harassment. Nodes such as ‘rapeculture’,

‘sexualharrassment’, and ‘sexualassault’ expose the primary issue that is being addressed within the hashtag #MeToo narrative.

The formation of the green-colored cluster exposes the language alternation of the hashtag #MeToo itself. While Figure 2 does not expose the edges in order to improve readability of the graph, it is interesting that amongst all of the nodes, the green cluster is more intensely interconnected between the individual elements. As shown in Figure 3, one understands the strong co-occurrence that has been formed between the hashtags in this section. The strong association between the victims exposes the extent to which the hashtag activism is also strongly centered around acknowledging and standing with the victims of the sexual harassment. The integration of the node ‘mentoomen’, also addresses attempt to focus not solely on the women as the definition of a victim, but to further expand the typical appreciation of the problem. However, gender-specification evident within the title of the node exposes the extent to which the victimhood is largely revolved around a woman and because of that there is an active indexing of the problem as part of men’s concern also.

Figure 3: Zooming in on Figure 2 {with edges)

While the query of the data-set is exclusively focused on the English worded hashtag #MeToo, there is an interesting global penetration of the network. It is persistently established through the co-occurrence of the foreign language hashtags with the English version, as well as combination of different language hashtags in one tweet. While the foreign language conversations are not necessarily centralized as shown in Figure 2, it still is largely connected within the Co-Hashtag analysis. These findings expose a crucial global contribution within the narrative.

These associations are less formulated through the framing of the scandal, but they incorporate the symbolism of the network. As evident in the green cluster shown in Figure 3 one can observe the node ‘myharveyweinstein’. This node corresponds to the depiction previously spoken about in this section, whereby the scandal is one of the leading components of the narrative. However, this node proposes an additional layer of internalization of the scandal by the users, whereby Harvey Weinstein becomes not only an active topic of the discussion, but an ongoing symbol within the network. Therefore, despite the global repositioning of the narrative, these symbolic frames within the narrative further propose understanding of the problem of sexual violence within the frames of the scandal. Additionally, the presence of this node highlights the extent to which the victims of sexual harassment or abuse embed the association to the celebrities in their own input within the digital storytelling. Simultaneously, it exposes the willingness of the users to associate with celebrities in order to review their own experience.

Simultaneously, the indexing of the more interconnected elements of the conversation address the conversation-based formation of the narrative. Particularly, this is evident from the orange cluster in the network as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Zooming in Figure 2 (with edges)

The orange cluster targets the response to the issue, rather than the problematization of the issue itself. It seeks to respond to the victims through the hashtags such as ‘ibeliveyou’, ‘howwillichange’ and ‘ihearyou’. Therefore, the reactions that are evident within the narration are not necessarily all based upon the scandal; they also integrate the response to the use of the

35 hashtag #MeToo itself. The build up of the hashtag community is done not through the reaction to the scandal, but through the outbreak of sexual harassment as a largely mediatized issue. This point highlights the extent to which the personal traumas initiated not only the stimulus, but the response.

Furthermore, another interesting aspect evident in Figure 4, is the internalization of the feminist hashtags, such as ‘yesallwomen’ and ‘whyistayed’. There is a definite emphasis on feminism throughout the network, whereby all different colored clusters address the hashtag #MeToo as a space for feminism, fighting for women’s rights and opposing the oppression experienced by a woman in the society. The strong correlation therefore embeds the insinuation of the division between ‘we’ and ‘they’ in the narrative, that expose the primary building block of the collective identity. ‘We’ addresses the feminists, victims and fighters for women’s rights and equality; ‘they’, on the other hand, address the abusers and people who challenge these aims.

To further support this claim, the Mention Graph is utilized to expose the consistent authority of the women within the discourse. The Mention Graph does not necessarily address the leaders of the movement; instead, it addresses the most prominently recognized characters within the narration and those that are actively addressing different characters within the network. The settings were designed in order to portray this difference through the sizing of the nodes (how many times the user was mentioned in the discourse) and the sizing of the labels (how many times the user mentioned someone in the network). These settings are constant throughout all of the reviewed periods.

Figure 5: Mention Graph - Period 1. Settings Applied: Scaling 200; Gravity 1.0; Sizing of the nodes - In Degree 25-150; Label size - Out Degree 3-17; Node Color - Partition by the Modularity Class; Giant Component - 37.4% nodes; with edges. The settings deliberately highlight the prominence of Alyssa Milano and Tarana Burke as those who participate in the conversations with other users, and as those who are recognized amongst the users. To take this further, the equal prominence of Burke exposes the ongoing institutionalization of the narrative that is directly connected and associated to the Me Too Movement Organization’s leader. Interestingly, the organization itself does not appear as a prominent node, unlike the node ‘un_women’ that similarly holds a prominent position within the mention network. There are other associations formed to organizations and initiatives such as He for She, Ultraviolet and Women’s March. The discourse, therefore, results in a further engagement of the social initiatives, that are involved in combatting the sexual harassment,

abuse and inequality. It must be noted, however, that these organizations are largely concerned with the women’s rights, and the emphasis is being consistently reassured within the network.

The visualization of the data also turns attention towards the user ‘ththeforce’. The user is currently deleted. The closer investigation exposes that the user’s input within the network was limited to the tweet “the Weinstein literary dandy: Lorin Stein” which repeatedly was sent out while mentioning prominent figures within the movement such as Alyssa Milano, UN Women, Ellen Show. The prominence of this user is established within the network through consistent mentioning, rather than by being mentioned as evident from the small size of the node. However, this finding addresses the need to critically approach the presence of authoritative presence within the narrative. The activity observed here mirrors that of a malicious bot, rather than a storyteller within the network. It represents a conflicting question in the research regarding the identification of the agent or actor. It also further justifies the need to contextualize the data to establish the social and technically operated actors in the network, rather than following Latour’s (2005) ideology of just observing.

The network is largely populated with celebrities, media personalities and media outlets. It exemplifies the earlier observation of the scandal-led formation. Their presence is typically reciprocated as it is shown in the directed graph. However, while Donald Trump does not participate in the narration throughout the first period, he is still brought into the network. This is a result of the active mentioning from users ‘tomwellbone’ and ‘kailash11bhati’ as evident through the thickening of the dark grey edge in Figure 5 and in the zoomed in version of the network in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Zooming in on Figure 5

Being a political figure, the narrative exposes the extent to which the network addresses the American President to gain further attention and engage him in the conversation. It is an interesting observation, as Trump who is repeatedly addressed as an abuser in one of the most influential tweets (see Figure 6), is actively engaged in the conversation, unlike Harvey Weinstein and Woody Allen who remain present only within the hashtag indexing of the narrative as shown in Figures 2 and 3. It provides an effective commentary on the politicization of the narrative, while simultaneously exposes the extent to which the obvious villains within the narration are not addressed through the engagement, but rather through the thematic indexing through the hashtag co-occurrence.

Furthermore, the representation of the top ten most frequently retweeted tweets (Figure 7) exposes the parts of the narrative that are most widely circulating within individual period. However, they also provide ground for further contextualization of the data that has been reviewed through the network visualizations. These statements capture the localization, events, influences and voice of the hashtag #MeToo network that has been formed on Twitter.

Figure 7: Top 10 Retweets - Period 1 As evident, Figure 7 exposes the formalization of the #MeToo as the movement for women and again identifies the collective ‘we’ as female victims, and not necessarily all gendered victims of sexual harassment. The circulation of the messages directly targets the ‘wife’, ‘daughters’, ‘women’, ‘her’, ‘she’ in relation to the sexual abuse problem. The gendered understanding of problem is further enhanced through the statement ‘Dicks are the problem”, therefore implying the men’s responsibility for sexual harassment. Similarly, the word

39 frequency analysis, exposed in Figure 8, addresses the same emphasis throughout the network. There is an obvious emphasis on the division between women and men.

Figure 8: Top 200 Most Frequently Used Words - Period 1

4.2 Period 2 – Time’s Person of the Year Award

The second period is dominated by the persistence Time’s Person of the Year Award, where the Silence Breakers and the movement Me Too have been acknowledged as the winners of the prestigious award. This is shown through the most circulated retweets for that period.

Figure 9: Top 10 Retweets - Period 2

When investigating the Co-Hashtag network for this period, the formed homogeneity within the network most prominently addresses the impact that this event held over the narration, as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Co-Hashtag Analysis - Period 2. Settings applied: Scaling 500; Gravity 1.0; Node Size - Degree 1-300; Label Size: Degree 3-20; Node Colour – Partition by Modularity class; Giant Component – 3.54% nodes, no edges Again, the Modularity class algorithm was run to distinguish between the varying communities of hashtags. However, unlike Figure 2 reviewed in the earlier period, Figure 9 represents almost dominant homogeneity within the network of the purple-colored community. When comparing these graphs, it seems that the purple color has internalized previously distinct sub- communities. This is evident through the recognition of nodes such as ‘feminism’, ‘maga’, ‘yotambien’, ‘trump’, ‘sexualharassment’ as part of the same cluster formation. In other words, in the light of the events that took place during this period, the narration has obtained a

41 dominant narrative within which previously divided sub-networks of co-hashtags have been closely associated between each other. The network exposes a sense of unity.

There is an apparent emphasis on the ‘personoftheyear’ and ‘trump’ which expose the dominant media and political framing of the narrative. Instead of contesting the issue as seen in the previous climactic point, the emphasis is switched towards the articulation of the issue as part of the American politics. It is addressed in the persistence of the nodes such as ‘maga’ (Make America Great Again), ‘trump’, ‘empeachtrump’, ‘trumpresign’ and others. Notably, the Mention Graph for this period further addresses the growing interest towards the leader of the nation.

Figure 11: Mention Network - Period 2. Settings applied: Scaling 200; Gravity 1.0; Node Size- In Degree 1-300; Label Size – Out Degree 3-25; Node Colour - Partition by Modularity Class; Giant Component 59% nodes; with edges The orange cluster in Figure 11, represents the user formation which actively build a link towards Donald Trump’s user account. Figure 12 shows the zoomed it part of the network.

Figure 12: Zooming in on Figure 9

More users are mentioning American President suggesting that the users gradually recognize the leader as an important part of the narrative that is being formed in the hashtag #MeToo. However, despite the forceful engagement of Donald Trump within the network, the tweets do not respond to the other users within the shown network and therefore further articulate one- sidedness of his presence within the network.

This further correlates with the general observation that the smaller nodes, or those who are less mentioned establish their position within the network through the mentioning. However, the users that are being centralized more within the network such as ‘time’ and ‘taranaburke’ and are being extensively mentioned, do not necessarily participate in the conversation. Their participation in the network is therefore not sustained but formed through the association to the ongoing conversation. This is more clearly pictured in the zoomed in part of the Mention Network exposed in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Zooming in on Figure 9 Moreover, the biggest node exposed in Figures 11 and 13 is ‘time’. The dominance of the media outlet within the network represents dominant framing of the issue within the traditional media, which is further translated into the social media environment. Returning to Figure 10 which exposes the dominant co-hashtags there is a sense of overwhelming power of the Time magazine not only to initiate the attention towards the narrative evident in the peak during this period, but also to frame the issue linguistically. For instance, the centralization of the nodes ‘silencebreakers’ and ‘thesilencebreakers’ appear to mirror the media outlet’s way of addressing the victims of the sexual assault. To further address this issue, the Top 200 Frequent Words analysis shown in Figure 14 is used.

Figure 14: Top 200 Most Frequent Words - Period 2 Time’s recognition of the Me Too as a movement and the victims as the Silence Breakers is inevitable internalized within the linguistic framing of the narrative. There is an obvious change from the first period (see Figure 8), where the users no longer prioritize the word ‘you’, which

44 shows the initiation of conversation. Instead, the second period seeks self-formalization of the collective. While there is still a degree of confusion evident in the words such as ‘movement’, ‘campaign’, and ‘revolution, the linguistic components address the force that is being build, rather than engage in the problematization of the problem evident in the first period. It reflects the mood and the theme of the Time’s Person of the Year award. Thus, Period 2 particularly culminates the power media possesses over direction of the discourse and its framing.

4.3 Period 3 – The Golder Globes

The third period determines close association of the hashtag #MeToo narrative, to the Golden Globes event that took place during those days. Unlike the previous period, the network loses sense of its homogeneity exposed in the Co-Hashtag analysis (see Figure 10). The Co- Hashtag analysis for the Golden Globe period represents reoccurring of the clusters, as evident in Figure 15. The attention within the network is diverted to the close association to the nodes such as ‘goldenglobes’, ‘oprah’, ‘wewearblack’ and ‘hollywood’. These nodes essentially point out the extent to which the temporal and trending events are rapidly localized in the network and within the narrative. The diversion of the attention towards ‘hollywood’, which was first prominently established in the first period reviewed (see Figure 2) is again regaining its position. These changes within the network, address the extent to which the trending and fluid nature of the digital storytelling in hashtag activism is dominated through the exposition of the constant association and the internalization of the on-going events that further develop the plot. This also adds to the extent that the media framing of the story and the correlation of the traditional and social media impact the narration overall.

Figure 15: Co-Hashtag Analysis - Period 3. Settings applied: Scaling 500; Gravity 1.0; Node size - Degree 1-250; Label Size - Degree 2-17; Node colour - Partition by the Modularity Class. Giant Component - 3.47% nodes; no edges. Similarly, the embeddedness of the Time’s Up initiative and its centrality in the network (see Figure 15) exposes the prominence of this organization and the very established connection between the narrative and the institution. While throughout the periods, no institution is associated to such an extent within the narrative it portrays willingness of the users to address not only the narrative, but to further proceed with the formalization of the movement. The strength of association also addresses the extent to which the collective identity and the narrative embedded within the hashtag are more prone to associating with the organization that is formed because of the collective action of storytelling, rather than those that were existent previously to define the problem. This is further illustrated in the Mention Network (Figure 16), whereby the network actively addresses the organization itself as a prominent user in the network:

Figure 16: Mention Network - Period 3. Settings Applied: Scaling 200; Gravity 1.0; Node Size - In Degree 1-300; Label Size - Out Degree 3-20; Node Colour - Modularity Class; Giant Component - 49.2% nodes; with edges. The user ‘timesupnow’ is engaging in the conversation as evident through the size of the label, however holds a prominent position within the purple cluster where ‘taranaburke’ remains one of the more centralized nodes. Unlike in the Co-Hashtag Graph, the user does not associate with ‘oprah’ or ‘thegoldenglobes’; it directly links towards one of the consistent users within the community.

Figure 17: Zooming in on Figure 16

Another interesting aspect exposed in Figure 16 is the much more prominent build-up of the politicized narrative frame. The association to the node ‘blacklivesmatter’, introduces the extension of the problem of sexual harassment to the other expositions of inequality and failure of the government. The size of the cluster and its components, evident in Figure 16, address the growing connection of the problem to the inadequacy of the American President to address or resolve the issue.

Figure 18: Zooming in on Figure 15. There are clear references to the American politics specifically in this part of the network. In addition to the localization embedded in the node ‘hollywood’, there is an obvious and

48 deliberate element of positioning the problem not as one for all, but as that of the American people. The narration turns towards the politics of the USA by addressing hashtags such as ‘trumpresign’. ‘hillary’, ‘obama’, and ‘notmypresident’. However, returning to the Mention Network, this correlation is not evident in the intensification of Donald Trump’s engagement in the network, that was observed in the previous periods. Instead, the narrative embeds his presence with the associated hashtags exposing an end to the attempts to actively engage him in the construction of the narrative.

Oprah Winfrey who is both addressed through the Co-Hashtag analysis and the Mention Network for this period as a central component of the narration represents a controversial position. This is evident through the set of the Most Frequent Tweets that are shown in Figure 19.

Figure 19: Top 10 Retweets - Period 3

There seems to be a polar opposition between the users with the newly established position of Oprah in the narrative. While a few re-tweets recirculate the speech that took place at the Golden Globes, the tweet “Oprah has set herself up as the leader of the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse of women. Yet she was best friends with Harvey Weinstein and has refused to disavow him. In what world is this OK?” sets a contradictory nature of Oprah’s inclusion in the network. There is a definite sense of dissatisfaction in the failure of the celebrity to acknowledge the main abuser around whom the narrative has revolved throughout the periods. The popularity of this re-tweet exposes that this opinion is shared not

49 exclusively by that user. Furthermore, the user opposes the sense of belonging to movement only due the participation in the hashtag network. Instead, the offline contribution similarly feeds into the formation of the movement. The celebrity’s ability to speak on behalf of women that have suffered abuse is delivered in the mediatized environment of the popular culture event, rather than within the hashtag movement itself. This is exposed through strong recognition of Oprah in the network, that is not matched with the participation in the network itself:

Figure 20: Zooming in on Figure 15

The user thereby does not actively participate in association to the other most prominent users in the movement and is only recognized through the excessive mentions by the other users in the network.

Furthermore, Figure 19 also outlines the dissatisfaction with the men’s role in the Golden Globes. The tone is less victorious than the one evident in the second period. Therefore, it is obvious that through this opposition the network fails to unite different co-hashtag clusters. This is further intensified through the re-addressing of the binary opposition between men and women in the Most Frequent Words used in this period:

Figure 21: Top 200 Most Frequently Used Words - Period 3. The linguistic composition exposes the return towards addressing the imaginary audience that was previously evident in Period 1. Furthermore, the prominence of the words ‘women’ and ‘men’ that was absent in the second period again dominates the way in which the users address the narrative. Thus, the narrative returns to addressing the gender division which is embedded within the sexual harassment narrative. The users also retain ‘movement’ as part of their vocabulary, showing that the sense of collective entity prevails the conversation.

4.4 Period 4 – The Death of Jo Min-ki

Figure 22: Top 200 Most Frequently Used Words - Period 4 The last period is unique to the narration. This is strikingly evident through the linguistic composition of the most frequent retweets and the most used words. Throughout the processing of the data this difference is established due to the prominent use of Thai and Korean languages to discuss the topic. The linguistic switch and the differing composition of the Word Cloud (see Figure 22) are essentially directing the reformatting of the narration due

51 the active re-localization of the hashtag. The geographical positioning of the discourse is evident through the evident prioritization of the word elements such as ‘los angeles’, ‘kowloon’, ‘north’, ‘korea’.

Similarly, changes the emphasis ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ evident in the earlier analysis, to the personal pronoun ‘I’. This may a result of the different ways in which the narrative is such is addressed amongst the cultures. However, there is a notable reaction-based narration, that completely disregards the collectivity established in the earlier periods. This observation is further proven through the predominant circulation of the important messages in the network during that time.

Figure 23: Top 10 Retweets - Period 4

As shown in Figure 23, there is an emphasis on the death of the South Korean actor Jo Min- Ki. The death has initiated a scandal and a conversation amongst the Asian countries which therefore has been linked and associated directly to the hashtag #MeToo. The internalization of this conversation, however, is not portrayed through the association of the hashtags. Indeed, as evident in Figure 24, the emphasis remains predominantly on the Westernized narrative that has developed over time.

Figure 24: Co-Hashtag Analysis - Period 4. Settings Applied: Scaling 500; Gravity 1.0; Node Size - Degree 1-200; Label Size - Degree 1-17; Node Colour – Partition by Modularity Class; Giant Component - 4.15% nodes; no edges Instead, the associations between the hashtags are more affected by the International Women’s Day and the growing centralization around the Time’s Up initiative. While the narrative represents a globalizing scope of the hashtag movement, there is an important differentiation that needs to be addressed. Due to the formation of the query as ‘metoo’, which scrapes all relevant data to the English word combination, the Westernization of the narrative is pre- assumed, especially as it is evident that multiple language variations exist. The query does not encompass the alternating versions of the hashtag. However, the mere fact that the narrative strongly recirculated through the number of retweets addresses the desire of different cultures to associate with the #MeToo and further engage in the global, rather than localized movement and building of the narrative. This transition is further re-addressed in the Mention Graph for this period:

Figure 25: Mention Network - Period 4. Settings Applied: Scaling 200; Gravity 1.0; Node Size - In Degree 1-350; Label Size - Out Degree 1-20; Node Colour – Partition by Modularity Class; Giant Component - 46% nodes; with edges. The distinguishing localization of the event that has sparked the activity in the network fails to correspond to the dynamics evident in the previous Mention Networks that have been addressed throughout the earlier periods. One of the most obvious changes is the distinct separation of the users into individual communities that are only linked through the connection between the users ‘otakugirls’ and ‘2lang2’. This is less apparent in the earlier analysis, where the users had not had necessarily a defined hub for connection, but instead have built the sub-communities through the multiple weak-ties to different actors. There is a buildup of the closer relationships between the sub-communities evident in Figure 25. Furthermore, the composition of the individual clusters is also sufficiently different, evident from the zooming in on Figure 25.

Figure 26: Zooming in on Figure 25.

Figure 27: Zooming in on Figure 25. There is a definite absence of previously constant actors such as the users Tarana Burke and Alyssa Milano which addresses the distinguishing influence of the media in the narration. While the scandal localized outside of the Western countries does associate to the hashtag #MeToo, the users do not address the previously established presence of the actors to which the users typically form the association. As a result, the narrative of embedded in the hashtag

55 is both translatable and inconsistent. Through the translation, the association to major mediatized personas of the movement deteriorates leaving the narrative framing up to the scandals which relate to the issue of sexual harassment instead. The mediatized events remain at the core of the network; however, the media’s influence is localized and therefore does not redefine the network, but only redirects the most popular messages that are circulating within it.

4.5 Institutionalization of the Narrative

The time-frames for this research differ to those addressed earlier in this chapter, as the crawling of the Me Too Movement Organization’s website (metoomvmt.org) has started on the 4th of November 2017. The starting point of the Internet Archive’s crawl using the Wayback Machine can be speculated as a finding on its own. According to the self-description “the Internet Archive is working to prevent the Internet – a new medium with major historical significance – and other “born-digital” materials from disappearing into the past” (The Internet Archive). Therefore, the initiation of the crawl in 2017 signals the growing interest and social and cultural interest in the organization’s website. It mirrors the social and cultural attention that has grown throughout this period. It could be speculated that the attention has been generated due to the strong articulation of the Me-Too Movement Organization’s founder Tarana Burke in the media and within the network and the virality of the hashtag itself.

The first period from 4th of November 2017 until 10 December 2017 is focused extensively on the representation of the organization as an independent entity. There is no acknowledgement of the hashtag movement that has been already roaring on Twitter. Instead, the history of the movement is synonymous to the history of the organization itself. It acknowledges solely Tarana Burke as the founder and subsequently the influencer of the movement against sexual assault within the Me Too Movement. It proposes the principal ideological design as the “empowerment through empathy” (metoomvmt.org). whereby the “community of survivors” (metoomvmt.org) is built to destigmatize sexual assault and abuse and ensure that the victims do not feel alone.

Figure 28: WayBack Machine Screenshot of www.metoomvmt.org - 4.11.2017

There is an extensive focus in the organization’s description on the formation of the “racial community”, “particularly women of color from low wealth communities”. The organization’s racial emphasis is similarly upheld using a photo which depicts two women, one African- American and one of Caucasian background. However, the picture centralizes on the African- American model and catches the primary attention of the viewer. Burke’s statement in the second period similarly carries on addressing the needs of the marginalized communities such as “women of color and transgender people”, as well as prisoners or victims of “officers of law”. Burke’s emphasis signifies the extent to which the organization prioritizes marginalized communities, as opposed to all communities.

TIME’s proclamation of the Silence Breakers as the Person of the Year has influenced the organization to change its self-description in Period 2 which lasted from the 11 December 2017 until the 10th of April 2018. The additional section was added titled “#MeToo Movement’s “Silence Breakers” Named TIME Magazine Person of the Year”. The title was followed by the release of Burke’s statement to address the acknowledgement, where the events that have

57 sparked the hashtag such as “Weinstein” and “Men who have been lionized in Hollywood” are addressed as part of the organization’s heritage. In addition, the website contains an additional information for further inquiries about “#MeToo Movement” which identifies the organization’s internalization of the hashtag’s virality. The Me Too Organization does not see the hashtag as a distinct movement, but as an extension of the ideas that have been articulated by Burke since 2006.

Figure 29: WayBack Machine Screenshot of www.metoomvmt.org - 11.12.2017 The third period from 11 of April 2018 until May 2018 exposes another shift in the website. Particularly, the victory over TIME’s acknowledgement is substituted by the section named

“Vision” which explores the orientation of the organization towards the future. The statement is placed prior to the self-description from the first period, which has been maintained throughout all of the distinct periods of change. The section directly addresses the extent to which #MeToo has stimulated “a vital conversation”, “a national dialogue” and created “a global community of survivors”. The extension of the movement has extended beyond the organization’s localized scope, which in turn generated an additional pursuit to “reframe and expand the global conversation around sexual violence”. Yet, the organization remained faithful to the needs of the marginalized communities. The description addresses “young people, queer, trans, and disabled folks, Black women and girls, and all communities of colour”. There is an evident expansion in who are perceived as marginal and communities in need, however certain element of sexism prevails throughout, especially in relation to “Black women and girls”, suggesting that the African-American victims are all female. It is sharply contrasted with the use of “folks” and “persons” which provide a more gender-neutral account of victims.

Figure 30: WayBack Machine Screenshot of www.metoomvmt.org - 11.04.2018

Additionally, the picture that has been re-used of the two women has been substituted by the video of Tarana Burke herself, which exposes the extent to which the organization has shifted its attention away from the unidentified survivors to the founder of the movement, providing more official structure, as well as potentially using the media attention to Tarana Burke herself as the means of promotion. As evident throughout the Mention Network, Burke’s influence has been persistent throughout the network and therefore it makes her as a persona more recognizable to the public

4.6 Overall Findings

Finally, to sum up the findings of this chapter it is necessary to address constant and distinct influences that are portrayed in the analysis of the narrative using the digital tools. One of the most important findings is the nature in which there is a differentiation formed between the narrator and the character. As evident throughout the analysis of the mention network, the users are unwilling to deliberately include the abusers in the conversation. In that, they secure the safe place of the socio-technical platform for the women that do choose to share their story. However, the inclusion of the abusers and the villains of the story remains prominent both linguistically and using hashtags, whereby they are addressed but not invited to participate in the debate. The scandal transcends into the symbolic reference and sense of shared history amongst the users. It helps to identify the different groups of participants in the hashtag activism, as well as within the discourse of the sexual harassment.

The terminology typically used for social movements such as leaders is not applicable in the setting of the hashtag activism and hashtag movements. It is ever changing and does not represent a constant frame, but a temporary reference. Certain users reappear throughout the conversation, but regardless their position is not secured, as the Period 4 has shown. The nature of activism does not represent an attempt to dominate the narration, instead it exposes the certain time frames within which the association is formed or there is an active desire to participate in the course of the narration.

The media framing of the narration is crucial, especially through the means of mediatization of scandal that further sparks user activity through the reaction-based participation. As shown through the analysis of the Top 10 Most Frequent Retweets, the messages that are circulating are influenced by the events that have gained the attention of the media. The active presence of the media outlets throughout Periods 1-3 also highlights their own participation and reference within the narration. However, due to the lack of prominence in the last period, the

60 composition of the activated audience has been challenged completely. Yet, there is a definite sense of Couldry’s (2008) insistence on the mediatization of the digital narrative through its persistence in the popular culture and media. This factor especially permits the hashtag to move beyond the westernized localization and to position itself as a global frame of sexual harassment narration.

Politicization of the narrative is gradual and persistent; yet it changes from the active involvement to more passive ideological narration. However, the adoption of the political association to the narrative of the hashtag #MeToo insinuates the desire to collectively challenge not only the issue of sexual harassment and misconduct, but to further comment on the governments inadequacy within addressing this subject. In the light of the popularity of the hashtag these critical messages possess the strength to challenge the administration through shaping of the public opinion.

Lastly, the institutionalization is evident within the narrative, as well as outside of it. The prominence of the Time’s Up initiative in the network addresses the association of users and of the narration itself to the newly formulated organization. There is a definite sense of attempting to collectively address the means through which one can address the narrative of the hashtag #MeToo as a traditional social movement force. Similarly, the act of storytelling challenges the previous manner of addressing the problem of sexual harassment within the institutional setting. From the analysis of the changes to the website of the associated organization, it derives that the attributes that have connected the narrative of the hashtag are being translated by the institution. The collective identity, therefore, is being challenged, as well as the agenda of the local organization, that now acknowledges its global contribution and importance. Thus, the narrative becomes an influential tool that challenges stock stories and the way in which the attention to various victims needs to be readdressed.

Chapter V – Discussion

Considering the findings of this research, it is important to return to the principal question proposed by this study: how can understanding of narratives challenge the slacktivist appreciation of the hashtag activism? Indeed, the answer to this question is derived from the fallacy of appreciating hashtag activism as only part of the social movement theory with an excessive emphasis on the effect. It is derived from the problematic translation of the typical terminology such as movement, leader, spokesperson, activist, feminist, and others into the digital space. It assumes that every problem has been defined and ready to be challenged through the resources proposed. Reviewing hashtag activism as a “network of activists” (Bennett 123) cannot capture its significance. The speculation of organization challenges the attention towards message formation and message distribution that are often undervalue due to the dominance of the “interesting questions about organizing political action.” (Bennett 123)

The narrative debarks the myth of the pre-set unity that is taken for granted when reviewing hashtag activism as a form of connected activism (Milan 2015). It exposes the precedents and the process during which the users are able to seek for their own place within the story. The narrative adheres to the fundamental component of the collective identity through the “expressive” (Gerbaudo and Treré 865) communication, whereby the discursive quality initiates global political mediation of the issue. It constitutes an affective collective, that is engaged in discursive activism through reaction-based activism, that fuels the velocity and transcendence of these narratives beyond the boundaries of one platform, or one incident. It is not a utopian construction, but a socio-cultural reflection that unites through the sense of shared history and ideology. Narratives are important. Digital narratives are even more so.

5.1 Narratives as Pervasive Constructions

One of the major contributions of this research lies in its methodological approach towards the narratives. Particularly, the emphasis is given the issues of temporality and the distinct stages evident through the assessment of peaking structure over time. These peak points expose the development of the story; however, the coherence of the narrative is not necessarily as predefined as it would be within the frames of the more standardized digital narrative or an excerpt from fiction. Indeed, the narration is less selective, and more rounded; it is open for interpretation and opposition. It is also very responsive to change, that is usually grounded offline. Therefore, the contextual distinction of these peaks points provides an insight into the

62 influential factors and selective framing of the issue that is appropriated per time period by the users. The methodological difference of evaluating the narrative as a construction of the data which is gathered by the platform permits the closer analysis of the quantitative elements that contribute to the narrative and to outline the changes within these constructions over time.

Subsequently, this research differs greatly from the model-based researches and therefore enables more reflexivity on the change and limits personal impression-based appreciation of the narrative in the research as such. Hence the role of the researcher is neutralized. As it was presented earlier, narrative structure is typically reviewed in the traditional fictional manner, whereby the construction of hashtag activism mirrors the plot with a defined beginning, middle and an end (Yang 2016). In the study of the hashtag activism as an extension of discursive activism, Clark (2016) similarly utilizes the “three stages of McFanrlang’s Turner reintegration – [which] parallel the plot elements of beginning, middle and end.” (793) In her investigation of the feminist hashtag activism, she evaluates that this model is appropriate for the structural understanding of the hashtag activism as the narrative. Through the investigation of the different climactic points within the #MeToo, the findings challenge such a concise and rigid interpretation of the narrative which arises due to the adaptation of this model.

It is evident that peaks are distinguished in their thematic emphasis throughout the periods of time. If the McFanrland’s structure is applied certain commonalities can be observed. There is a distinct evidence of the breach state, also addressed as the beginning, – “when a beach of social order, norms, or discourse initiates a social drama” (Clark 792) in Period 1. The initiation of the narrative is therefore revolved around the formalization of the problem through the response-based user engagement, that can be understood as a precedent. Therefore, there is a general dependency of the hashtag activism and its embedded narratives on the issue of scandal and its general translation through the personal frames, such as the response-based reaction evident in the first period of the studied data set. However, the first period also embeds the second stage of the proposed model, whereby the crisis, or the stage of “competing interpretations of the situation” (Clark 792) is prominent. Therefore, the model-based approaches fail to distinguish the coinciding elements of the plot, which differentiate the narrative of the hashtag from the other differently organized narratives. Period 2 reviewed in the case study mirrors the reintegration period, whereby “one interpretive frame may achieve dominance over the other: (Clark 792). This is exposed through the colonizing effect of the individual clusters of hashtags within the transition from Period 1 to Period 2. The homogeneity within the network addresses the simultaneous acknowledgement of the Time’s Person of the

Year Award as the component which is interconnected to all strands of the narration. However, the impact is temporary and the clustered association between the hashtags reappears in the following period.

The centralization of scandal or event-based influx of the digital narration exposes the extent to which every peak essentially represents a breach or a beginning, in one way or the other. It also exposes the extent to which the narration is driven by the issue of temporality, and therefore the communication and digital narration is not sustained but mediated using the associated and connected events that regain the attention of the users. For this, even in the formalized hashtag movements, the framework of the DMO proposed by Barisione and others (2017) is exceptionally applicable despite authors’ remarks. The appreciation of the DMO here related to the componential structure of the narrative. The adherence to the mobilizing theory in the social movement theory limits researchers’ ability to appreciate the endurance of the public opinion that determines the agency in this form of activism. The narration is largely dependent on the correspondence of public opinion to the scandal and mediation of the scandal as a central predisposition for the personal frames of reference. This point will be further reviewed in the next part of this chapter to further explore the affective significance that this carries for the participants of the hashtag movement and the contextualization of the narrative as a result.

Moreover, the reintegration stage cannot be interpreted as an ending. The fourth period addressed in the study exposes a loop and adaptation of the hashtag by the different group of users with a distinct focus on the Asia as the landscape for the mediation of the problem. The narrative again shifts to the problematization and specifically the breach stage, where the actors again are faced with the articulation of the scandal. Therefore, the hashtag enabled narratives are not necessarily static in their thematic development and are largely dependent on crisis to initiate the sub-periods within the narrative. Therefore, the formation can be regarded as the separate segments of the bigger picture, however due to their offline grounding, the end cannot be speculated, predicted or even articulated. The salience of the narrative can be initiated repeatedly. There is no absolute deterioration of the hashtag, instead there is a continuum which fluctuates in its activity. This exposes the strong reference to the idea of liveliness that was earlier introduced through the work of Marres and Weltevrede (2013). The adaptation of hashtags in new event-based or geographical contexts prolongs the durability of the narration, as unlike the static module-based approach, there is an opportunity for the “frame extension.”

(Dimond et al n.p.) The frame extension is not necessarily a thematic diversion, it is a diversion of attention towards new events in the light of the previous precedent.

As Clark (2016) suggests, the success of the hashtag lies in its ability to adapt to multiple events and constitute the “enduring frames of reference” (801). Thus, the curation of the traditional plot represents the problematic and contradicting scope within her research. In her study, Clark (2016) specifically addresses the hashtag #WhyIStayed. Yet, this hashtag reappears within the hashtag analysis of #MeToo in the first period. This finding again directs the extent to which the hashtags are always open to revival, due to the absence of socio-technical insistence on the end, that is not directed by the platform, but through association. Essentially, this provides the justification for the digital narration to be always a practice that happens in medias-res and permits users to seek his or her own place within the narrative at the time (Papacharissi 2016). This also highlights the potential for re-applicability of the hashtags and the connected narratives that can be formulated as a result. The social indexing on the premises of the discursive hashtag activism denotes the potential to connect stories and narratives over time, thus making them timeless contribution to the similar discourses. The end-less quality of the hashtag’s applicability also entails the extent to which these components constitute co-creation and understanding of the world around us, not only in terms of an individual crisis, but as an on-going correlation and reflection of the social discourses over time.

5.2 Mass Media Logic and Framing of the ‘Super-Narrative’

Returning to the aforementioned observation of the scandal-driven narration, the findings of this study challenge understanding of the hashtag narrative an independent, horizontally- constructed entity. Instead, the narrative is largely affected by the logic that prevails on the social media platforms such as Twitter. The researchers such as van Dijck and Poell (2013) address the extensive influence of the mass media logic over the governing and functioning of the platform. Specifically, they address the applicability of the metrical system to identify the possible influence that the user holds within the platform. The initiation of the hashtag was done through the penetration of the network by an influential user Alyssa Milano. Her ability to initiate a viral conversation on Twitter derives from over 3 million followers which enhances the velocity and the potential virality of the message. The tweet is spread much faster due to the exposure to a wide audience. Similarly, Ellcessor (2018) claims that the “early research on celebrity activism worked within the context of mass media, in which it was understood that celebrities could bring increased media attention to a cause, enabling greater outreach…This

65 logic persists in the incorporation of celebrities into political and social movements as spokespeople.” (260) Therefore, her acknowledgement within the network can be justified through the metrical superiority as a “superuser.” (van Dijck and Poell 7)

Yet, in line with Milan (2015) this research challenges the one metric-based understanding of the mass media logic. While the integration within the narration is facilitated through the metrics, it is not a determining factor in one’s persistence within the network. The metrical system fails to adhere to the cultural connotations that are also prominent within the narrative, and within the socio-technical measure itself. While Ellcessor (2018) analysis is conducted on a different thematic issue, where the celebrity’s presence is utilized to raise awareness of disability, certain aspects are shared within the investigated case studies. For example, “from existing literature on celebrity activism, it is plain that there is a tension between “standing” (a celebrity’s claim to personal experience or credibility) and a spokesperson or charity role in which visibility is its own authoritative currency.” (Ellcessor 260-261) Turning attention to the Period 3, one cannot deny the authority that is possessed by Oprah within the network. Yet, the exposed questioning of her incorporation within the movement proposes the extent to which the metrical system is not a pre-guarantee of the acceptance within the network. Her presence sparks the conversation which is not necessarily homogenous in the character. However, the superuser’s influence is tied to the specific period due to the failure to associate with the movement and to the symbolic framework around which it is built. Furthermore, the media logic falls short of permanently defining the important characters engaged in the plot. The articulation of the characters through the media is only possible when there is a culturally enhanced interpretation of their power and their role. For this reason, when the narrative is adapted in the different global region, none of the previously identified characters reappear in the narration.

Furthermore, this instance further exposes the presence of the media framing within the narration. The influence of the mediatized events such as the Time’s Person of the Year, the Golden Globes, and the death of Jo Min-ki exposes the scandal-based narration as the central framing in the hashtag activism. These events translate into the climactic outbursts amongst the users and become the building blocks for the narrative plot in the hashtag activism, as mentioned earlier. The case study challenges Freedman (2017) and Rosen’s (2006) interpretation of the social media platforms as a channel for independent and self-sufficient narration built by the users through the platform. Instead, the hashtag exemplifies the basic component of public opinion that drives the narrative and its development. It does not exist as

66 an alternative and independent channel, but rather coincides and develops the mediatized events of the “dominant news story” (Papacharissi and De Fatima Oliveira 274), in addition to the traditional media. Therefore, the applicability of the DMO framework more accurately encapsulates the functionality of the hashtag activism and the subsequent composition of the narrative. The social media platforms do not necessarily initiate “conversion of media consumers into producers” (Bennett 124), however they do regard them as the distributors of the story in a more affective manner.

As addressed in Chapter II, the Digital Movement of Opinion is based on the bridging of the components of the public opinion and social movements. By revisiting the theoretical approach in terms of the hashtag #MeToo, the research argues that the narrative which possesses a strong link to the traditional media is driven not only through the collaboration of personal stories, but also in terms of consistent evaluation and expression of personal opinions in relation to events. The input, therefore, is not exclusively determined as that of an organization or a movement. On the opposite, the formalization and institutionalization of the hashtag take place within the frames of the public opinion, whereby the media retain their position by addressing the news that are the drivers for user-engagement. While Barisione, Michailidou and Airoldi (2017) denounce the application of the model to the hashtags that have formalized themselves as movements, there scandal-based narrations are largely dependent on public opinion as the driving force of the movement and as an encouraging factor for engagement. Despite the institutionalization evident through the prominence of Time’s Up initiative over the last two periods, the public opinion and media framing provide the resources for shifting of the narration and the extension of frames.

As a result, within the network there is an evident development of what this research addresses as the ‘super-narrative’. Borrowing from the terminology of van Dijck and Poell (2013) of “superusers” (7), there is an element of hierarchy evident in the thematic formations of the reviewed narrative. Primarily, the ‘super-narrative’ exposes the dominant framing of the conversation, due to the salience and wide-spread of the mediatized events. The narration does not gain the independence, instead it’s peaks repeatedly coincide with a response-based framing of the media. Returning to the theoretical framework of this research and particularly to the work of Papacharissi and De Fatima Oliveira (2012) and Papacharissi (2016), this phenomenon is explained by the affective formulation of the socio-technical space. The superiority of the mediatized events is further presented in the way that the users are addressing their own personal experience through the reference to hashtags such as ‘myharveyweinstein’

67 which was exposed in Chapter IV. Particularly, the alignment of the personal stories to the scandal in Hollywood, proposes the extent to which the narrative symbolically translates into the personal frames. It simultaneously challenges the previous appreciation of the hashtag as the collection of stories (Papacharissi 2016), instead it is relation of stories that is more prominently activated within the narration.

5.3 The Political and Institutional Capacity of the Narrative

The prominence of the digital narratives within the social setting is often captured through the ability of the narrative to constitute a connection “to other fields of practice.” (Couldry 385) The researcher highlights that the political authority of the narrative is one of the dominant fields to which the link should be initiated or established. Through the observation of the case study, there is a prominence of the politicization of the narrative evident throughout the first three periods. The orientation towards the American politics inclines the Westernized localization of the hashtag, which does not adhere to the fourth period, however remains one of the most crucial elements within understanding the narrative as the building block for the social movement. Throughout the narrative, the users address the political figures such as Trump, exposing the deliberate engagement of the American President in the conversation. While the leader does not establish a connection to other users through the correspondence or mutual tweeting, there is a clear sense of diverting government’s attention towards the issue. It is one of the premises of the publicness of the narration as part of the discursive activism: the users can address the individuals who they feel may be influential to changing the position. The deliberate choice of mentioning Donald Trump consequently points out to the extent that the issue is not reviewed as a unique incident and is not solely constructed around the reaction of the mass. It also revolves around the reaction that is generated in order to get a response.

Furthermore, from the analysis of the findings one can reason the extent to which the personal is articulated as a political. Indeed, the insistence of ‘you’ as the most frequently used pronoun adheres to the sense of addressing the message to the imaginary audience, or as Barisione and others (2017) call it – “imagined community” (4). The insistence on ‘you’, rather than ‘we’ exposes that the sense of collectivity is in the process of creation and mediation, unlike the static composure of the social movement organizations. It proclaims the extent to which through the personal reference the messages are aimed at the conversation and further support. Indeed, the velocity and the wide-spread of the hashtag is one of the predominant reasons why its political character cannot be ignored on the premises of Morozov’s (2009) argument. The

68 speedy travel of the concept and the scandal and the engagement of the masses to support the claims of the victims “interrupt the status quo” (Dimond et al n.p.) of the problem. The further denounce the lack of adequate means and education to combat the problem, and therefore generate the awareness not only of the problem, but also of the inadequacy of the government. The reflection on the political system and the leader, which is evident in the hashtag activism expose the pressure that the government undergoes at the moment of the hashtag’s breakout. While hashtag activism may not necessarily formalize the participants as the activists that will challenge the government through the resources, the value of public opinion in the democratic setting remains a valuable currency for politicians. Therefore, the extreme development of the political discourse and the gradual loss of interest to address the issue directly to the government (evident through the absent mentions of Trump in the network) correspond the irrelevancy of the leader and the growing dissatisfaction with the government’s response to the discourse. This feeds into the commentary provided by Selbin (2010) at the start of this paper: the narratives exist “not ‘simply’ to report on that condition but as catalysts for changing it.” (26)

To add further to this argument, the trending of the scandal and public opinion evident on Twitter is not only framed by the media, but it is also framing the media. It establishes the dominance of the news and the general interest from public, which in turn determines the salience of the discourse. As a result, the general dissatisfaction gains more prominence as a societal issue. Polletta’s (2006) claim that “to generate the political analysis of their [women’s] oppression that was the step to collective action” (116-117) explores the importance of the institutionalization within and outside of the digital storytelling proposed by Couldry (2008). Indeed, within the narration the institutionalization of the narrative happens through the articulation of the social organizations that target the problem associated with the sexual harassment. However, the institutionalization of the narration itself permits to establish “new circuits for the distribution of digital stories” (Couldry 385). There is a correlating sense of the second and third waves of feminism collaborating to efficiently target and amplify the importance of collective narration and the co-creation of the digital narratives.

The contribution of the organizations such as UN Women, He For She, Ultraviolet and Women’s March addresses the presence of the current resources that are available to channel the collective action. It highlights the prominence of the agenda setting and the active contribution towards reacting to the problem in the efficient manner. It also institutionalizes the discourse within the feminist sphere, thus addressing the collective ideology which is being

69 exercised and reinforced in the narration. However, the influence of these organizations is temporary, and they do not possess the permanent stance within the network or as a point of association. However, the creation of the Time’s Up initiative is much more actively embedded in the network, thereby showing the determination to seek and readdress the problem outside of the narration itself.

The narratives are capable of challenging the agenda of the existent organizations in the way that the scope of the problem is mediated. It is evident in Me Too Movement Organization’s re-evaluation of who is being targeted by the organization. The ability to co-create the narrative may not necessarily expose every user as the authoritative contributor to the discourse. Yet, the participation in the network forces the acknowledgement of multitude of voices and the exposition of sexual harassment as a problem for all. Therefore, the heightening importance of the narrative pressures the involved or addressed organization to rethink their own agenda and course of action. Effectively, institutionalization promotes the endurance of the socio-cultural value of the narratives. It also solidifies the influence of the hashtag activism on the formulation of the problem. Therefore, the agency embedded in the act of the narration enhances the importance of the hashtag activism.

5.4 Collective Identity in the Narrative

Finally, based on the previously discussed elements it is important to highlight the most prominent socio-cultural function of the narrative – the contribution to the formation of the collective identity. Returning to Dean’s (2003) understanding of the public sphere, it is crucial to review the “exclusionary dimensions” (96) in the context of the digital storytelling. As it was addressed in Chapter II, Twitter has low-barrier of entry and exposes horizontal design in where the users can participate in the narration. Through the observation of the case study it is evident that despite the design of the social media platform, the users generate boundaries of the extent to which one participates in the narration. These “exclusionary dimensions” (Dean 96) are most prominently exercised in the articulation of actors and characters.

The distinction between the two came from the observation of the hashtags and mentions, which expose completely different functions in the narration. While mentions address the users that are central to the narration and the network which is built around them, hashtags provide more contextualized indexing of the story and the components it entails and targets. Yet, the hashtags in the analysis of the case study often referred to the people and users that are present on Twitter. The emergence of names such as Harvey Weinstein, Woody Allen and others takes

70 place through the hashtags. Thus, their presence within the network is not articulated to initiate the response, but instead to fictionize and articulate their prominence within the story, without openly addressing or including them into the conversation. Thereby, returning to the fictional literary tradition represent a character. They cannot be defined as actors, as they lack the primary narrational agency, despite their centralization within the discourse.

On the other hand, the actors are identified through the mentions. Returning to the example of Trump’s inclusion in the narrative, it exposed the deliberate action where the users addressed the interest of the response. By Period 3, this desire is diminished which is coinciding with the extensive portrayal of Trump as a villain. In such, the network represents the boundaries of the group. By exercising different socio-technical elements, the narration identifies those who possess agency and those who are only part of the symbolic history. Indeed, the symbolism embedded within the utilization of these names is highlighted throughout the network. Harvey Weinstein’s name becomes a symbol for aggression, oppression and abuse. The correspondence of the personal frames of narration exposed earlier in this chapter through the adaptation of ‘myharveyweinstein’ portrays the extent to which the name of the first abuser in the hashtag #MeToo developed into a synonym and a frame of reference within itself. This observation redirects the attention of the narrative as a “symbolic and cultural aspect” (Gerbaudo and Treré 866) within the hashtag activism, which is vital to the creation of the collective identity.

Furthermore, the development of the symbolic system exposes the extent to which the collective identity is largely “experiential.” (Milan 6) To return to Oprah’s questionable position within the movement, the user addresses the inadequacy due to her long-standing friendship with the abuser. Therefore, Melucci’s (2003) commentary on the emotional investment evident despite the extensive media framing explores the affective building of the collective identity. Due to the internalization of the scandal within the narrative, the users distinguish the primary elements between ‘we’ and ‘they’ of the movement, that are further reinforced through the narrative. Overall, this depicts an exposition of the diagnostic framing whereby the collective identifies “the boundaries between “good” and “evil” and construct protagonists and antagonists.” (Benford and Snow 616)

The binary opposition between men and women evident in the analysis exposes the long- standing tradition of feminism to exhibit the positions of the sexes in relation to one another. The narrative explores the issue of sexual harassment through the means of the feminist

71 outlook, whereby the men are perceived as those who need to support and change, and women need to be heard. There is a correlation evident in the Mention networks, where most of the interlinked actors are women. Building on the feminism theory, the narration prioritizes the victims and agents against gender inequality to highlight the long-standing tradition that is causing the social condition. However, in this shift the collective formulates another layer of exclusion. It deteriorates the importance of the hashtags such as ‘mentoo’. It also places a layer of ideological design within the narration, whereby the users engaging in the discourse are perceived as feminists. From the societal issue, the narrative is formalized and framed within these boundaries thus further enhancing its in-groupness. Thus, the framing of the narrative also establishes the frames for the collective identity, which, as it was mentioned earlier, can be adapted by the organizations and initiatives.

Chapter VI – Conclusion

The power of the #MeToo lies beyond formalization of the social movement or resource mobilization theory. Instead, it lies in formulating the problem and distributing its narrative in the society. Therefore, the social media platforms are much more than tools, but sites of the activist struggle. The unspoken, often socially perceived as a taboo, issue of sexual harassment has broken through the geographical, institutional and personal boundaries. It became an element that opposed the alienation in favour of association and solidarity. Within the narrative, the elements that have connected, grown or deteriorated exposed the understanding of the problem and the way in which it is perceived. It has built a panel for discussion, a safe place for expression, and a community. Even more importantly, it embedded the societal and cultural connotations that can be translated and adapted in the variety of contexts. Obvious problem in such research is the inability of accurately measure the consciousness-building aspect and impact on the person participating in the movement. Even the direct contact with the person addresses their personal interpretation rather than the accuracy of facts. By looking at the discursive activism and its product – the socio-cultural narrative, the research can track adaptation of the signals that have been sent and the way in which they have been adapted to fit different contexts.

The mediation of the collectiveness does not include the boundaries of institutions or formalization of participation. Instead, it is an affectively driven elements that is largely dependent on the sense of shared history. The dominance of the events in the narration should not be reviewed exclusively in the context of the prominent mass media logic. The narration ties to the events in order to direct the users and amplify an opportunity for self-expression. It enables the users to seek their place in the story and elevates the intimidation of sharing one’s own story. On the opposite, it provides flexibility on the extent of openness and personal input that one is expected to devote in the network. Therefore, the community is not build exclusively around the victims, but those who stand against the sexual harassment. Additionally, the users are awarded agency to contribute, review and comment. The agency in the context of the storytelling is crucial as it permits the participation on the terms of the user, rather than organization.

Additionally, the narrative helps to distinguish the voices that matter, and the voices of those who should not be heard. They help to symbolize the abusers and use them as a frame of reference within other circumstances, to ensure that the victims do not feel alone but ensure

73 sense of safety simultaneously by building this imaginary boundary. Their space is cleared from the contributions of those who have harmed, or who may have harmed unless the contribution is appropriate to address the victims. Otherwise, the users are not directly addressed or invited to participate in the conversation. Therefore, the narrative may be perceived one-sided, but it also provides stronger opportunities for building the collective.

Through the articulation of typically private and taboo-like topics in the public discourse, the narratives can act as the agents for change. In particular, they are capable of embedding institutional and political agendas within them. The story is largely filled with the signals that can be incorporated outside of the hashtag movement itself. As shown through the analysis of the Me Too Movement Organization, the pressure is not only put on the government authorities and the abusers; the articulation of problem challenges the rigid definitions and stock stories that are addressed by the organizations. Indeed, the widening of the expected audience in the organization’s description directly mirrors the pressure to acknowledge the extended participation and the dimensions of the users’ involvement. The organization that is associated with the hashtag is forced to acknowledge the variety and complexity of participation. For all of these reasons the research understands narrative as the heart of hashtag activism and the its predisposition for significance in the socio-cultural setting.

The methodological approach of addressing the narratives through the data analytics portrays the option of additional or self-sufficient tool for understanding the predominant dynamics of the discourse. It helps to locate the issues through the ways in which they associate to one another, and in the manner that the narrative is activated. This research was not orientated at the quantity of data as the determining feature for the analysis, instead it was governed by production of instance-specific insights. However, the dependency on the quantitative calculation contributes towards the holistic understanding of the building blocks of the narration and help to distinguish their importance. One must keep in mind that the understanding of the signals is drastically different from their operationalization. Furthermore, while the research has investigated Twitter as a platform for the generation of the discourse, it is important to address that “many tools exists to investigate the giants of the web, smaller and specialized platforms remain relatively unexplored.” (Venturini et al 4) Therefore, the narration evident on Twitter should be reviewed as one of the many pieces of the socio-cultural narrative of the hashtag #MeToo.

Unfortunately, one of the most evident complications between understanding these narratives relies on the user’s medias res presence in the network. Twitter’s controlled access to the data through the API challenges an opportunity of its users to be able to inquire into the statistics and the composition of data. There is a definite over-reliance on the third party to re-narrate and re-address its composition and significance. While that is often done through the media and independent research, the user is not in the possession of the information themselves. Therefore, the users largely rely on the media’s understanding of the narrative and their own perception of its composition, rather than actively seeking to understand it themselves. The narratives therefore can be a subject for manipulation and wrongful or biased representation. Just like in the research conducted here, the dependency on the peaks obscures our understanding of the narration in the time of smaller user engagement. Thus, the narrative of the #MeToo is appreciated from the defining points, but not through the holistic perspective.

This study proposes that in order to understand these narratives and their importance in more detail further research could be conducted. The assessment of the different interpretation and narrative formations across platforms could potentially help to inquire the different discursive activism potential that the different platform hold. At the end of the day, each narrative is platform-specific, and it is often derived from the culture of the digital storytelling that is embedded within it. Similarly, while the analysis has focused on Me Too Movement Organization to evaluate the translation of the narrative, a more specific study can extend this research by exclusively focusing on the narrative adaptations in the other contexts to deduce more accurate insight into the interpretation of the narrative outside of the discursive activism. For instance, by interpreting the findings of this research one can investigate the ways in which the organizations involved in the network have addressed or adopted the narrative on the temporary or permanent basis. In this way, the narrative and its socio-cultural aspects and the consciousness-building significance can be paralleled to the digital context in which they are adapted.

Digital Appendix

Please find the link to the digital appendix that contains all network graphs addressed in Chapter IV.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZIsGL8- k8hOBCRAZ1Wf3KyLajjdFJVPW?usp=sharing

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