FCJ-194 From #RaceFail to #Ferguson: The Digital Intimacies of Race-Activist Hashtag Publics

Abstract

Abstract:This paper explores the rough, emergent and partial public culture of race-activist hashtags through the discourses of #RaceFail, a critical race quarrel that started in the sci-fi and fantasy blogosphere, and expanded from there into a broader, sustained discussion over social media; and #Ferguson, a recent race-activist hashtag raising issues around censorship, filtering and 'gated discourse'. It ends with a discussion of how the frictions between the neoliberal desire to reduce hashtag publics to product publicity, and the activist desire to use hashtags to further public sphere awareness of political issues, is exemplified in the controversy over Facebook's 'algorithmic filtering' of #Ferguson, and how, nevertheless, critical race hashtags are tapping into a developing tradition of vocal social media-supported dissent.

Contesting #StopIslam: The Dynamics of a Counter-narrative Against Right-wing Populism

“…Due to the random and fluid ways in which they develop, collectivities that emerge on Twitter have also been conceptualized as ' ad-hoc' or 'networked publics', or ' connected communities' (Bruns and Burgess, 2011;Dawes, 2017). The focus on a particular cause and the speed at which these communities can form allows them to be inclusive and can, at times, change the direction of a dominant discourse through the political participation by or on behalf of excluded groups (Brock, 2012;Dawes, 2017;Papacharissi, 2015;Rambukanna, 2015;Sharma, 2013;Siapera et al, 2018). Dawes's (2017) analysis of the counter response to #JesuisCharlie -itself framed as an issue of freedom of speech after the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo -argues that the alternative hashtag #JeNeSuisPasCharlie demonstrates the heterogeneity of voices that are ' connected' by a shared reaction to the dominant frame.…”

“…Using this triangulated approach ensured that we could capture a comprehensive and robust picture of the dynamics within this hashtag as a ' discursive event' (Rambukanna, 2015). This article is based on the quantitative analysis of the data and further qualitative work is forthcoming.…”

“…Hashtags therefore structure both content and contributors into more cohesive groups, forming temporary communities around specific issues or a set of values (Bruns and Burgess, 2011). Acting as both framing and discursive devices, then, they enable both the production and circulation of ideologies and identities (Giglietto and Lee, 2017;Papacharissi, 2015;Rambukanna, 2015). For this reason, they are valuable research topics.…”

Evan Mawarire’s #ThisFlag as Tactical Lyric: The Role of Digital Speech in Imagining a Networked Zimbabwean Nation

“…3. For more on the links between hashtag activism and contemporary community formation, see Nathan Rambukkana's (2015) formulation of digital intimacy and the hashtag. 4.…”

#INSERTDIETHERE: Tracing the Techno-Linguistic Associations of Dietary Hashtags on Instagram

“…In particular, hashtags are technologically discursive tools that make possible "ambient affiliations" (p. 801) and the creation of "ad hoc social groups or sub-communities" (p. 801). Drawing from Zappavigna's research, Rambukanna (2015) concludes that hashtags act "as both text and metatext simultaneously, drawing discourse together across technologies in a way worthy of more research" (p. 161). Although these contributions into hashtag linguistics are noteworthy, Sharma (2015) cautions against overgeneralizing the social characteristics of hashtag community formation since the role that the hashtag plays in social media communication can differ in practice, among platforms, and among communities/structures.…”