I Refused to Say #MeToo: Negotiating Between Individual Agency and ‘Imagined’ Platform Constraints

Abstract

This article describes how ‘imagined’ constraints of the social media platform by its users stand crucial while actualising platform affordances and exercising individual agency. I use the term ‘imagined constraints’ to explain how constraints of the media platform are speculated by my participants while they negotiate between the materiality of the platform and social environment to formulate their restricted agency. Here, I use a recent example of feminist hashtag movement ‘#MeToo’ as a case in point. Previous literature addressing feminist hashtag activism and other social movements influenced by social media platforms mainly discuss the participatory potential of these platforms. However, empirical investigation into the factors leading to non-participation in movements like #MeToo has hardly captured any scholarly attention. To address this existing gap in the literature, this article analyses embodied experiences shared through in-depth interviews by 11 Indian women who made a conscious decision of not participating in the #MeToo movement. I discuss my results taking into consideration theories of ‘imagined platform affordances’ and shaping of individual agency in terms of activist participation. I discuss that ‘Imagined constraints’ of the social media platform are chiefly shaped by an individual’s analysis of their sociocultural environment in which media platforms exist. These imagined constraints of a platform lead to constitute a ‘constrained agency’ of an individual. I argue that, while we theorise the potential of social media platforms in facilitating hashtag feminist movements like #MeToo, we must take into consideration the formulation of ‘imagined constraints of the platform’ by its users, as it stands crucial in guiding their participatory action.

“Will the law not protect survivors who don’t weep”: Twitter as a platform of feminist deliberation and democracy in India

“…Mendonça et al (2022) have argued the importance of going beyond verbal forms of communication and underlines the importance of acknowledging the relevance of non-verbal communication in human arguments especially when examining deliberation but the “visual, sonic and physical dimensions” (p. 35) of conversations do not lend themselves to critical measurement on social media. Besides, while users may actively use social media to exercise individual agency, imagined constraints of the social media platform by its users as constructed by individual responses to their sociocultural scenario also mediate use and expression on the platforms (Dixit, 2021).…”

“…Nor does it study emotion which is an important aspect of human communication online. While users may actively use social media, what are some of the “imagined” constraints of social media that mediates expression on these platforms (Dixit, 2021)? Intersectionality is discussed but no solutions are offered as to how this can be strengthened.…”

The Dragonfly Effect: Analysis of the Social Media Women’s Empowerment Campaign

“…Given that empowerment is highly contextualised and influenced by society’s norms/culture (Dixit, 2021), another issue worthy of analysis concerns how advocacy organisations in different cultures use social media (Shata & Seelig, in press; Waters & Lo, 2012). In some patriarchal societies, the relationship between men and women negatively impacts women’s empowerment (Vyas et al, 2020).…”

“…Research also found that authoritarian regimes in the Arab world limit the freedom of advocates on social media through censorship and prohibiting certain content (Salem, 2017; Youmans & York, 2012). In addition, sociocultural and contextual factors such as societal stereotypes, government censorship or inadequate network coverage deter women from taking full advantage of social media for empowerment (Abubakar et al, 2017; Dixit, 2021). Specifically, a dominant male society like Egypt encounters gender stereotypes and gender-based violence that impact over 50% of women who have experienced verbal harassment, and over 30% have suffered physical harassment (Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights [ECWR], 2012).…”

Theoretical and Social Implications of Alternative ‘Feminist’ Media: Sexual Harassment and Intersectional Advocacy in India

“…In India and among its transnational publics, activism and affect surrounding survival stories of sexual abuse victims have surfaced in traditional and alternative media more recently, albeit with differing degrees of blame allotted to offenders. Mainstream media like The Times of India and Economic Times and social media are exposing perpetrators and "issues of sexual abuse among the Indian elite including Bollywood celebrities, journalists, politicians, and well-known media personalities who employ Twitter as a space for "coming-out"" (Dixit, 2022;Nanditha, 2021;Pain, 2021). However, traditional media have either depoliticized the severity of these acts or not addressed the intersectional nature of the crimes, their contexts of perpetration, and the fate that befalls its victims (Mishra, 2020;Nanditha, 2021;TOI, 2018).…”