#Activism

Dr. Will Kurlinkus

Warning on Hacker Virality &
Intergenerational Dupes

+Bet you can’t think of two words

that starts with c and ends with b!
+Q. Can we think of other things
that old people do on Facebook or
other social media platforms?
+Q. Does your community have
generational differences?
What is a hashtag anyway?
+ Where did it comes from? 2007 proposed by Chris Messina as a way to link
communities and culture on twitter
+ Folksonomy: a classification system led by participatory culture and the kindness
of the public rather than some set of expert librarians.
+ Hashtag: an overt metadata label that makes connecting and searching across
social media possible.
+ Hashtags are frequently memes in that they serve as a locus of virality and a way to search
the rules of that viral community (see #throwbackthursday, #mancrushmonday).
+ Hashtags are frequently used by influencers and marketers to build their brands or,
conversely, use #notsponsored
+ Hashtags are also always invitations to act and converse and, thereby, often unwittingly
open debates and critique.
Q. How does your community use hashtags,
virality, or something else to organize itself?
Example of
Hashtag
Resistance
+ Countersignification: flipping the
script, using the hashtag to tell
different stories.
+ Counterappropriation:
misappropriating identities.
+ Counterdelegation: hacking
accounts and the technology
Q. What other examples of hashtag or larger
social media fails can you think of?
The Circulation of Hashtags
+Trending on Twitter: an algorithm identifies spikes in a topic
(relative to its normal level)—measuring simultaneously amount of
tweets and how fast they come about. Slow but huge numbers don’t
trend.
+ Trends are customized based on location and accounts followed (this is the
filter bubble at it again!)
+Shadowbanning: the algorithmic practice of blocking or partially
limiting a user or their content from an online community so that it is
not technically banned but difficult to find and rarely algorithmically
trends. Twitter and TikTok have been accused of shadowbanning
creators of color.
What is Black Twitter?
+ Black Twitter: a collective of active, primarily African-American Twitter users who
have created a virtual community and are proving adept at bringing about a wide
range of sociopolitical changes. Characterized by a high level of reciprocity
(retweeting and using one another’s hashtags). A public challenge to media that
are inattentive to the depths and nuances of Black culture.
+ African American Rhetoric that occurs on Black Twitter
+ Signifyin’ (Henry Louis Gates Jr.): Trickster wordplay, often covert, usually highly
humorous. See playing the dozens. Involves covert and metaphorical language as a means
of survival.
+ Hush harbors: Historically a place where African American slaves gathered secretly to
practice religious rituals and become literate. Continue today as safe places to practice
African American insider culture: the barber shop and now black twitter.
+ Roasts vs. Drags: Critique with affection from insiders to insiders (similar to playing the
dozens) vs. decimating and outsider
+ Intracommunity issues are readily apparent, an important feature of your social
media community analysis.
Black Feminist #Activism
+Bringing Wreck: Moments when black women’s discourse disrupt
dominant masculine discourses and politeness norms. Eg these hashtags
but also the black sexuality of hip hop artists from Queen Latifah to Lizzo.
+ #FastTailedGirls: sharing stories of being sexualized and blamed for that sexualization
at incredibly young ages. Creating solidarity and awareness to the fact that 40-60% of
black women are sexually abused before 18.
+ #YouOKSis: Sharing stories of being sexualized and catcalled on the street. Calling for
protecting one another.
+ #SayHerName: Calling attention to the abuse (and particular police abuse) of black
women when the focus of black lives matter had been primarily the deaths of young
black men.
+Hashtag ecology: the inter-relationship between similar hashtags and
what this reveals about a community.
+The labor of black twitter and culture vultures : See on flique
Q. How do the ways a community organizes
itself differ across different platforms?
 +Intro
+Lit Review
Midterm
+At least a three part
Required Parts
argument
+Conclusion
What an Introduction Should Do
By the end of your intro I
should have a thesis,
questions, know your lens Show me your
Common Errors
(though not have it problem/topic,
explained), know your demonstrate it. + Get to your thesis, argument, or research
cases, and know your question faster.
structure.
+ Signpost your argument and research
questions in straightforward ways. I argue…
Pose your research
question or puzzle in
Clearly signpost. + Illustrate your thesis, topic, or research
relation to that
demonstration.
question faster.
+ TLDR: 2-3 pages.
+ Starting too broad.
Introduce me to the
things/people you are
going to be looking at.
Don’t make we
Example Intro
“I like watching you sleep,” one-hundred-and-seven year old vampire Edward Cullen iconically reveals to seventeen year old Bella Swan in the
first Twilight movie. These characters come from a world where every obstacle is life or death, romance is fated, and supernatural creatures
allow a place in their world for an extremely average junior in high school. Hopelessly, and many times ridiculously, devoted to one another,
Edward and Bella’s story made it to screens across the world in 2008. The film is widely regarded as one of the cringiest of all time, with fans
and critics alike quoting its bafflingly overdramatic lines, citing its blue filter over every shot, and commenting on its notorious although self-
indulgent indie-rock soundtrack. The wardrobe as well was remarkably 2008-esque, with Bella’s bowling shirt on the first day of school and
Edward’s impeccably disheveled hair, or the lesser known snakeskin cowboy boots Jasper dons. Despite the disparagement, Twilight was a
global phenomenon, an outstanding pop culture moment of 2008. Although widely critiqued as unfeminist, the film made it clear to
Hollywood that there was a space for films marketed towards women , a genre previously thought to be nonexistent. Kristin Stewart’s vapid
character as well as her own acting abilities were mocked relentlessly for years, and yet without a Bella Swan there may never have been a
Katniss Everdeen, a Wonder Woman, a Hazel Grace Landcaster. Whether one looks at the box office record-breaking movie of Twilight as just a
chick-flick, a quintessential indie melodrama, “abstinence porn,” or the first installment of the budding YA movie genre, Twilight’s significance
in the film industry cannot be contested (Seifert).
Still , 12 years later a resurgence of Twilight has begun. An entire community of now grown-up fans connect on social media platforms that did
not exist when the series first began. This phenomenon labeled “The Twilight Renaissance” has grown so large that author Stephanie Meyer
even released a new book in August 2020, something she said she would never do. The renewed popularity of the series also led to Hulu
nabbing the streaming rights to the film. These instances showcase the power a memory community can have. How is it possible that the
creators responsible for bringing this story to life are making a profit again years after the age of Team Edward and Team Jacob t-shirts ? A
series that, despite its fan base and box office history, is now outdated in addition to being cringey? Why now? Although commonly mocked
and criticized, the Twilight series has experienced a notable rejuvenated interest through old fans connecting on social media in the age of
COVID-19, filled with uncertainty and nostalgia for simpler times. In order to study this, the following must be examined: (1) nostalgia’s
traditional re-emergence during precarious times, (2) what emotional ties brought this community together, and (3) how commutative
memory can lead to connections on social media .
Reminder Next
Week Primary
Research Due
+ Collect the interesting, weird, and
strange
+ Collect clear illustrations of your point
+ Collect contradictions and tensions in
the community