#ChallengeAccepted – Hashtag activism against femicide in Turkey A Content Analysis of the comments made under a post by the Instagram page ‘stopfemicides’

Abstract

Social media platforms and the appropriation of hashtags to reach and mobilize people globally around a cause has been a tool and practise used for the formation of many online activist movements throughout the years. Thus, the role of hashtags in online activism has been a topic of debate by many scholars. This research will focus on the characteristics of hashtag activism as a news source, allowing counterpublics to emerge, and enabling collective action. The broader academic debate around hashtag activism recognises social media’s potential to allow for an accessible platform for its users, where hashtags can be used to spread awareness and organise movements around a cause. Using content analysis, a post made under the #ChallengeAccepted by the Instagram page ‘stopfemicides’ will be analysed in regards to how the comments made under the post suggest the characteristics of hashtag activism mentioned above and slacktivism based on the user’s participation. For this study, 20 comments have been sampled and will be analysed throughout chapter 3 to 5 concerning the research question. The results show how the type of participation of the users determine and is essential to what extent they perform hashtag activism. While characteristics of hashtag activism are recognised, some comments suggest it’s contra perspective slacktivism, a term coined to describe the appropriation of hashtags for online activism as lazy participation. Thus, this research aims to demonstrate how comments can fulfil and show forms of hashtag activism to support the movement and spread awareness of the hashtag’s message. Hence, the significance of this study is to demonstrate ways to employ hashtags to perform online activism.