As a result of the #MeToo movement in Sweden, #sistabriefen was created to represent the women, non-binaries and trans-persons working within the communications industry. This study analyzes the dynamics and identities of the #sistabriefen group members on their private social media platform. The analysis incorporates The Logic of Connective Action by Bennett and Segerberg (2012), and two complementary Social Identity Perspectives; Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory (Hogg & Terry, 2001; Hogg & Reid, 2006). The study consisted of 23 interview participants, and a qualitative content analysis over the course of five months. This research assesses how members are motivated to participate in the #sistabriefen group, how they identify themselves within the group, and how the group features affect members’ involvement. The findings of the research indicated that digital social movements have the potential to effectively mobilize social change.

This thesis aims to conduct an in-depth study of the activism surrounding the #DeleteFacebook hashtag by applying Critical Discourse Analysis. By theorizing framing, digital colonialism, power relations, and antagonism, this thesis examines the qualitative analysis of 1.987 Tweets posted on Twitter between 20 February and 4 March 2021. This study identifies the key thematic content of these Tweets and then conducts an in-depth critical analysis. These questions will be addressed in the research: “What are the principle discourse typologies and their intertextual interpretation of hashtag activism #DeleteFacebook?”, “What were the key themes that emerged during the #DeleteFacebook hashtag movement?” and “How can we interpret the online engagement with #DeleteFacebook as hashtag activism?”. This thesis presents an analysis of #DeleteFacebook related Tweets through coding and then reveals an intertextual analysis of it, including the social context. Also, this study provides a thorough review of the related literature concerning the costs of connection, social movements, hashtag activism, and collective identity. Finally, it concludes with a discussion reflecting on the role of digital colonialism and the power of Facebook.

This thesis looks into the online news representation of the #MeToo movement, started by actress Alyssa Milano in October 2017, in the two biggest German newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung between October 2017 and January 2017. The purpose of this study is to examine how the online editorial departments of the two biggest German newspapers frame and represent sexual harassment in the light of #MeToo. Additionally, I want to determine how the news coverage developed from when Harvey Weinstein first was accused of sexual misconduct in October 2017, touching upon the occurrence of the now famous hashtag roughly two weeks later and another three months later when German TV director Dieter Wedel faced similar allegations. To do so, I conducted a Critical Discourse Analysis of 19 online newspaper articles. The analysis is divided into three parts: Text level, discursive practice and social practice. Resulting from the analysis, one can see that sexual harassment in Germany still is not recognised as an issue of gender inequality but rather a matter of individual responsibility and systemic structures in certain industries, especially when German stakeholders are involved.

Research over the years has shown that there is a global rise in hashtag activism, this type of activism has also inspired what scholars call - hashtag feminism. Hashtag feminism utilizes Social Networking Sites to raise awareness about issues that are often not covered in traditional news media outlets such as TV, newspapers, and Radio Stations. Through this paper, I seek to investigate how Instagram has become one of the Social Networking Sites that has recently started being used for online activism in South Africa. This is done by conducting a qualitative analysis of 700 posts from the hashtag #AmINext, with a period focus of 3 months during South Africa's COVID-19 Level-5 Lockdown. The findings suggest that activists follow similar lines of the hashtag and social media activism parameters such as those of the #MeToo and #BeenRapedNeverReported movements. The analysis found that activists use Instagram to participate in Citizen Journalism by sharing information, raising awareness, organizing, mobilizing, and advocating (Vegh, 2003). Furthermore, there is clear Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism through things such as sharing information and having calls to action while utilizing hashtags as a way to gain momentum and attention. The findings suggest that these hashtags are able to cultivate a community of activists all around the country while also making sure to encourage more participation. The analysis also shows how there is an importance of such activism when movement is restricted due to national Lockdowns implemented to curb COVID-19, as many victims of SGBV found themselves at home and trapped with their abusers. In paying attention to this analysis, I conclude that perhaps through the exploration of new ways of activism, we can ensure that no voice is ever left behind. Furthermore, despite the possibilities of these new ways of raising awareness and activism, it is always important to see how we can apply the old with the new.

The intention of this thesis is to investigate whether there are consistent narrative patterns of images produced by female photojournalists under the Instagram hashtag #8mfotografascolombia in the context of the feminist mobilization of March 8, 2021, that took place in Colombia. I aim to establish if indeed these new communicative strategies in expansion respond to narratives widely used by traditional photojournalism, or if they operate under a different set of dynamics. Under the lens of Representation Theory I want to study how hegemonic depiction and absent stories form photojournalism are configuring counter narratives on social media platforms. On the other hand the perspective of Feminist Media Theory will provide understanding and context about the processes of production, circulation and absent feminine gaze within the media. The subsequent analysis shows that in fact narratives are being configured opposed to the structures of large media organizations in which the female gaze produces not only aesthetically different results, but the photographic process is intrinsically linked to performative actions, the recognition of subjects and away of the logic of spectacle and violence of the big media, but also outside of what the Instagram algorithm privileges.

This study aimed to get a deeper understanding of how people interact within groups on social media that originally stems from a hashtag-activistic campaign. The study was conducted on an empirically selected group using the hashtag #Trashtag on Facebook. #Trashtag is a hashtag used when picking up garbage in order to document pictures of ones work on social media. This study attempts to find out how the interaction within this group works and what makes people engage in the matter.  This study is conducted through content- and text analysis as well as ethnographic observation online. The observation method is also the means in which the data for this study is collected. The following three theories is used as the theoretical framework for this study, participatory culture, making is connecting and uses and gratification alongside with an hermeneutic perspective. The main results for this study was found by observing 45 publications from one Facebook group with the mission to clean up a beach in Ireland.  The observation showed that publications posted in the group varied between subjects concerning the constant litter and contamination on the beach too publications designed to inform about possible or direct causes of the problem. The main result of this study was an observation that a recurring way of motivating the group members to participate in the Facebook group was through emotionally charged content designed to provoke some kind of reaction. The engagement however is driven by positiveness and unconditional encouragement between the participants, negative vibes are not answered upon. Furthermore the study found that the urge to participate and contribute gives people a satisfactory feeling of achievement. Therefore activist groups like the one being researched in this study are important not just for the environment itself but also for the individual. The presented material in this study could be used for further research within this subject.

Offering contemporary insights into movement activities, this study explores the discursive identity formations and discursive constructions of veganism in the communication event #veganuary on Twitter. In a tentative attempt to understand #veganuary as a site of discursive and socio-cultural change, this study seeks to answer the research questions: (1) “What discursive identity formations take part in the semantic battle for the meaning of veganism in the communication event #veganuary on Twitter?”, (2) “How is veganism discursively constructed in the communication event #veganuary on Twitter?”, and (3) “How can we understand #veganuary on Twitter as a site of discursive and socio-cultural change?”. Relying on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) both as a theoretical and methodological framework, this study places itself in the field of media and communication studies in the intersection between studies on discourse, veganism, Twitter usage, and the everyday activism of Lifestyle Movements (LMs). Four main identity formations were identified and analyzed in the communication event, discursively constructing very different definitions and implications of veganism – as a diet, a challenge, a lifestyle, an identity, activism, a market opportunity, and a brand mission. Ultimately, #veganuary on Twitter can be understood as a site for discursive and socio-cultural change as a hemeratopian everyday alternative space, in which new interdiscursive mixes and discursive practices are interlaced in creative ways, inviting and involving new voices to the communication, imagination, and development of alternative ways of living.

The patriarchal societies in the MENA region have their entire social framework around the protection and regulation of female sexuality. The woman’s male relatives have to make sure that her honor is under their control and fulfills the patriarchal family demands. Women’s failure to stick to the code of honor may result in aggressive reactions that may mount to honor killings and this had happened in 2019 to Israa Gharyeb. The murder of the 21-year-old girl sent a shockwave of protests not just in the Palestinian society where the crime had happened but also across the Arab region. Activists on social media and the streets are sending a clear and strong message that murdering women will not be hidden anymore. Accordingly, this thesis sheds the light on the Twitter hashtag # كلنا_اسراء_غریب (we are all Israa) to reflect on the participants’ responses to both crime event and the traditional discourse on “Honor killings.” Theoretically, the paper offers a rereading of the theory of critical discourse analyses on the notions of ideology, power, and dominance. Empirically, this paper will analyze 460 tweets by conducting critical discourse analysis and qualitative content analysis.

On 15 October 2017 actress Alyssa Milano posted the following on her Twitter account: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet”. After Milano’s tweet, the hashtag #MeToo is said to have gone viral overnight. Suddenly, the stories of survivors and victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault and/or sexual abuse seemed to be everywhere— although, it may be argued, that they have always been the lived reality for many of us. Activists and those who research feminist hashtags like #MeToo tend to view the hashtag as a personalized tool for storytelling that enables survivors and victims to re-claim agency over the production of their own stories. This thesis deals with how survivors/victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault and/or sexual abuse tell their stories and reproduce their experiences in the context of #MeToo movement. Through an analysis within the framework of institutional ethnography, the process of constructing a #MeToo account will be recovered. The analysis focuses on investigating what informs and shapes the way in which survivors/victims tell their story and how their #MeToo accounts interact with the reader. It will be argued that institutional processes of handling cases of sexual violence significantly influence the way survivors and victims share their experiences in the context of the movement. It will be suggested that being critical and mindful of the institutional processes that affect the way survivors and victims share their experiences, means to disrupt the oppression and the violence that criminal justice systems and retributive models of justice perpetrate. As it is then that we can open up to more transformative, sustainable approaches to justice and survivor/victim support. The project contributes to the current body of feminist hashtag activism scholarship with an institutional ethnography perspective.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how digital activism is conducted on Twitter, particularly in relation to the dialogues and demands for Europe’s green economic recovery plan from COVID-19. It seeks to analyse the communication made using #GreenRecovery on Twitter by various actors over the period of May to June 2020, guided by the theory of public sphere and social movement and literature on digital activism, hashtag activism, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Political Activity (CPA) using a qualitative and quantitative content analysis.By analysing the frequency patterns of tweets and by uncovering the different types of communication, this paper sheds light on the users involved as well as the issue frames and mobilisation strategies that were visible in the #GreenRecovery discourse . Results of this study demonstrate that #GreenRecovery is used by varying actors on Twitter such as individuals, social movements, businesses and others. Furthermore, the hashtag has been used to raise awareness, communicate particular information, mobilize action and also employ assertion as dominant digital spectator activity. Tweets with #GreenRecovery was primarily framed towards the need for a redesign of the economy, indicating demands for changes in policies by targeting accounts of political actors from the EU Commission. It is further implied that during the discourse, #GreenRecovery acted as a structural signifier as a response to the leaked proposal of the Recovery Plan demonstrating that it has the potential to create hashtag communities.