Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Nigerian post-independence history (1960 to the present date) is steeped in socio-political upheavals. The majority of the citizens are frustrated with the injustice, inequality and fraudulent politics that pervade the country. The central argument of this thesis is that these conditions are critiqued through the photographic practices produced on Facebook. Through the circulation of photographs and the conversations around them on the social media platform, Nigerians demand social change. The sociality that underpins the visuality of social networking is explained by Ariella Azoulay's notion of "civil discourse," which theoretically organises the thrust of this thesis. The formulation suggests that the photograph is an outcome of the interaction among many individuals. It is a site of exchange, a process which I have argued to be reinforced by digital and internet technology. For five years, I have followed the visual social production on Facebook in the context of virtual participant observation, downloading photographs and the comments that go with them. A number of the photographs and the accompanying comments are analysed with semiotic tools to understand the key concerns of Nigerians. To explain how the agitation is presented, and the efforts invested in the production, I have reflected on the related questions of technological mediations and appropriations. A network of digital infrastructure conditions the creation and editing of the photographs and their dissemination and meaning-making processes on Facebook. Again, the Nigerian example demonstrates how state failure fuels activism, insurgency and counter-insurgency, all of which are actuated by digital photographic production. In this situation, the photographic image is burdened with the task to produce violence and to counter it. What ultimately emerges are complex relations among people, photography and technology. I conclude that the virtual movement presents possibilities for socio-political transformation in Nigeria. From the perspective of photography, this thesis contributes to the debates in social media activism and how it is shaping politics in Africa. It demonstrates the possibility of reading the tensions in an African postcolony through the connected digital, visual and social practices of the ordinary people. We are prompted to acknowledge the influence of digital infrastructure in the political use of the image.

The study aims to answer the question of whether fashion can communicate meaning, by addressing how creators on Instagram challenge dominant gender norms through fashion, with a focus on the activist movement of #DeGenderFashion. The research questions will be answered using fashion theory and gender theory as guiding points, with literature on social media activism, representations of gender, and cultural studies giving further insight into the dynamics of the movement. Data has been collected from the hashtag #DeGenderFashion, created by social media personality Alok Vaid-Menon in 2019, using the algorithmic function of Instagram to provide the most relevant posts for analysis. After applying a set of criteria to limit the data to create a coherent data set, a visual analysis with an interpretive paradigm and inductive approach was applied. One of the main findings is the influence of patriarchal systems on gender expression, with the movement being led by male and non-binary individuals. However, feminine and androgynous styles are most common, highlighting how non-female individuals strive to adopt feminine fashion into their wardrobes, and breaking the patriarchal stigma surrounding feminine styles. The results of the study further imply that gender specificity in object design is an outdated concept, with the styles featured in the data sample oftentimes combining elements from across the gender spectrum with each other, creating a new fluid visual identity. The study implies that gender specificity in fashion is an artificial concept, urging the fashion industry to become more inclusive by catering to a wider range of bodies.

With modern communication technology advancements, activist expression has become more common on social media platforms. Especially susceptible to these expressions is the millennial generation, whose lives are greatly permeated by media technology. This thesis aims to explore in what ways the social media platform Facebook inuences millennials’ motivation to engage in substantial prosocial behaviours that are intended to benet other people or society as a whole. Through mixed-method research design, participants’ attitudes towards Facebook as a platform for activism and its inuence on prosocial motivational aspects, was explored. Results indicated that previous habits of supportive engagement and the cost of the supportive action inuenced how the likeliness and motivation to engage in substantial supportive actions was aected by Facebook interaction. More precisely, higher levels of previous engagement, as well as engagement in costly, prosocial actions contributed to an increased motivation to engage further in such actions. Furthermore, social and contemporary aspects showed to play a large part for participants’ motivation to engage in costly and substantial prosocial actions.‌ / I samband med dagens kommunikationsteknologiska framsteg har aktivistiska uttryck blivit allt vanligare på plattformar för sociala medier. Särskilt mottagliga för sådana uttryck är millenniegenerationen, från engelskans ’milliennials’, vars liv till stor del genomsyras av medieteknik. Denna studie har för avsikt att utforska hur den sociala plattformen Facebook påverkar motivationen för individer tillhörande millenniegenerationen att engagera sig i konkreta prosociala beteenden som har som syfte att gynna andra människor eller samhället som helhet. Genom kombinerade kvalitativa och kvantitativa forskningsmetoder utforskades deltagarnas attityder gentemot Facebook som en plattform för aktivism, och dess inverkan på prosocialt motiverande aspekter. Resultaten visade att tidigare vana av engagemang samt kostnaden av den välgörande handlingen påverkades av Facebook-interaktion. Närmare bestämt, högre nivåer av tidigare engagemang samt engagemang i kostsamma, prosocial handlingar bidrog till en ökad motivation till fortsatt engagemang i sådana handlingar. Vidare påvisades sociala och samtida aspekter spela en viktig roll för deltagarnas motiatt engagera sig i kostsamma och konkreta prosociala handlingar.

Millennials are the world's digital natives and its largest generation. A general perception of this generation is that they lack engagement in social-political issues. This study explores how Millennials are engaging in social media activism and whether online activism is driving offline activism behaviors. A quantitative survey of 306 participants was conducted to learn more about the gratifications Millennials obtain through social media and whether associations exist between their online and offline activism behaviors. The results showed that Millennials engage in online activism behaviors to a greater extent than offline activism behaviors. Millennials primarily gratify intrinsic needs for interaction and belonging by engaging in social media activism behaviors. So-called “slacktivism” behaviors were most common among Millennials engaging in online activism. Similarly, online activism behaviors that require greater investment from Millennials were a good predictor of activism behaviors that occur offline. Results also demonstrate that, at an individual identification level, Millennials self-perceptions as activists predicted engagement in both online and offline activism.

This qualitative research aims to understand better how the multi-dimensional autonomy facilitated by social media activism influenced the dynamics of the Arab Spring, with a particular focus on the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Based on semi-structured interviews with earlier Egyptian activists, social media significantly provided individuals with platforms to express their opinions more freely, engage in dialogue, and foster a sense of solidarity and empowerment, which enhanced their feeling of autonomy. Moreover, social media provided safe spaces and fostered a sense of unity and collective strength among activists. On the other side, activists faced challenges related to misinformation and censorship, which has affected interviewees’ individual autonomy negatively. This research also highlights the concept of liberty as non-domination and the need for individuals to be free from arbitrary control or interference by others, allowing them to act autonomously. Based on the interviews, the activists faced various forms of domination and control, such as government surveillance and harassment, which limited the extent to which social media could provide a platform for liberty as non-domination. However, the activists demonstrated resilience and adaptability in these challenges.

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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.

The Islamic movement study mostly focused on radical, extremist, violent, or military aspects. The current research was carried out to examine the nonviolent elements of the Islamic movement. Based on the ethnographic photo research conducted in the Ethiopian Muslims Protest, the Islamic movements nonviolent aspect investigated. The Ethiopian Muslims were organized social media-led protests called Let Our Voices be Heard for their religious rights between 2011 and 2015. The study first examined where this Let Our Voices be Heard protest fits in civil resistance studies. Second, it investigated Facebook's role in initiating, organizing, and sustaining the nonviolent Islamic movement in Ethiopia. Using Johnston's defining terms of social movement theory, the Let Our Voices be Heard protest tested. The result shows that the protest well fit with the dimensions and components of social movement theory. The result indicates that the Let Our Voices be Heard protest exemplifies nonviolent Islamic movement in the Eastern Africa region, Ethiopia. The study further shows that Facebook, when used for a common goal, is a robust platform for successfully mobilizing nonviolent Islamic movements.

The Islamic movement study mostly focused on radical, extremist, violent, or military aspects. The current research was carried out to examine the nonviolent elements of the Islamic movement. Based on the ethnographic photo research conducted in the Ethiopian Muslims Protest, the Islamic movements nonviolent aspect investigated. The Ethiopian Muslims were organized social media-led protests called Let Our Voices be Heard for their religious rights between 2011 and 2015. The study first examined where this Let Our Voices be Heard protest fits in civil resistance studies. Second, it investigated Facebook's role in initiating, organizing, and sustaining the nonviolent Islamic movement in Ethiopia. Using Johnston's defining terms of social movement theory, the Let Our Voices be Heard protest tested. The result shows that the protest well fit with the dimensions and components of social movement theory. The result indicates that the Let Our Voices be Heard protest exemplifies nonviolent Islamic movement in the Eastern Africa region, Ethiopia. The study further shows that Facebook, when used for a common goal, is a robust platform for successfully mobilizing nonviolent Islamic movements.

Research paper talks about environmentalism, and its representations in the digital age. The study is focused on Instagram and the sample of three selected profiles. The research is conducted through the scope of the Framing Theory, focusing on two specific theories, adapted as the main frames, them being a very recent framework, Climate Optimism, and Climate Doomism. The methodology used was content analysis, with implemented data sampling strategy, codebook development, and coding itself, which resulted in the results of the analysis. The overall aim of the master’s thesis is to investigate the framing and therefore representations of climate change, and therefore provide a better understanding of how climate change is framed within social media and what frameworks can be implemented to take action- either individual, or global. The results of the analysis confirmed that the occurrence of positive narratives around climate change narratives is more and more prominent, and it is argued, that the framework could be expanded to a much larger scale and an audience in future research.