#BlackLivesMatter: The Evolution of Collective Identity
-
Upload
digital-sociology-mini-conference -
Category
Education
-
view
392 -
download
0
Transcript of #BlackLivesMatter: The Evolution of Collective Identity
#BlackLivesMatter: The Evolution of Collective
IdentitiesMelissa Brown
Department of SociologyUniversity of Maryland, College Park
SummaryO Significance of social media to 21st century social
movements
O #BLM is only new in name and presentation
O Link between online activism and offline protests
O Evolution of a leader in a leaderless movement
O Evolution of collective identities and their alter versions
Significance of social media to 21st century social
movements
COLLECTIVE IDENTITIESO Refer to “the set of operations by means of
which social movements define their collective sense of self, who they are and what they stand for” (Gerbaudo and Treré 2015: 865)
O Begin with the public expression of symbols and language that aims to challenge the cultural domination of a particular group (Polletta and Jasper 2014).
O Often evolve due to a collective group of individuals’ response to they perceived social imbalances
How Does Twitter Matter?
Hashtags as Collective Action Frames
O Hashtags that individuals use relate to their belief systems
O Hashtags allow users to join with others in a form of solidarity
O Using specific hashtags constitutes micromobilization
#BLACKLIVESMATTER : NEW IN NAME
ONLY
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
250275300325350375400425450475500
Justifiable Homicides by Law Enforcement
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
0
200
400
600
800U.S. Violent Crime Rate, 1960-2012
“When some people rejoin with ‘All Lives Matter’ they misunderstand the problem, but not because their message is untrue. It is true that all lives matter, but it is equally true that not all lives are understood to matter which is precisely why it is most important to name the lives that have not mattered, and are struggling to matter in the way they deserve... If Black lives do not matter, then they are not really regarded as lives, since a life is supposed to matter. So what we see is that some lives matter more than others, that some lives matter so much that they need to be protected at all costs, and that other lives matter less, or not at all.”
—Professor Judith Butler
#BlackLivesMatter
Research Questions1) Do “movement entrepreneurs” (Valocchi 2001: 446) who
are the most popular on Twitter correspond to activists mentioned by mainstream journalists as leaders of #BlackLivesMatter?
2) Does social media activism link to protests on the ground?
3) Do collective identities emerge and survive over time as they relate to Ferguson on Twitter?
4) What are the themes that are linked to the surviving collective identities on Twitter about Ferguson?
Ferguson Twitter Data Set
O August 10 - August 27, 2014: Killing of Michael Brown
O November 11 - December 8, 2014: Non-indictment of Darren Wilson
O February 25 - March 3, 2015: Department of Justice Report on Ferguson Police Department
O July 30 - August 11, 2015: One year after killing of Michael Brown
Ferguson Twitter Data Set
OTweets per day (31,657,545)OTop 10 most tweeted users per day
(446)OTop 10 Hashtags per day (293)OTop 10 Media files each day (670)OTop 10 URLs each day (670)OTop 10 Retweets each day (670)
Number of Tweets Per Period
Death of Mike Brown (18 days) 13,238,863
Non Indictment of Officer Wilson (28 days) 15,080,082
DoJ Report on Ferguson (8 days) 2,033,898
One Year after Brown's Death (13 days) 1,304,702
Total 31,657,545
Ac-tivists
Media Celebrity
Politicians
Scholars
Or-gani-za-
tions
Other DROP0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%Percentage of Top Users and Retweets
% of Users % of Retweets
THE EVOLUTION OF A
LEADER IN A LEADERLESS MOVEMENT
Brown Death Wilson Non-indictment
DoJ Report One Year af-ter Death
0%
13%
25%
38%
50%
DeRay McKesson (229K Twitter Followers)
19th
1st
1st
3rd
11/12/18
11/13/18
11/14/18
11/15/18
11/16/18
11/17/18
11/18/18
11/19/18
11/20/18
11/21/18
11/22/18
11/23/18
11/24/18
11/25/18
11/26/18
11/27/18
11/28/18
11/29/18
11/30/18
12/1/18
12/2/18
12/3/18
12/4/18
12/5/18
12/6/18
12/7/18
12/8/18
12/9/18
12/10/18
12/11/18
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
Tweets during Non-indictment of Officer Darren Wilson
THE EVOLUTION OF
A COLLECTIVE IDENTITY
Brown Death Wilson Non-indictment
DoJ Report One Year af-ter Death
0%
8%
15%
22%
30%
Evolution of a Collective Identity on Twitter: #BlackLivesMatter
(381,834 Tweets)
3rd
57th
3rd
2nd
#BlackLivesMatter Themes % #Blacks Killed with Impunity and Whites Not 43.24% 224
Displays of Solidarity and Activism 34.36% 178Historical References to Discrimination 6.18% 32
Demands for Policy Changes 5.60% 29
Response to Race Card Claim 4.63% 24
Media Double Standard 3.86% 20
Humanizing Police Brutality victims 2.12% 11Total 100% 518
Black Suspects Killed with Impunity
While Whites Are Not
Displays of Activism
Historical References to Discrimination
Demands for Policy Changes
Humanizing Police Brutality Victims
THE COUNTER NARRATIVE
Brown Death
Wilson Non-indictment
DoJ Report One Year af-ter Death
0%
4%
7%
11%
14%
18%
#TCOT: The Counter Narrative (331,439 Tweets)
4th6th
1st
14th
#TCOT Themes % # Validating Justifiable Homicides 26.25% 110 White Victims of Black Criminality 21.72% 91
#BLM as Radical Terrorists 14.80% 62
Black Problems for Black People 14.32% 60 Media Double Standard 11.69% 49
Tokenizing Examples of Blackness 8.35% 35 Humanizing Police Officers 2.86% 12 Total 100% 419
Validating Justifiable Homicides
White Victims of Black Criminality
#BLM as Radical Terrorists
Media Double Standard
Tokenizing Examples of Blackness
Humanizing Law Enforcement
CONCLUSIONO Social Media are a platform for the
formation of collective identities and execution of collective action in social movements
O Collective identities associated with Ferguson on Twitter
O Leaders on Twitter mimic leaders identified by mainstream media
O Activity on Twitter is closely linked to offline activity
Where We Are Going From Here?
O Intersectionality and social movements O Postcolonialism indigenous movements and
movements in developing countries
O A Digital Social Psychology?
O Partnership with MITH to a repository for new forms of data to conduct social science research on race and social inequality
O Ethnography and in-depth interviews to examine 21st century social justice efforts
O Rashawn Ray O Neil FraistatO Edward Summers O University of Maryland Critical Race Initiative
Melissa [email protected]