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DOI :10.26650/B/SS07SS49.2023.009.06   IUP :10.26650/B/SS07SS49.2023.009.06    Full Text (PDF)

Identity and Activism on Twitter: An Analysis of Activism Using Carp And Spot

Derric Shapley

Social media is often seen as the new public square to many in the media. However, this paper argues Twitter to be a “Contested private sphere with public square attributes” (Shapley & Blumer, 2021). The public square has specific legal attributes that do not apply to a private company such as Twitter, which has terms-of-service agreements and other legal frameworks that prevent it from being fully recognized as a public square of free information. This paper also argues that the people analyzed within are rational actors who are aware they are spreading information that influences people and that many do so to influence their followers and other members of society. This research looks at four types of Twitter activists’ tweets loosely defined as social justice warriors, intellectual dark web, Black Lives Matter activists, and human biodiversity on Twitter. This research seeks to address two competing theoretical frameworks: the Collective Action Research Program (CARP; Lichbach, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) and the structuralists’ Synthetic Political Opportunity Theory (SPOT; McAdams et al., 1996, 2001; Tarrow, 1998a, 1998b, 2001), which is also sometimes called the mapping of contentious politics. The study uses participant observations to analyze the narratives that have developed and influenced other media in disseminating narratives because of debates forged on Twitter (Shapley & Blumer, 2021). The research will evaluate over 300 tweets from each group to gain a more comprehensive understanding of narrative development and identity development within the groups. All analyzed tweets are from public figures.


Keywords: Twitter, Public square, Social justice warrior, Intellectual dark web, Black lives matter, Human biodiversity

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