#Feminism : Hashtag Feminism and the Logic of Connective Action

Cyberactivism describes the ways in which the internet and social media platforms enable users to become activists. Hashtag feminism has become an integral form of cyberactivism which promotes gender equality and fights against today’s most prominent women’s issues. Focusing on the hashtags #Feminist, #Feminism, and #Genderequality, this major research project uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to examine hashtag feminism networks on Twitter in relation to the logic of connective action. The research questions of this paper explore the density, centralization, modularity and cluster characteristics of hashtag feminism networks, and question whether feminist hashtags are implemented by members of countermovements. In addition, this paper references Habermas’s theory of the public sphere to ground the analysis of hashtag feminism. The results of the network analysis suggests that Twitter may serve as a counterpublic in which both feminists and anti-feminists can produce and participate in discourses that represent their interests and identities. Additionally, the analysis found that organizations tend to hold the most dominant role in hashtag feminism Twitter networks.