Twitter, the Public Sphere, and the Chaos of Online Deliberation

349 Pages·2020·4.314 MB·English

by  Gwen Bouvier, Judith E. Rosenbaum

Twitter, the Public
Sphere, and the
Chaos of Online
Deliberation
Edited by
Gwen Bouvier · Judith E. Rosenbaum
Twitter, the Public Sphere, and the Chaos
of Online Deliberation
Gwen Bouvier • Judith E. Rosenbaum
Editors
Twitter, the Public
Sphere, and the Chaos
of Online Deliberation
Editors
Gwen Bouvier Judith E. Rosenbaum
English Department Department of Communication and
Zhejiang University Journalism
Hangzhou, China University of Maine
Orono, ME, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-41420-7 ISBN 978-3-030-41421-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4
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C
ontents
1 Communication in the Age of Twitter: The Nature of
Online Deliberation 1
Gwen Bouvier and Judith E. Rosenbaum
Twitter and Democracy 2
Talking Points 13
References 15
Part I Political Contention and Civic Engagement 23
2 Going “Rogue”: National Parks, Discourses of American
Identity and Resistance on Twitter 25
Joanne Marras Tate, Vincent Russell, Rachel Larsen,
and Ellie Busch
Introduction 25
Foucault and Identity Construction 27
The National Park Imaginary and US Identity 28
Twitter Activism and the National Park Service 30
National Identity in Connection to Land on Twitter 32
Methods 33
Findings 35
Discussion 46
Conclusion 48
References 48
v
vi CONTENTS
3 Political Candidates’ Discussions on Twitter During
Election Season: A Network Approach 53
Maurice Vergeer
Introduction 53
The Dutch Electoral System 55
Twitter and Political Communication 56
Reciprocity and Network Homophily 56
Opinion Leadership 58
Preferential Attachment 59
Normalization Versus Equalization 60
Statistical Controls: Populism, Ideology, and Incumbency 61
Data, Measurements, and Analysis 62
Method 64
Results 64
Discussion 72
Conclusion 74
Appendix 75
References 75
4 #PeoplesVoteMarch or #LosersVoteMarch? Tracing the
Collective Identity of a Post- Brexit Referendum
Movement on Twitter 79
Photini Vrikki
Introduction: The Multiple Identities of Brexit 79
The Hostile Environment of a Post-Referendum UK 81
The Brexit Identity Conundrum: Ephemerality in a
Commentary Pit 83
Researching #PeoplesVoteMarch on Twitter 84
Tracing People’s Vote March’s Identities on Twitter 86
Conclusion: Building an Ambiguous Collective Identity 93
References 96
Part II Inside Twitter Communities: Communication
Strategies in Networked Publics 99
CONTENTS vii
5 Civic Debate and Self-Care: Black Women’s Community
Care Online 101
Raven Maragh-Lloyd
Description of Study 103
Literature Review 104
Method: Focus Groups 108
Results: Civic Debate on Twitter Defined 110
Conclusion 117
References 118
6 The Voices of Twitter: A Critical Discourse Analysis of
Racial Discourses on Twitter Following the Alt-Right
March on Charlottesville, Virginia 121
Sarah J. V. Dyer and Leah Hakkola
Introduction 121
Discourse 123
Public Sphere 124
Counterpublics 125
Post-Racial, Colorblind Racism 126
Resistance: Analyzing Charlottesville 128
Methodology 129
Findings 132
Discussion 143
Conclusion 144
References 146
7 Covert Hate Speech: White Nationalists and Dog
Whistle Communication on Twitter 151
Prashanth Bhat and Ofra Klein
Introduction 151
‘Dog Whistle’ as a Discursive Strategy 153
Data and Methods 157
White Supremacist Dog Whistles on Twitter 159
Conclusion and Discussion 165
References 168
viii CONTENTS
Part III The Role and Nature of Affect in Twitter
Interactions 173
8 Patterns of Emotional Tweets: The Case of Brexit After
the Referendum Results 175
Catherine Bouko and David Garcia
Emotions, Dialogue, and Social Media 176
Method 185
Results 190
Discussion 195
Conclusion 199
References 200
9 An Exploratory Mixed-Method Analysis of Interpersonal
Arguments on Twitter 205
Amy Janan Johnson and Ioana A. Cionea
Interpersonal Arguments Offline and Online 207
Method 213
Results 217
Discussion 223
Conclusion 227
References 227
Part IV The Use of Humor and Popular Culture in Political
Conversations on Twitter 233
10 Bros Before Donald Trump: Resisting and Replicating
Hegemonic Ideologies in the #BROTUS Memes
After the 2016 Election 235
Roberta Chevrette and Christopher M. Duerringer
The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and Memetic Citizenship 237
Social Media, Memetic Citizenship, and Everyday Politics 239
Analyzing Memes: #BROTUS and the 2016 Presidential
Election 241
Methodology 242
Humor and Resistance in the #BROTUS Memes 243
CONTENTS ix
Replicating Gendered and Racial Hegemonies in the
#BROTUS Memes 249
Conclusion 256
References 258
11 #FamilyTravelHacks: Humor and Political Commentary
in Hashtag Hijacking 267
Nathan J. Rodriguez
Introduction 267
Situating #FamilyTravelHacks: Public Sphere and Echo
Chambers 269
Government-Citizen Interaction in Online Spaces 270
Networked (Counter)Publics and the Role of Humor 271
@TravelGov 272
Zero-Tolerance Family Separation Policy 274
Methodology 275
Government Twitter Gone Wrong: Interactions and Negative
Comments 276
Affiliative Humor, Interaction, and Counterpublics:
#FamilyTravelHacks Migrates Beyond Twitter 278
Conclusion 281
References 283
12 Women in Horror, Social Activism, and Twitter:
Asia Argento, Anna Biller, and the Soska Sisters 291
Ernest Mathijs
Introduction: Blood Ties and Strong Ties 291
Social Media, Social Ties, and Aesthetics 293
Aim and Method 296
Blood Drive: Women in Horror Month 299
American Mary and the Soska Sisters 302
Horror Witches: Aesthetics and Anna Biller 304
Loss of Focus: Asia Argento 307
Conclusion 309
References 311
x CONTENTS
13 Afterword: Twitter and the Democratization of Politics 315
Gwen Bouvier and Judith E. Rosenbaum
The Meaning of Political 317
Dissecting Resistance, Marginalization, and Dialogue 319
Community Formation on Twitter 321
Talking Points: Reconsidering Political Participation 321
References 322
Index 325