Hacking the mundane? a pride-turned-protest on Instagram

Ivo FURMAN, Rolien Susanne HOYNG, Mahsa ALIMARDANI

Research output: Other Conference ContributionsConference Paper (other)Other Conference Paperpeer-review

Abstract

While a growing body of work theorizes the role of Twitter and Facebook in social change (Gerbaudo 2012; Leavitt 2009; Poell et al. 2015; Procter et. al 2013), little has been done to explore how Instagram is used during political events such as demonstrations. This paper engages the question of whether Instagram’s affordances designate it to be a medium archiving and structuring the mundane exclusively or a tool for political mediations. We explore how users conceptualize the affordances of the platform and the agency they have in using it for their own motives. At stake is the question of whether users of this image-driven medium--who are at least to some degree invested in the politics of visibility that underlies the Pride Parade--are able to forge a disruption of, or intervention into, the mundane as it is cultivated on social media. In Turkey, this might not only mean subverting the forms of control that the platform exercises over the streams of everyday communication but also challenging censorship and mood manipulation by pro-government forces.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 12 Jul 2016
Event2016 International Conference on Social Media and Society - London, London, United Kingdom
Duration: 11 Jul 201613 Jul 2016
https://smsociety16.sched.com/

Conference

Conference2016 International Conference on Social Media and Society
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period11/07/1613/07/16
Internet address

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