The Impact of Twitter on Political Activism and Public Opinion

Introduction:

Twitter has emerged as a major forum for political life, transforming how activism and public awareness are shaped in the digital age. With the use of hashtags and the almost instant spread of information, political statements are able to reach global audiences with unprecedented speed, frequently mobilizing public opinion and even sparking political support within movements.

Twitter's ability to spread information, however, can also lead to significant challenges. This includes the spread of misinformation, potential manipulation and even an increased risk for hashtag hijacking, which all work to distort political narratives negatively. Although Twitter has the potential to drive social change, there are many risks that need to be considered as well. This paper will focus on the influences of Twitter on the public in regards to political activism, evaluating both the pros and cons and how political life is affected. 

Hashtags as Influences for Political Change on Twitter:

In the context of political activism, the use of hashtags has emerged as a highly effective strategy for raising awareness, mobilizing support and amplifying marginalized voices. By vocalizing issues through trending hashtags, individuals are able to influence public figures, who, in return, help shape public opinion and rally support for causes. This is clearly demonstrated by the #BringBackOurGirls movement, which gained enormous popularity once Michelle Obama publicly expressed her support for it. The movement worked to raise global awareness on the abuses and kidnappings of school girls, in response to the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria in 2014. As the former first lady, her advocacy attracted a lot of attention, leading to over 70,000 retweets and subsequent mainstream press coverage, which helped amplify the message (Oxford University Press 2017, p. 5). 

The exercise of power through influencing political actions and shaping public opinion through their platforms is implied by the involvement of prominent figures. “According to a 2012 Pew Research Centre survey, 25% of Americans who were introduced to political topics on Twitter using hashtags were more politically involved, while 16% of those who were exposed to them altered their beliefs” (Oxford University Press 2017, p. 6). By subtly adding political information through the use of hashtags to popular social media platforms like Twitter, people become more aware of social movements and are encouraged to participate in governance. 

Similarly, the use of hashtags can also amplify solidarity movements, as seen with the #StandWithWomenInAfghanistan campaign. The movement began in response to the US and its allies withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2021 and handing control over to the Taliban (Bouvier & Machin 2023, p. 722) which led to a significant loss of women's rights. The campaign used symbolic gestures, such as wearing hashtags on their hands and covering their faces, to express solidarity with women in the nation who were compelled to cover up. By encouraging people to participate in these acts through hashtags, the campaign amplified support, creating a chain of posts and photos that raised awareness about the issue. Since the images alone can be perceived as somewhat arbitrary and lack clear evidence of the issue's significance, they are unlikely to attract as much attention without the use of hashtags. Similar to a digital folder, hashtags combine similar activism posts into a single location that makes them easily accessible and discoverable while also reinforcing the symbolic significance of the protest, also working to back up the importance of the issue as well. 

Statistically, the use of hashtags has been proven to increase rates for support on global activism campaigns and issues incredibly. One instance can be seen with the #FridaysForFuture campaign which was held by global warming activist Greta Thunburg who was advocating for protests outside the Swedish parliament. According to Haßler et al. (2021), “overall, 46,881 original tweets and 225,562 retweets were published by 82,455 unique users” (p. 2001). With an average of 675 tweets and 3,100 retweets per day under the hashtag, these statistics highlight how rapidly issues can gain public support with minimal effort, leading to widespread awareness and further engagement as a result of hashtag usage. Twitter's smart use of hashtags allows political activism to cross worldwide boundaries, making it simpler for movements to gain traction and impact public conversation globally.

The Power of Information Spread on Twitter:

Furthermore, Twitter has served as a platform for rapidly spreading information about political protests and events, often without the bias associated with traditional media, which helps mobilize larger groups of supporters. Protests take numerous shapes and stem from a wide range of viewpoints; however, Twitter has proven to be less influenced by organizations and third-party groups than other platforms. In fact, Twitter is particularly effective in reflecting the voice of the public, with "more than 75% of all tweets coming from ordinary citizens" (Theocharis et al. 2014, p. 211).  By doing so, Twitter works to convey a sense of unbiased information on protests and political events while also working to express the needs of citizens. The role of Twitter in large-scale protests is particularly evident in the 2013 protests in São Paulo, Brazil, where over 97,000 tweets shared information about protest activities and how citizens could participate in the span of only 2 months (Santos 2022, p. 68). “According to a study by Semiocast in 2012, Brazil had 41.2 million Twitter accounts, the second-highest in the world at the time, showcasing the platform’s immense impact” (Santos 2022, p. 71). Thanks to these posts and the increase in twitter users within the country, citizens across Brazil and in various nations were able to stay up to date on ongoing news such as police activity, official comments from government figures in regards to the issue, working to increase support by over 50% (Santos 2022, p. 74). 

A clearer illustration of the mass spread of information on protests and political events is seen in the Iranian Green Movement. The movement that originated due to claims that the Iranian presidential election was fraudulent, first began in early 2009s when only “0.027% of the country’s population was on Twitter” (Burak & Yücesoy 2019, p. 51). The issue was later brought back to attention in 2018 with an extreme increase in Twitter usage bringing the mass spread of information almost instantly. Between January 3rd and January 7th of 2018, there had been a total of 9229 tweets on the issue (Burak & Yücesoy 2019, p. 53). Over 50% of these tweets provided information on assemblies, marches, and mass movement strategies, enabling individuals in Iran to stay informed about current events—something that was not possible during the early years of the protests, when Twitter was not widely used in the country. The platform's outstanding capacity for mass communication of data is extremely effective when appealing for public support and raising general awareness about issues. 

Twitter's retweet feature enables tweets to be shared and re-shared, resulting in a viral effect in which retweets of retweets can dramatically increase the distribution of information to a larger audience (Richardson 2016, p. 206). An example of how Twitter's retweet feature can drive the mass spread of information occurred during the 2015 Republican debate. A tweet that read, "Bernie Sanders is winning the debate and he is not even there #DebateWithBernie" was retweeted 2,309 times within just nine days. Although this sounds quite small, the account with the original tweet gained an impressive 1.4 million followers over the same period, working to show just how quickly information can spread on twitter (Richardson 2016, p. 213). Twitter's ability to rapidly spread information fosters immediate public awareness of political protests and events, often generating greater support compared to other social media platforms.

The Dark Side:

Although Twitter can be a powerful tool for action, it also has significant drawbacks. One major issue is the widespread spread of misinformation and the development of "echo chambers." These echo chambers limit users' exposure to other perspectives because Twitter's algorithm favours material that coincides with their preexisting opinions. This can hinder the understanding of complex political issues and foster polarized opinions. As seen in the 2020 US election results, widespread misinformation campaigns by Trump, particularly claims of voter fraud and stolen ballots following Biden's victory, were amplified through mass tweets on Twitter. These false narratives influenced many of Trump's supporters, leading them to believe the election had been 'stolen’ (Shane 2022, p. 188). Due to individuals already following and engaging with tweets that supported their views, recent tweets reinforcing these claims and arguing that Trump deserved to win were pushed to their feeds. This not only spread misinformation on a large scale but also fuelled public outrage. As seen with Trump supporters dismissing counterarguments and rather responding with comments like, “I won't be swayed. you're not gaslighting anyone with those fake graphs” (Shane 2022, p. 188). By amplifying false information, a chain reaction was created that strengthened pre-existing biases and polarized public opinion, reducing consideration of alternative views. 

The effects of echo chambers can additionally work to discriminate against those who identify as minority groups. Many stereotypes and misinformation about minorities are further pushed on social media platforms, specifically Twitter due to the large usage. People of colour, particularly Asian people, have endured racialization and prejudice for years as a result of these tweets. Recently, they were greatly harmed by Xenophobia on Twitter between March 2020 and July 2021, which was driven by the COVID-19 epidemic (Hove 2021, p. 179).  During this time, Chinese immigrants were specifically racialized due to the pandemic originating from China. “Many Asian Americans have reported suffering racial slurs, wrongful workplace termination, being spat on, physical violence, extreme physical distancing, etc” wrote Hove (2021, p. 182). As an effect of this ongoing racism, came the “platformed racism” which stemmed as a response of echo chambers. The many twitter tweets during this time period quoted those who racially discriminated against Asian individuals including Trump’s famous quote which referred to COVID-19 being the “Chinese virus” (2021, p. 183). As a result, individuals who engaged with tweets about Trump or those who participated in racist attacks on minorities were further exposed to posts that reinforced false information, contributing to the normalization of the racism faced by Asian immigrants during COVID through echo chambers. 

While Twitter echo chambers increase misinformation and encourage negative attitudes, another worrying practice known as hashtag hijacking contributes to these problems by distorting public debate and manipulating popular topics for nefarious intentions. Hashtag hijacking works by co-opting a specific hashtag by flooding it with posts that oppose or distort the original purpose for which the hashtag was created (Anne and Willis 2020, p. 507). Although this may not appear to be a problem, it can become one when attempting to shut down movements advocating for human rights and other causes that may have a substantial impact. These hijacking actions spread disinformation by intentionally influencing the conversation and diverting it from the intended aim of the hashtag. The 2014 #MyDressMyChoice human rights movement emerged after a Kenyan woman was attacked and stripped for wearing a short dress. The issue of hashtag hijacking surfaced when #StrippingShame, initially created to publicly shame those responsible for the attack, was later hijacked by individuals using it to shame women who had been stripped (Anne and Willis 2020, p. 524). The effects of this were long lasting and led to human rights violations which later influenced the passing of new laws that criminalized public strippings (Anne and Willis 2020, p. 524). Hashtag hijacking not only harms the integrity of major social movements, but it also promotes damaging narratives that can stall or derail meaningful social reforms, emphasizing the complex and often devastating role that Twitter through the use of manipulation can play in modern activism. The platform, although can work in many ways to promote activism and political life, can also disrupt activism efforts almost completely through misinformation and exploitation.  

Conclusion:

  To summarize, while Twitter can be an effective tool for advocating political issues and raising awareness, its potential for distributing disinformation and amplifying damaging narratives means that society must be mindful of the negative implications it might have. Twitter functions as a vast platform that suggests political impact within activism through the use of hashtags that encourage movements and work to demonstrate support, as well as the use of fast-publishing messages that raise public awareness on political events and protests nearly immediately. By doing so, the platform aims to advocate and inspire individuals to become more socially aware of political concerns, resulting in increased support. Twitter, although at times can be significantly positive, does also work to influence many unfavourable reactions to political life by spreading incorrect information that supports societal biases while also encouraging the spread of political disinformation and false information. Through these actions, discrimination on minority groups and mockery of social advocacy movements are often normalized, creating a hostile environment within nations worldwide. 

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References

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