- Title
- Black Twitter and Digital Counterpublics in South Africa
- Creator
- Aiseng, Kealeboga
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date Issued
- 2024
- Date
- 2024
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455188
- Identifier
- vital:75411
- Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.11114/smc.v12i2.6540
- Description
- The growth of technology has made the Internet an essential tool in so-ciety. Scholars have argued that the Internet supports a more delibera-tive democracy. However, scholars have also raised concerns about the role of the Internet in political matters. While scholars agree that the Internet has facilitated broader public discussion, in many regards, its ‘virtual public sphere’still mirrors existing social structures. Twitter has become a common social media platform for many South Africans. This has led to a virtual community of Twitter users engaged in real-time dis-courses primarily related to Black South Africans. Black Twitter in South Africa is used for social, political, and economic motivations. This study argues for the practice of Black Twitter as a digital counterpublic in South Africa. The aim is to spotlight how black people in South Africa have used Black Twitter as a digital counterpublic for the marginalized groups within South Africa. The research will investigate the potential challenges and opportunities associated with Black Twitter functioning as a digital counterpublic. Utilizing digital ethnography, the study gath-ered a dataset of tweets from Black Twitter in 2022, focusing on those addressing social, political, and economic issues. More than 700,000 tweets were identified under these specific thematic hashtags.
- Format
- 18 pages
- Format
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Studies in Media and Communication
- Relation
- Aiseng, K., 2024. Black Twitter and Digital Counterpublics in South Africa. Studies in Media and Communication, 12(2), pp.302-320
- Relation
- Studies in Media and Communication volume 12 number 2 302 320 2024 2325-808X
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Studies in Media and Communication Statement (https://redfame.com/journal/index.php/smc)
- Hits: 92
- Visitors: 97
- Downloads: 8
Collections
Aiseng, Kealeboga (Dr)
RU School of Journalism and Media Studies
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Black Twitter and Digital Counterpublics in South Africa.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |