Title: Hashtag ideology: Practice and politics of alternative ideology

Author (s):: Samarjeet S.

Journal: Political Scandal, Corruption, and Legitimacy in the Age of Social Media

Month and Year: December 2016

Abstract: Hashtag is powerful in nature and gains undivided attention of the social media users. The dialectical phenomenon existing around these hashtags portrays collective consciousness spread across continents. Moreover, the discourse specific political engagements have one thing in common-fuelling global sentiment, perhaps, that is more homogenous and speculative. But the real question is how powerful as this hashtag phenomenon has become? Is it a disruptive culture that has become part of our everyday life? Consequently, the aim of this chapter is to deal with the recent hashtag phenomenon, engaging users in personal and social level. Hashtags such as #BringBackOurGirls and #HeForShe are used in this chapter as a case study to understand the power relations they exercise in the social media space and across cross-media platforms. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the growing literature of social media activism and the hashtag ideology. © 2017, IGI Global.

Document Type: Book chapter

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2019-1.ch005