Abstract
In this paper we investigate how online counter-discourse is designed, deployed and orchestrated by activists to challenge dominant narratives around socio-political issues. We focus on activism related to the UK broadcast media’s negative portrayal of welfare benefit claimants; portrayals characterised as “poverty porn” by critics. Using critical discourse analysis, we explore two activist campaigns countering the TV programme Benefits Street. Through content analysis of social media, associated traditional media texts, and interviews with activists, our analysis highlights the way activists leverage the specific technological affordances of different social media and other online platforms in order to manage and configure counter-discourse activities. We reveal how activists use different platforms to carefully control and contest discursive spaces, and the ways in which they utilise both online and offline activities in combination with new and broadcast media to build an audience for their work. We discuss the challenges associated with measuring the success of counter-discourse, and how activists rely on combinations of social media analytics and anecdotal feedback in order to ascertain that their campaigns are successful. We also discuss the often hidden power-relationships in such campaigns, especially where there is ambiguity regarding the grassroots legitimacy of activism, and where effort is placed into controlling and owning the propagation of counter-discourse. We conclude by highlighting a number of areas for further work around the blurred distinctions between corporate advocacy, digilantism and grassroots activism.
Highlights
The unsympathetic television depiction of welfare claimants living in low-income communities has frequently been dubbed poverty porn: a label that acknowledges the prurient and voyeuristic nature of such programming as well as the objectification of its subjects
We explore how social media platforms are used in conjunction with more established forms of activism to generate a counter-discourse against the stigmatisation of communities portrayed through so-called poverty porn television
Our work builds on a relatively small body of research focused on understanding the creation and deployment of counter-discourse campaigns by activists and our findings reveal that activists utilise an understanding of social media platforms and tailor their campaigns towards specific target audiences
Summary
The unsympathetic television depiction of welfare claimants living in low-income communities has frequently been dubbed poverty porn: a label that acknowledges the prurient and voyeuristic nature of such programming as well as the objectification of its subjects. We explore how social media platforms are used in conjunction with more established forms of activism to generate a counter-discourse against the stigmatisation of communities portrayed through so-called poverty porn television. Our work is motivated by a current lack of deep understanding of how digital activists design, deploy and subsequently orchestrate campaigns that challenge the dominant narrative of broadcast media. In studying these counter-discourse campaigns, we reflect on the effectiveness of the approaches used by activists and identify the ways in which existing social media platforms support activism work. We discuss the key issues raised by the analysis, highlighting their implications for HCI, CSCW and social computing research
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