After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, Black Lives Matter
protests surged around the globe. Amid COVID-19, activism on social media flourished. On
Instagram, use of the ten-image carousel as an informative slideshow akin to a PowerPoint
presentation gained significant attention: The New York Times highlighted their “effort to
democratize access to information." In this paper, I rhetorically analyze case studies to
illustrate how Instagram slideshows facilitated deliberation about participation. I argue
that these posts reveal a tension in platformed digital activism: as digital templates
broaden access to participation, technoliberal ideology constrains activist
judgment.
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