The affiliative use of emoji and hashtags in the Black Lives Matter movement: A Twitter case study

Abstract

Protests and counter-protests seek to draw and direct attention and concern with confronting images and slogans. In recent years, as protests and counter-protests have partially migrated to the digital space, such images and slogans have also gone online. Two main ways in which these images and slogans are translated to the online space is through the use of emoji and hashtags. Despite sustained academic interest in online protests, hashtag activism and the use of emoji across social media platforms, little is known about the specific functional role that emoji and hashtags play in online social movements. In an effort to fill this gap, the current paper studies both hashtags and emoji in the context of the Twitter discourse around the Black Lives Matter movement.

Enactive Principles for the Ethics of User Interactions on Social Media: How to Overcome Systematic Misunderstandings Through Shared Meaning-Making

“…However, the behaviour patterns are not as easily discernible in the online environment and can be misinterpreted at will. For example, the movement Black Lives Matter (BLM) had several associated hashtags on social media and emojis carrying specific meanings for those endorsing the movement and those opposing it (Alfano et al 2021). The meaning of using a purple heart emoji, for example, was known to the members of the BLM community, but it was still possible to have it used differently by an outsider who didn't know the rules of the game.…”