A systematic literature study of sexual violence, hashtag feminism and the #MeToo movement on Twitter (15 October 2017-14 May 2021)

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The date range included was 15 October 2017-14 May 2021. The rationale for the years included, represents the inception of the #MeToo on Twitter which emerged in 2017. Although the #MeToo movement gathered tremendous support on a global level, it has been critiqued by countless women for marginalizing out the sexual violence experienced by women of colour. (Ceron, 2018; Rodino Colocino, 2018;Willig, 2018). Tarana Burke criticized the #MeToo as a “white supremacist patriarchal movement” with a deep-rooted history which includes but also emerged well before Trump’s presidency (Colocino, 2018: 98). While the phenomena of the online movement encouraged women to begin Twitter conversations about deep rooted patriarchy and the need for a united and collective front to eliminate gendered violence. Literature has also emerged drawing attention to the way in which Twitter participants can broadly circulate offensive statements as well as “vitriolic online misogyny” (Rentschler and Thrift, 2015: 332). In the same way, Twitter is perceived as a free platform, online discrimination on Twitter has hindered specific social groups from reusing the platform as it has become too much of a toxic and dangerous space. (Clark, 2016: 789). Despite Mendes, Ringrose and Keller (2018) revealing the participatory nature of Twitter hashtags, it has been identified as a platform that also disrupts feminist discussions. Since the birth of Twitter, the medium has been closely connected to widespread online feminist activism through Twitter hashtags (Murthy, 2013; Zappavigna; 2012; Papacharissi, 2006; Weller, Bruns, Burgess, Mahrt, Puschmann, 2014). As a result, women have begun to use the Twitter hashtag as a tool to raise online consciousness to fight against deep rooted societal issues such as patriarchy and sexual violence. This dissertation employed a qualitative systematic literature review methodology to explore the topical issues revealed through surveying the literature on the #MeToo on the Twitter platform. The study was conducted in the form of a Systematic Literature Review methodology based on the guidelines suggested by Barbara Kitchenham (2004). The research data in this dissertation was drawn from the Google scholar search engine to retrieve academic literature pertinent to the research topic. By engaging in a qualitative mode of enquiry, a qualitative thematic analysis was employed to examine the latent and semantic themes in the 13 English-language published articles collected from the Google scholar search base. It is appropriate that a qualitative approach is used as “qualitative approaches are typically used to explore new phenomena and to capture individuals’ thoughts, feelings, or interpretations of meaning and process” (Given, 2008: xxix). Using a thematic analysis approach, 4 primary themes emerged: (1) The use of hashtag feminism on Twitter, (2) The marginalisation of women of colour (3) The causes of sexual violence, (4) The vitriol experienced by women employing #MeToo on the Twitter platform. This study offered some important insights into how Twitter has become a primary space for online users to collectively share their responses to events. This is indicative in the #MeToo trend on Twitter as it became one of the most efficacious tactics due to numerous women discussing the challenges underpinning gender inequity on a global level (Willig, 2019; Pain, 2019; Ghadery, 2019; Bisiada, 2021 and Ceron, 2018). Furthermore, this study has further demonstrated the way in which Twitter has rapidly increased the visibility of online feminist movements. Consequently, several studies have revealed (Crossley, 2015; Keller, 2012; Keller, Mendes, and Ringrose, 2016) that Twitter has developed into a platform to dismantle hegemonic power in support of a solidarity-building space for women. From the analysis of the data, it can also be stated that despite the emergence of Twitter as an online feminist space, dealing with trolls and naysayers on Twitter remains a constant challenge on Twitter. Thus, the findings are both complex and contradictory