Vicari, S. orcid.org/0000-0002-4506-2358 and Ditchfield, H. orcid.org/0000-0001-8612-620X (2024) Platform visibility and the making of an issue: Vernaculars of hereditary cancer on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. New Media & Society. ISSN 1461-4448
Abstract
We investigate the relationship between platform visibility and meaning making. Drawing on a quanti-quali investigation of hashtag practices in a cross-platform dataset, we explore how hereditary cancer is constructed, as an issue, on social media. Our findings provide strong evidence of significant variations across Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, with hashtag practices on these platforms tapping into platform-specific understandings of hereditary cancer: a pink ribbon issue on Instagram, the opportunity for non-normative exposures of bodies, pain and acceptance on TikTok and a scientific matter on Twitter. Platforms do not dictate choice, but their encounter with user interpretations, given similar material constraints (hashtag technology), lead to very different affordances. These affordances shape practices and, ultimately, meaning making. While raising concerns on the impact platform visibility might have on experiences and understandings of hereditary cancer, our work suggests broader implications for how we imagine and respond to the issues we care about.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | Affordance; BRCA; cross-platform; hashtag; Lynch syndrome; modularity; platform vernacular; quanti-quali; two-mode network; visual network analysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number LEVERHULME TRUST (THE) RPG-2021-152 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Feb 2024 13:54 |
Last Modified: | 27 Feb 2024 13:54 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/14614448241229048 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:209646 |