Divergent discourse between protests and counter-protests

#BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter

Bibliographic Data

ID23345833
AuthorsRyan J Gallagher (0000-0003-3040-4500, University of Vermont, corresponding author), Andrew J Reagan (0000-0002-5907-2696, University of Vermont), Christopher M Danforth (0000-0002-9857-2845, University of Vermont), Peter Sheridan Dodds (0000-0003-1973-8614, University of Vermont)
EditorsYamir Moreno (0000-0002-0895-1893)
Year2018
Volume13
Issue4
Pagese0195644
Publication date2018-04-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePLoS ONE (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1932-6203 • E-ISSN: 1932-6203
PublisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1371/journal.pone.0195644
PMID29668754
OpenAlexW2469199904
LanguageEN
Citations received62
References cited38

Since the shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown by White police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, the protest hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has amplified critiques of extrajudicial killings of Black Americans. In response to #BlackLivesMatter, other Twitter users have adopted #AllLivesMatter, a counter-protest hashtag whose content argues that equal attention should be given to all lives regardless of race. Through a multi-level analysis of over 860,000 tweets, we study how these protests and counter-protests diverge by quantifying aspects of their discourse. We find that #AllLivesMatter facilitates opposition between #BlackLivesMatter and hashtags such as #PoliceLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter in such a way that historically echoes the tension between Black protesters and law enforcement. In addition, we show that a significant portion of #AllLivesMatter use stems from hijacking by #BlackLivesMatter advocates. Beyond simply injecting #AllLivesMatter with #BlackLivesMatter content, these hijackers use the hashtag to directly confront the counter-protest notion of "All lives matter." Our findings suggest that Black Lives Matter movement was able to grow, exhibit diverse conversations, and avoid derailment on social media by making discussion of counter-protest opinions a central topic of #AllLivesMatter, rather than the movement itself.

Content analysis · Criminology · Law enforcement · Media studies · Officer · Opposition (politics) · Police brutality · Political science · Politics · Race (biology) · Racial profiling · Social media · Social movement · Social science · Sociology · White (mutation) · Gender Studies · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Social Media and Politics · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access