Togetherness after terror

The more or less digital commemorative public atmospheres of the Manchester Arena bombing's first anniversary

Bibliographic Data

ID4476177
AuthorsSamuel Merrill (0000-0002-9572-5922, Umeå University, corresponding author), Shanti Sumartojo (0000-0002-8609-7493, Monash University), Angharad Closs Stephens (0000-0002-7765-7276, Swansea University), Matt Coward (0000-0003-1336-4017, University of Manchester), Martin Coward
Year2020
Volume38
Issue3
Pages546-566
Publication date2020-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0263775819901146
OpenAlexW3000091547
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited34

This article examines the forms and feelings of togetherness evident in both Manchester city centre and on social media during the first anniversary of the 22 May 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. To do this, we introduce a conceptual framework that conceives commemorative public atmospheres as composed of a combination of 'more or less digital' elements. We also present a methodological approach that combines the computational collection and analysis of Twitter content with short-term team autoethnography. First, the article addresses the concept of public atmospheres before introducing the case study and outlining our methodology. We then analyse the shifting moods of togetherness created by the official programme of commemorative events known as Manchester Together and their digital mediatisation through Twitter. We then explore a grassroots initiative, #LoveMCRBees, and how it relied on the materialisation of social media logics to connect people. Overall, we demonstrate how public atmospheres, as constituted in more and less digital ways, provide a framework for conceptualising commemorative events, and how togetherness is reworked by social media, especially in the context of responses to terrorism

Context (archaeology · Digital media · Feeling · Grassroots · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · Terrorism · History · Law · Psychology · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access