Tweeting Sustainability: A Techno-Anthropological investigation of how the situated use of #dkgreen mediates sustainability debate in Denmark
Authors
Nielsen, Maria Bach ; Larsson, Louise Berg
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-06-07
Pages
94
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan brugsmønstre og social kontekst kan gøre os klogere på Twitter-data gennem en kvalitativ analyse af hashtagget #dkgreen. Vi formulerede tre digitalt drevne hypoteser og forankrede dem offline via 10 interviews med danske Twitter-brugere. Med et grundlæggende kendskab til Twitter som teknologi og datakilde indsamlede vi kvalitativ empiri, der giver en mere kontekstnær forståelse af #dkgreen-feltet. Med en postfænomenologisk tilgang—en ramme, der undersøger, hvordan teknologi former menneskers oplevelser og handlinger—analyserede vi, hvordan #dkgreen både formidler og former bæredygtighedsdebatten gennem samspillet mellem brugere og platform. Vores analyser peger på en sammensat relation mellem #dkgreen og dets brugere: Debatten påvirkes af både menneskelige intentioner og teknologisk intentionalitet, dvs. platformens indbyggede designvalg, funktioner og grænseflader, der guider handlinger. Platformens infrastruktur og brugernes praksisser skaber tilsammen et digitalt rum, der fungerer som en form for offentlighed. Hashtagget #dkgreen muliggør kontakt mellem politikere, beslutningstagere, medier og fremtrædende brugere med interesse for den grønne dagsorden. Dermed formidler #dkgreen en form for indflydelse, der giver brugere mulighed for at påvirke igangværende debatter og fortolkninger af bæredygtighed. På den baggrund argumenterer vi for, at interaktionerne i #dkgreen er politiske og tilsammen udgør en politisk hashtag-offentlighed, dvs. en offentlighed, der samles og debatterer omkring et fælles hashtag.
This thesis examines how patterns of use and social context can help us make sense of Twitter data through a qualitative study of the hashtag #dkgreen. We developed three digitally driven hypotheses and grounded them offline through 10 interviews with Danish Twitter users. Drawing on a basic understanding of Twitter as both technology and data source, we collected qualitative evidence to provide a more situated understanding of the #dkgreen space. Using a postphenomenological approach—an analytical lens that explores how technologies shape human experience and action—we analyzed how #dkgreen both mediates and shapes the sustainability debate through the interplay between users and the platform. Our analysis points to a composite relationship between #dkgreen and its users: the debate is influenced by both human intentions and technological intentionality, meaning the platform’s built-in design choices, features, and interfaces that guide action. The platform’s infrastructure and user practices together create a digital space that functions as a kind of public. The #dkgreen hashtag enables interactions among politicians, decision-makers, media, and prominent users who are interested in the green agenda. In this way, #dkgreen mediates a form of influence that lets users shape ongoing debates and interpretations of sustainability. On this basis, we argue that interactions in #dkgreen are political and together constitute a political hashtag public—that is, a public formed around a shared hashtag where debate takes place.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
Keywords
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