@article{2021:zhang:understand,
title = {Understanding digitally networked action: A case study of #HomeToVote and the Irish abortion referendum 2018},
year = {2021},
note = {Digitally networked action (Bennett & Segerberg, 2012) has become
a prominent political reality. This article explores the evolution of
digitally networked action, considering the Twitter hashtag
#HomeToVote in 2018 as a relevant case. The case study features the
return of Irish expatriates to their home country to vote in the
referendum on abortion rights, since no postal votes were available to
Irish citizens abroad. We investigated how actors participated in
digitally networked action on Twitter, viewed from three perspectives:
composition, diffusion, and dynamics. Through an @-mention network
with 7,373 edges and 5,198 nodes, built on all original tweets (N =
33,927) about #HomeToVote, we interpreted the digitally networked
action based on social interaction and information distribution
between and beyond categorized subgroups of actors during four phases.
The early phases of #HomeToVote are related to engagement and
mobilization, while the latter phases are associated with experience
sharing and solidarity declaration. Throughout the development of
#HomeToVote, individuals and organizational actors show collective
endeavors to promote digitally networked action, while media actors
use Twitter to consistently depict moments of #HomeToVote. The
findings suggest that #HomeToVote, as an organizationally enabled
advocacy network, has a large political capacity to share
communication linkages, facilitate flexible affiliations, and employ
personalized engagement mechanisms.},
journal = {SCM Studies in Communication and Media},
pages = {502--532},
author = {Zhang, Xixuan},
volume = {10},
number = {4}
}