Hashtag activism and framing strategies in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the 2020 elections

Basak Taraktas, Kadir Cihan Duran, Suzan Uskudarli

Politics, Groups, and Identities

Abstract

This article delves into online strategies to demand accountability for Floyd’s murder amid the polarized context of the 2020 presidential elections and the Chauvin trial. By applying signaling theory to the study of hashtag activism, we examine how users strategically emphasized and deemphasized Floyd’s death to adapt to contextual sensitivities. Our analysis, based on an original dataset of approximately 6,000,000 tweets (January 2020–December 2021), employs statistical tools and network analysis to uncover temporal patterns in users’ framing strategies related to Floyd’s death. Users emphasized Floyd’s case, policing reforms, and systemic racism during the summer of 2020, transitioning to broader themes during the elections, and refocused on accountability and justice during the Chauvin trial. This article proposes a novel theoretical application of the signaling theory to the study of online activism, through observable metrics – tweet volume, duration, and hashtag combinations. These metrics capture when and by which messaging activists strategically raise issue salience. Our findings shed light on the differences in activist strategies along partisan lines, with Democrats predominantly associated with justice demands and Republicans with grievances.

BibTeX

@article{Taraktas20062025,
  author = {Basak Taraktas and Kadir Cihan Duran and Suzan Uskudarli},
  title = {Hashtag activism and framing strategies in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the 2020 elections},
  journal = {Politics, Groups, and Identities},
  volume = {0},
  number = {0},
  pages = {1--26},
  year = {2025},
  publisher = {Routledge},
  doi = {10.1080/21565503.2025.2518533},
  URL = {https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2025.2518533},
  eprint = { https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2025.2518533},
  abstract = { This article delves into online strategies to demand accountability for Floyd’s murder amid the polarized context of the 2020 presidential elections and the Chauvin trial. By applying signaling theory to the study of hashtag activism, we examine how users strategically emphasized and deemphasized Floyd’s death to adapt to contextual sensitivities. Our analysis, based on an original dataset of approximately 6,000,000 tweets (January 2020–December 2021), employs statistical tools and network analysis to uncover temporal patterns in users’ framing strategies related to Floyd’s death. Users emphasized Floyd’s case, policing reforms, and systemic racism during the summer of 2020, transitioning to broader themes during the elections, and refocused on accountability and justice during the Chauvin trial. This article proposes a novel theoretical application of the signaling theory to the study of online activism, through observable metrics – tweet volume, duration, and hashtag combinations. These metrics capture when and by which messaging activists strategically raise issue salience. Our findings shed light on the differences in activist strategies along partisan lines, with Democrats predominantly associated with justice demands and Republicans with grievances. }
}