Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture (PhD)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Humanities

Advisor 1

Sarah Bell

Committee Member 1

Richard Canevez

Committee Member 2

Stefka Hristova

Committee Member 3

Brooke Foucault Wells

Abstract

When the first tweet with the hashtag #FixTheCountry hit the ‘Twittersphere’ in Ghana on May 3, 2021, there was no anticipation that it would spark a massive movement of citizens demanding more from their government. As is usually the case with most social media movements, the hashtag that started as a single tweet from a young social media influencer quickly gained traction as several like-minded Ghanaians, including celebrities and public figures, used it to express their frustrations with the country's socio-economic challenges and political leadership. Although scholars hold varied opinions on the role of social media in enhancing democracy and advancing political change in Africa, it is undeniable that it has become an important tool for holding governments accountable and raising awareness of pressing social issues.

This study examines how social media platform logics shape the collective action of social movements, drawing on two recent cases from Ghana (#FixTheCountry) and Nigeria (#EndSARS). Using a mixed-methods approach that combines social network analysis and semi-structured interviews with activists, the study identifies relationships between activists’ organizing strategies (both online and offline) and Twitter's affordances and constraints. Specifically, it investigates how Twitter shaped information diffusion within the movements, the extent of activists’ awareness of the platform's algorithmic effects, and whether algorithmic folk theories and/or obfuscation informed activists' use of social media for collective action.

The findings indicate that influence and control over the spread of information within the networks are unevenly distributed and often concentrated among a small number of highly influential participants. The study also extends the logic of connective action by conceptualizing algorithms as active organizing agents rather than passive intermediaries. Drawing on activists’ own beliefs about platform logics and their effects on mobilization, I propose the Situated Algorithmic Agency of Activism, a new framework for explaining how activists operating in distinct socio-economic and socio-cultural contexts adapt to, negotiate with, and strategically respond to platform algorithms.

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Available for download on Sunday, November 15, 2026

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