Media and Communication (ISSN: 2183–2439) 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i2.5109 Article The Use of Social Media by Spanish Feminist Organizations: Collectivity From Individualism Celina Navarro * and Gemma Gómez‐Bernal Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain * Corresponding author (celina.navarro@uab.cat) Submitted: 16 November 2021 | Accepted: 6 March 2022 | Published: 29 April 2022 Abstract In recent years, social media platforms have become a popular tool for feminist activists and the main medium of com‐ munication for new feminist organizations to gain higher visibility. However, along with opportunities, they also bring a reshaping of communication forms and challenges in the modes of organization of these groups, which seek to transform the prevailing individualist logic of the mediated social media landscape into a collective identity. Through the findings of qualitative, semi‐structured interviews and the analysis of the content published online, this article looks at the structures of interactions and organizing processes in the social media accounts of new Spanish feminist groups. The findings show that although the committees are aware of the importance of an online presence, they face many obstacles in the creation of collective profiles due to the lack of guidelines, having no clear organized steps on how to post content with consensus within each committee, and the many demands of the speed‐driven nature of social media platforms. Keywords digital feminism; feminism; feminist media studies; feminist organizations; organizing processes; social media Issue This article is part of the issue “Networks and Organizing Processes in Online Social Media” edited by Seungyoon Lee (Purdue University). © 2022 by the author(s); licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu‐ tion 4.0 International License (CC BY). 1. Introduction tion towards a common identity, and establishing a networked, counter‐public sphere for debates (Calhoun, In recent years, social media platforms have played a 2011; Edwards et al., 2019; Williams, 2016). Despite its leading role in the rise of the feminist movement and its potential, the use and integration of social media is also presence in the public sphere at both national and inter‐ a challenge for established feminist organizations due to national levels, being the main engine of the fourth wave their institutional constraints, which are more aligned of feminism (Zimmerman, 2017). These networks and with collective political action. While they rely on cen‐ their ecosystems have introduced new methods of com‐ tralised coordination and a clear organizational structure, munication and organization that have influenced how the logic of online connective action requires individu‐ the movement has developed in recent years, allowing, als to self‐express willingly on social media (Bennett & among others, the transformation of individual into col‐ Segerberg, 2013). lective discourses, the inclusion of a multiplicity of voices Spain has been one of the countries with the great‐ and dialogues (Baer, 2016; Clark, 2014; Davis, 2019), and est increase in feminist mobilizations over the last five the democratization of the public sphere. years, which has led to the launch of a considerable num‐ Social media platforms are also the core of the new ber of new women’s committees (Navarro & Coromina, feminist organizations, giving them a sense of connect‐ 2020; Willem & Tortajada, 2021). These activist orga‐ edness with other feminists, facilitating the contribu‐ nizations were created to organize the first feminist Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 93 general strike in the country on March 8, 2018, to coin‐ works as an activist tool. These debates bring to light cide with International Women’s Day. This was also the that social networks are not the utopian horizontal dia‐ second International Women’s Strike under the slogan logue public spaces that were imagined in the beginning “if women stop, the world stops” in favour of gender (LeFebvre & Armstrong, 2018). In addition, this reality equality and against sexual violence, which was followed has also become the highest expression of individualism, in more than 170 countries, mainly in America and linked to the networked individualism (Wellman, 2002), Europe, with a much higher international response than which witnessed the appearance of a new type of in the previous year. In Spain, over 30 regional and local feminism, “pop feminism” (Banet‐Weiser, 2018), also organizations were created across the entire country known as “feel‐good feminism” or “mainstream femi‐ to lead and spread the feminist messages and became nism” (Phipps, 2020). the main organizers of this mobilization. These groups Pop feminism adopts an individualistic and performa‐ have maintained their activities since then and have also tive notion of feminism based on the decontextualiza‐ developed into permanent activist committees. tion and depoliticization of the movement, being avail‐ While the strike was organized offline by these com‐ able to the general public, “largely because it has lost mittees, its success was possible because of the inter‐ all sense of intellectual rigour or political challenges’ ’ play between digital actions and offline groups. Thus, the (Kiraly & Tyler, 2015, p. 10). The endorsement of celebri‐ activity on social media platforms helped to increase the ties and influencers has been crucial in the expansion of scope of the mobilization, particularly in the week before this phenomenon. The latter, in addition, are considered the main event. The committees considered the estab‐ by Rottenberg (2014) as an example of the individualist lishment of their collective social media profiles as a feminist that has developed within the neoliberal con‐ necessity to start the conversation and spread their mes‐ sumer culture, driven by the belief that a certain type of sages. Furthermore, the widespread online resonance equality has already been reached. successfully helped to set the agenda for the public From this perspective, the hegemonic feminism of debate on other platforms, such as conventional media, social networks is accused of being led by straight, including general‐interest television channels, radio net‐ white, and privileged women, and therefore there is works, and print and digital newspapers. greater visibility of the matters and issues that concern Considering this context, this research article aims them. Also, it is argued that the very practices that to understand the organizational processes of the new characterize the influencers is the promotion of “do Spanish feminist committees when using collective social it yourself” and self‐exploitation values (Banet‐Weiser, media accounts. The study focuses on the organizational 2018), linked to neoliberal culture, the cyber‐fetishism structures established by these groups to post on and (Morozov, 2009) context as well as the commodifica‐ update social media, the profile of the volunteers in tion of feminist ideas. This leads to commodity feminism charge of this task, and the coordination and flows of (Banet‐Weiser & Portwood‐Stacer, 2017) or femvertising communication when deciding the content published on (Varghese & Kumar, 2020) since it involves using femi‐ the accounts. To do this, 12 semi‐structured interviews nist messages and ideas with the aim of obtaining eco‐ have been undertaken with the women in charge of nomic gain. Authors such as Maloney (2017) show that updating the official social media profiles of the different this phenomenon can give rise to an accidental feminism committees. In addition, the results obtained have been formed by people in social networks who, without engag‐ complemented with the analysis of the content pub‐ ing in feminist activism, are considered feminist refer‐ lished by the committees analyzed on Twitter, Facebook, ences due to the type of messages and activity found on and Instagram. their profiles. This point is linked to the term “performative 2. Social Media and Feminist Organizations activism” or “slacktivism” (Christensen, 2011; Rotman et al., 2011), which results from the union of “slacker,” Social media platforms are the main engine of the fourth a vague or lazy person, and “activism.” It can be defined wave of feminism (Zimmerman, 2017). The function‐ as activity produced in social networks with low risk and alities and possibilities of social networks in terms of low cost to the user whose purpose is to raise aware‐ connections and creation of communities are undeni‐ ness and produce some type of change or satisfaction able, as well as the amplification and reinforcement on a reduced scale compared to the person involved of the scope of discourses of feminist activist orga‐ in the activity (Rotman et al., 2011). This can include nizations (Maloney, 2017; Tufekci, 2014). This means small social media interactions such as liking or shar‐ connecting different social groups and creating new ing a feminist post. Although these terms initially had forms of activism, visibility, and protest (Baer, 2016), a positive connotation, creating movements of change thus helping to reflect on and revise its identity and at a low level, the high levels of proliferation in recent self‐understanding (Şener, 2021). years by influencers, microcelebrities and the general Nevertheless, the role played by these networks on presence of opinion leaders and public figures on social improving and changing society is still largely unknown, networks has led to its use being associated with nega‐ provoking polarized opinions on the role of social net‐ tive effects. These include the need to “go viral” to attract Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 94 interactions and relevance on the platform instead of cial social media accounts of the committees have been social change. carried out. The semi‐structured interviews have been With the rise of feminism on social media, offline developed around the following main topics: the dynam‐ feminist organizations have considered having a social ics carried out to keep the profile updated, the coor‐ media presence as a necessity (Fotopoulou, 2016) to dination flows within the committee, the professional become a part of the digital public sphere. However, the profiles of the women in charge of the social media presence of these groups on social networks forces them profiles, and their relationship with the social networks to enter a complex and contradictory terrain, moving including their level of knowledge and expertise towards from a sense of collectivism to an individualistic perspec‐ the platforms in their personal life and also their pro‐ tive which challenges the way these women’s groups fessional field. The committees were found by review‐ work. With this in mind, the multiple Spanish commit‐ ing the information on the Spanish committee website tees created for the organization of the feminist strikes (www.hacialahuelgafeminista.com) at the end of 2018 convened in recent years for International Women’s Day and its social media profiles. In total, 38 different com‐ presents a case of study to unravel the organizations’ mittees were found and contacted through direct private structures and the patterns of their digital presence. messages on social media, or an email was sent through Thus, the main aim of this study is to analyse how these the authors’ institutional university’s email address if committees use social media to portray their collective available from the profile. identity. Accordingly, the following research questions From these initial contacts, 12 interviews (Table 1) are posited: were conducted with activists from 10 different com‐ missions (26.3% of response rate). In two of the assem‐ RQ1: To what extent have the committees estab‐ blies, they considered that it was not appropriate to lished a working organizational plan to guide the only speak with one person since the networks were updates of their social media profiles from a collec‐ collective and two interviews were made with those in tive perspective? charge, evidencing the first result on their mode of orga‐ nization. The scope of the commissions ranges from the RQ2: What is the profile of the women that are autonomous community level, such as Aragón, Asturias, responsible for the social media accounts in terms of and Catalonia, to a local level such as Badajoz, Jaén, their knowledge and relationship to social media? Leganés, or Valencia. The online semi‐structured inter‐ views took place throughout 2019 and lasted between RQ3: What type of content is published on the one and one and a half hours. accounts and how is it decided? The semi‐structured interviews were based on four thematic sections: (a) the profile of the woman in 3. Material and Methods charge of social media, including questions related to their socioeconomic information (age, profession, edu‐ In order to answer the objective and the research ques‐ cation, residency) and to their experience in offline and tions set, a series of semi‐structured interviews with the online activism; (b) the social media of their commit‐ women in charge of updating and posting on the offi‐ tee, where questions around the objective, the creation Table 1. Sample description. No. of Committee Scope Interviewees Facebook Twitter Instagram Aragón Regional 1 8MAragon 8MAragon 8maragon Asturias Regional 1 AsturiesFeminista8M Asturies8M Asturiesfeminista8m Badajoz Local 1 Plataforma8MBadajoz 8MBadajoz 8mBadajoz Burgos Local 1 Huelga8MBurgos — Huelga8mburgos Catalunya Regional 1 vagageminista8m vagafeminista8M Vagafeminista8m Jaén Regional 2 Feministas8MJaen — Feministas8mjaen Leganés Local 1 — 8MLeganes — Lleida Local/Regional 1 grupdoneslleida doneslleida — Segovia Local 2 8MSegovia 8MSegovia 8msegovia Valencia Local 1 assembleafeministavalencia AssembleaVlc — Madrid Regional — FeminismosMad feminismosMad Feminismosmadrid State State — Huelgafeminista Huelgafeminista 8mhuelgafeminista Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 95 process, and the organization expectations and reality original tweets published in each selected Twitter pro‐ were raised; (c) content published, where aspects of file; (b) the Facepager application based on the Facebook the type of content posted, the selection of the posts Graph API for the retrieval of Facebook posts; and (c) the and topics, censorship topics, and established guide‐ Instaloader package for Python to gather Instagram feed lines were discussed; and finally, (d) general opinion. data, not including stories due to their volatile nature. Regarding the latter, three specific questions were asked Each package fetches all the public posts published in in terms of (a) the consideration of social media as plat‐ the sample profiles on the basis of APIs. In order to ease forms to create a collective identity within the commit‐ the later analysis and treatment of data, all datasets, tee and with other women in their region; (b) their opin‐ which were mainly retrieved in JSON data format, were ion on the relationship between their online presence converted to .csv files, containing information related to and their offline success; and (c) their considerations of the textual, visual, and meta content of the posts and social media as key elements of the success in the rise of the available public metrics of each platform, including feminist activism in the last years. among others, the number of likes, comments, views, or In 2021, all women interviewed were contacted again media information. and meetings with eight from the sample were con‐ ducted (Aragón, Asturias, Badajoz, Jaén [two interviews], 4. Results Lleida, Segovia, and Valencia). The main objective was to acknowledge if there had been significant changes in All the committees analysed in this article, with the the role of the social media profiles of the committee, exception of the group “Dones Lleida,” were created the method of organization, and the type of content pub‐ specifically to organize the first general strike for lished, with conversations lasting around 30 minutes. International Women’s Day in Spain in 2018, launching In addition, a quantitative content analysis has been their social media accounts before the first main event. conducted on the posts published on the social network This left only limited time to organize and debate how profiles of the committees, including Facebook, Twitter, their online presence was going to be despite it being and Instagram, between March 1 and March 31, 2019, considered essential (Fotopoulou, 2016), with most of and 2021, excluding 2020 due to the beginning of the the organizations not initially discussing in‐depth how pandemic. It should be noted that all the publications of were they going to act in the digital public sphere. the interviewed commissions were considered, but the Since these organizations have continued and profiles of the state commission and that of Madrid were expanded their activities throughout the year, not also added to the sample due to their relevance. In total, solely for International Women’s Day, their practices 4,073 posts have been coded and analysed with an induc‐ and organizational structures on social media have tive approach, exploring the sample to discover patterns, been evolving but still struggle to represent a collec‐ and interpreting their meanings and implications with‐ tive non‐hierarchical profile, being linked to the aim of out having pre‐existing categories, so as to have a spe‐ non‐hierarchical online social movements (LeFebvre & cific understanding of the data (Gray, 2014; Tong & Zuo, Armstrong, 2018). 2018), being in line with previous studies with a feminist interpretative approach to content analysis (Fotopoulou, 4.1. Organization Processes of Spanish 8M Committees 2016; Leavy, 2007; López et al., 2018). In detail, the sam‐ ple is divided into 2,213 tweets, 1,287 Facebook posts, While all the Spanish committees were working inde‐ and 573 Instagram posts. pendently, there was a willingness to create a common The results have been placed into seven categories: framework for the success of the general strike in the knowledge dissemination, strike information, activities, country. This led to discussions on certain aspects of media coverage, rallying cries, covid restrictions, and oth‐ their online presence in the Spanish general meeting that ers. Each post was individually coded and classified by took place three months before the 2018 strike which examining text captions, hyperlinks, and attached media. brought together most of the Spanish local and regional It was decided to select March as a sample because organizations. In this meeting, a very broad protocol on despite all the committees being active during the entire how to publish on social networks was discussed, even year, they were initially created for the organization of though the information was not published or shared the strike, coinciding with International Women’s Day, after the assembly. on March 8. Thus, both the online and offline activ‐ In 2019, the state committee wrote more detailed ity rises during this month, and it is a good sample to guidelines, although still broad, on publishing content on observe the diversity of posts and the content strategy social networks dealing with issues such as interaction of the accounts. with other users, social responsibility, or the relationship The data collection method has been conducted with media in order to unify their actions. “Very gen‐ through different data mining processes according to the eral guidelines were established that we had already fol‐ platform. Specifically, we have used the: (a) Twitter Full lowed the previous year and they did not bring changes Archive Search API library for Python, provided by the in the way we were working” (Interviewee, Aragon’s com‐ Twitter platform for academic developers, to fetch all the mittee, December 3, 2019). In addition, more practical Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 96 aspects such as advice on how to write on each net‐ didn’t know that our message had reached that amount work and when to include images or make mentions of women until we celebrated our first offline action were included. This information was greatly praised by to prepare for the International Women’s Day strike” the women in charge of social media on the regional and (Interviewee, Valencia’s committee, June 5, 2019). Thus, local committees, particularly volunteers above 45 years the curated online collective identity is considered rele‐ old, but was not considered relevant to younger women. vant and necessary but not as tangible as the one culti‐ An 18‐year‐old argues that “the advice on the different vated offline, which evokes worries of slacktivism. uses of each social network did not seem especially use‐ In the most recent years, there has been a refine‐ ful to us since they are platforms that we use on a daily ment of the process and an effort to publish and por‐ basis and we already know how to adapt to each of them” tray an online collective identity since the women in (Interviewee, Segovia’s committee, March 20, 2019). charge of the social accounts have improved in sharing However, there was no shared discussion or shar‐ the workload among themselves and how to decide the ing of best practices on how each committee should content from a more collective approach, despite the lim‐ organize the work to maintain and update the collec‐ itations to fully working cooperatively on these platforms tive profiles, which has been the most problematic issue observed through the interviews. Personal messaging of their online presence, especially during the first two apps, mainly WhatsApp and Telegram, have become a years. “That first year, there was no time to discuss central element of the collective accounts as platforms how we would organize to post content on social net‐ being used to discuss polemic content internally. The pri‐ works” (Interviewee, Badajoz’s committee, March 15, vate networks of the committees are considered a safer 2021). Therefore, while social networks had been con‐ space to debate the different views of social media strate‐ sidered a key element for the committees, establishing gies or issues and are used to give a unified message later concrete guidelines and organizational structures for the through digital media: committees were not a priority in the meetings. In planning, large groups composed of eight to 10 In 2019 we created a Telegram group for only the women were created to oversee the social networks women in charge of social networks and some of in the bigger committees whereas only three or four the communication section and this has helped us to women were responsible in the smaller groups. This share more decisions, although you have to always aimed to divide the work among several volunteers to be aware of the messages without being able to dis‐ maintain and update the accounts as well as to collec‐ connect too much. (Interviewee, Aragon’s commit‐ tively decide the content posted through meetings or tee, December 3, 2019) commenting on content before publishing it on social media accounts. “The objective was to talk about all Nevertheless, posting content on the accounts of fem‐ these aspects [content, form, and frequency of publica‐ inist groups is still, for the moment, a fairly individual tion] among all of us who were in the social network action due in large part to the frenetic pace of social group, which were about 10” (Interviewee, Segovia’s networks. This is a consequence of their technical archi‐ committee, March 20, 2019). tecture, a business model based on immediacy, and a Nevertheless, in reality, only two or three women marked lack of time for discussion, attention, and con‐ were really constant in all committees when publishing tent production (Fuchs, 2018). In order for messages content, sometimes with only a single person in charge to be visible and reach the largest number of users of a social network, with no committee analysed being (O’Meara, 2019), the feminist organizations are forced able to accomplish their initial objective. “I am post‐ to publish on a highly recurring basis, making it difficult ing the content I want to put but it should not be like to collectively agree on all posts, even with the use of this” (Interviewee, Asturias’ committee, March 23, 2019). personal messaging apps. As can be seen on the Asturias These women claim that they were overwhelmed by committee Facebook page, a daily average of eight posts the large number of activities that were organized, the are published. This is accentuated around International success of attendance at them, and the strike participa‐ Women’s Day and the celebration of the general strike, tion for International Women’s Day. This highlights the where all the committees increase their activity consid‐ importance of the offline essence of the 8M committees erably, both online and offline, even reaching 89 posts despite being created during the fourth wave of femi‐ between March 7 and 9, 2019, on the Madrid commit‐ nism, with social media at its core (Zimmerman, 2017). tee Facebook account. These face‐to‐face activities are considered essential for the nurturing of a collective identity that includes 4.2. Profiles of Women Activists Behind the Social all women, even those not using social media fre‐ Media Accounts quently or at all, which are often the older genera‐ tions, as also found in feminist organizations in the UK As mentioned above, the task of publishing on the social (Fotopoulou, 2016). In addition, it helped committees to media accounts of the organizations lies with a very understand the real impact of their messages and activ‐ small number of women, all highly engaged with polit‐ ities: “We were getting engagement on Twitter, but we ical movements but with no professional experiences Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 97 related to communication or social media. “I started to an interest in social networks, not at the level of per‐ politically mobilize when I was studying at the university sonal use, but their role and possibility for social change. and I haven’t stopped since” (28‐year‐old Interviewee, However, they do not have any training in communica‐ Huesca’s committee, March 23, 2019). “I have been a tions or social network practices, with jobs or studies member of the labour union in my work for more than unrelated to this area. This has compelled them to search 15 years” (47‐year‐old Interviewee, Aragon’s committee, for good practices of digital activism by looking at femi‐ December 3, 2019). Understanding and describing the nist profiles that they consider to be references on dif‐ profiles of the women in charge of social media can ferent topics. Simultaneously, they have improved their help to comprehend the organizational structures of technical skills over the years to be more efficient, for these committees. example by learning how to program publications for a There is much awareness that the accounts repre‐ specific time. In the initial years, this was done manually, sent a community and that it is not necessary to pub‐ involving a lot of work for them. Therefore, practice and lish their personal opinions, although frequently they are experience have helped these women use social media the ones who decide what to publish, how, and when. more efficiently to help their feminist activist group. This represents an overflow of unpaid work that some women find difficult to maintain. Many committees real‐ 4.3. Content Considerations on Social Networks ized from the remarks of the women in charge of social media that the rate of publication at which they started The last important aspect of the organizational structure could not be maintained, especially since the work fell on of 8M committees on social media is the type of con‐ very few women. The frequency of publication through‐ tent published. During the initial two years, 2018 and out the year was reduced leaving only the days around 2019, the only recurring common agreement reached 8M with a high level of publications. across most committees was regarding the topics that In general, there are two different types of volun‐ should not be included on the collective social media teers in charge, separated according to their age, which profiles. Mostly, they referred to topics without a con‐ leads to different ways of organizing. On the one hand, sensus within feminism such as prostitution or surrogacy. the youngest women are the ones in charge of the social In addition, there was, and still is, an explicit will not networks because they are the most comfortable using to support any political party and to not disseminate these platforms and they volunteer because they think actions carried out by any institutional body. Therefore, their knowledge could be useful to the group. This is there is a sense of self‐censorship common in online particularly visible when referring to Instagram since it spaces described as safe due to its purpose of creating is a platform mostly used by the younger generations an environment in which women can express themselves (Statista, 2021). For example, in the Segovia commit‐ without fear. According to the Roestone Collective (2014) tee, which doesn’t have a large number of members, an and Gibson (2019), safe spaces are sites for negotiating 18‐year‐old activist volunteered to be in charge of this differences and challenging oppression, becoming plat‐ platform since she was the only one who knew how to forms for women to find strength and a sense of com‐ use Instagram. munity that cannot be found in free speech areas, which On the other hand, a different type of volunteer in in many cases are burdened with historical and cultural charge of social media is women over 45 years of age connotations, exhibiting the sexist and racist tendencies who decide or have to be responsible for the accounts of the broader culture (Gibson, 2019). because they are the ones with the most availability. In Also, most groups aimed to only share news from some other cases, they are the ones willing to make more independent media aligned with feminism so as the sacrifice because they have more established profes‐ not to give voice to media that goes against the move‐ sional jobs. ment. “We are aware of how they report on issues such The imbalances in the level of digital media literacy as gender violence or how they talk about feminism with‐ among these two groups, mainly due to age and social out taking intersectionality into account, and we do not class, conditions the actual content published on social want to reinforce its image or messages” (Interviewee, media. Instagram is the least used network by the com‐ Aragon’s committee, December 3, 2019). These red lines mittees, not all of the groups have created a profile, and have been redefined and further discussed as these com‐ the ones that have only post regularly if a younger woman mittees have stabilized and reached consensus not only or women are in charge. In addition, when working with at the annual meeting of 8M but also during the rest of other women to divide and share the workload, these the year. two types of women in charge of social media are often Looking into the content posted by the commit‐ organized in different ways. While the youngest share the tees analysed on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, the updating of the profiles among the group, mainly through results of the content analysis (Figure 1), are presented personal messaging apps as mentioned before, the older in a unified manner since the content posted has not women are more used to publishing individually. changed significantly in the two years of the sample, However, we can also find some similarities between 2019 and 2021. The only aspect to be highlighted is the both types of profiles. First, all of the interviewees share health pandemic caused by the Covid‐19 virus in 2021. Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 98 50,0% 45,2% 40,0% 30,0% 27,9%26,9% 26,7% 27,4% 24,4% 22,2% 23,2% 20,0% 18,0% 16,2% 14,5% 10,0% 6,6% 6,1% 2,4% 2,8% 2,7% 2,3% 3,0% 1,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% Knowledge Strike informa on Ac vi es Media coverage Rallying cries Covid restric ons Others dissemina on Facebook Instagram Twi!er Figure 1. Topics of posts published on social media by 8M committees (March 2019 and March 2021). While the peak of the pandemic had already passed disseminate offline actions and activities organized by by March 2021 in Spain, there were still public health these committees. They use social media to enlarge their concerns and limitations. Thus, some posts referred to offline collective actions. As can be seen in Figure 1, infor‐ the pandemic and the considerations to be taken while mation on the committees’ activities is one of the main participating in the activities of the 8M of that year. topics published on the accounts, with a similar percent‐ For example, even in places like Madrid, the capital of age across the three networks analysed. A clear exam‐ Spain, the regional government forbid public gatherings ple of this is the tweet posted by the Asturies8M pro‐ and demonstrations during March 8, 2021, and the com‐ file: “Tomorrow at 6 p.m. talk about gender inequality mittees of those locations posted about the cancellation and violence against women, given by Ángeles Martínez” of activities. (Asturies Feminista 8M, 2019) or the Instagram post by The main reason why the profiles were created, as the state account commenting on the activities of a mentioned by most of the interviewees, is to inform and regional committee (Figure 2). Figure 2. Example of an Instagram post disseminating offline actions. Notes: text in English—“The poster with all the activ‐ ities organized since the 8M assembly in Teruel. This March 8 we fill the streets again. We are back to stop the world. Share and spread!” Source: 8mhuelgafeminista (2019). Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 99 Another important topic found in the accounts of videos where different women spoke of their rea‐ is knowledge dissemination to fill in the informa‐ sons for going on strike, using a trans woman as one of tion gaps in society on the role or situation of the examples. women, past, present, or future. For example, some commissions create campaigns on social networks using hashtags such as “#Somoshistóricasnohistéricas” (#Wearehistoricalnothisterical) used by the Segovia’s committee. These hashtags focus on specific topics such as claiming relevant women in science or important women from the territory in which the commissions operate, with the situation of rural women being a promi‐ nent issue in the commissions of the most closely linked territories to the primary sector. As can be seen in Figure 1, around 25% of the publications on Facebook and Twitter had this objective, dealing with issues such as violence against women, ecofeminism, gender discrim‐ ination in the workplace, or the situation of transsex‐ ual women. The posts highlighting the schedule, useful informa‐ tion, and general considerations about the demonstra‐ tions and events of the feminist strike are found on all social network posts but especially on Instagram, with 45% of the content published acting as a noticeboard. However, according to the women in charge of the pro‐ files, the presence of pertinent and quality images for the events is important in deciding if the content is posted on this network. Linked to this topic, the publications relating to media coverage also stand out, at an average of 19% of Figure 3. Example of a Facebook post with a rallying the publications. This total is of all the posts related to cry. Notes: text in English—“For those who are here, the online broadcast of the 8M mobilizations, whether for those who are not here, for those who are in dan‐ through images, text, or video, and also includes all con‐ ger, every day is March 8. Tomorrow #Thefightcontinues”. tent related to the day published by other media, mainly Source: Asturies Feminista 8M (2020). the digital formats of newspapers and radio stations, and is shared on the profile of the committees. An example Instagram is for posts when the commissions have an of this kind of post is the tweet “Do not miss this arti‐ original photograph taken by a woman from the group or cle ‘8M, the refuge for all women’ by @MariahPerezS for infographics. For example, one of the actions of the after another unforgettable #8M despite all the difficul‐ state committee has been to create unified posters and ties #8M2021” (Huelga Feminista, 2021). design guidelines, such as colours and fonts, to be used On the other hand, we find fewer posts described as by the other committees. Some committees also decided rallying cries, with an average of 2.6% of the content pub‐ from the first year to create their own posters and lished on the social network profiles. These refer to all images, especially when there is a woman on the com‐ those publications that are based on slogans and rallying mittee who works professionally in the field of graphic cries to encourage offline actions (Figure 3), such as “we design. However, as mentioned previously, the use of are unstoppable!,” “if we stop, the world stops!,” or “fists Instagram by each group is conditioned by the presence up comrade!” of young women who publish on this platform. In con‐ The women in charge of the social networks are trast, Facebook is used to reach an older audience and to aware of the differences between each platform, filter‐ post content to disseminate knowledge, due to its mul‐ ing the content published on each of them. This knowl‐ timedia approach that allows users to easily post links, edge has been acquired with the use of social media images, and videos. since none of them has professional experience or stud‐ The committees are also aware of the importance ies related to social media or digital communications. of hashtags and try to be aware of those used by the The structure of Twitter’s information and the ease other committees. Hashtags play a crucial role in what of sharing links and videos make it the platform where Bennett and Segerberg (2013) define as “connective topics are discussed in greater depth and variety of action” to describe how the conversation is organized sources. This has been the most used by activism to gen‐ and interpreted. Within the Spanish 8M committees, erate online actions such as #metoo or #niunamenos. For hashtags have also been used to raise awareness of the example, in 2019, the Lleida assembly posted a series necessity and the reasons for the strike. For example, Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 100 the hashtags #Razonespor (#reasonsto) or #1000motivos or consensus on how to post content within each com‐ (#1000reasons) draw attention to the individual reasons mittee. It has also created difficulties in working collab‐ to join or support the strike, creating a collective action. oratively, usually with the responsibility for the type of Some large commissions, such as Catalonia or Valencia, content, topics, and formats falling on a small number of being multi‐lingual territories, have created specific hash‐ volunteers, even just one on some occasions. However, tags since they also try to generate and disseminate mes‐ a broader consensus is requested for the most problem‐ sages in their own language. atic subjects. The most collective digital platforms used are WhatsApp and Telegram but they remain internal to 5. Discussion and Conclusions each commission. The main obstacle for a collective profile is the rapid Activism today cannot be understood without the activ‐ pace of social media, since accounts need to publish fre‐ ity and role of social media (Cammaerts, 2015; Tufekci, quently and to react quickly, so messages have greater 2014). However, the dynamics and structures of these visibility and impact, sometimes making it impossible to networks condition how activist groups organize their discuss them with anyone else. Among the three most online presence with some challenges that contradict dominant social networks, Twitter is the most used plat‐ the essence of grassroots activism, which follows the form and the one with the highest pace, especially on logics of centre‐organized collective actions (Bennett & the day of the strike due to its immediacy and its ability Segerberg, 2013). This study has focused on how new to share information from a greater diversity of sources. Spanish feminist committees are managing their collec‐ Two types of women of different ages are in charge tive profiles as a suitable example of the challenges of social media; the younger ones have higher digital when adapting the individualistic nature of social media media literacy which leads to publishing in a broader for‐ (Wellman, 2002) to a collective action. mat, such as stories on Instagram, and a higher level of The success of the large feminist mobilizations and coordination among them since their flow of communi‐ offline demonstrations in Spain in recent years is mainly cation is faster. The older ones publish more frequently, due to a large number of messages and interactions on and they volunteer because social media is necessary, social media. These networks were used by people to even if they do not have strong technological and social self‐express their opinions on the general goal of the media knowledge. action and gender equality through their individual iden‐ Looking into the type of content published on the tity, mostly with no affiliation to any political or activist social network profiles, we witness that despite the lack organization. Despite the rise of slacktivism present on of common agreements regarding the topics published social media, with people merely posting content of a on social media, there are some common practices and mobilization or cause to create their personal image strategies, presenting a unified discourse on the different (Christensen, 2011; Rotman et al., 2011), these connec‐ platforms. The dissemination of offline actions, followed tive actions have been able to set an agenda in the coun‐ by International Women’s Day strike information, knowl‐ try, particularly around International Women’s Day. edge dissemination, and related media coverage are the However, some women found the need to engage main axis of their social media activity, becoming a safe in the political movement through the creation of for‐ space for women to communicate. mal organizations, which were key in the success of fem‐ To conclude, the speed‐driven nature and inist mobilizations mainly due to their online calls to preference‐driven algorithmic architecture of social action to participate in offline activities. All these com‐ media platforms, which require constant and varied mittees consider social media profiles essential in order activity, presence, and interaction (O’Meara, 2019), to be part of the public digital sphere. This duality creates have direct consequences on the lifespan and visibil‐ several organizational difficulties for the activist com‐ ity of the posts. Social media content has become more mittees due to the different logics of offline collective ephemeral, commercialized, and tabloid (Şener, 2021), actions which are highly centralized compared to online becoming a challenge and an obstacle for feminist orga‐ dynamics, based on self‐expression and decentralization nizations. Thus, social networks have become a double‐ (Bennett & Segerberg, 2013; van Dijck & Poell, 2013). edged sword, being a complex terrain where it is difficult The lack of correlation mechanisms between these two for feminist organizations to operate on digital platforms spheres generates a problematic hybridization for fem‐ while maintaining their desired sense of united identity. inist organizations, sometimes even lacking continuity The study method has several limitations, in which between offline and online messages. the sample selection itself and temporal delimitation Despite the importance given to social media, are the main ones. The sample, despite being timely, approving and discussing the protocols, guidelines, and includes a significant period during the pandemic, organizational process to publish on the accounts of which had its own organizational restrictions and led these committees has been relegated to the background, to new communication methods differing from stan‐ creating confusion for the women in charge of updating dard years. With this in mind, current findings could the profiles. This has not been made a priority within be complemented with future studies built upon the the face‐to‐face meetings with no clear organized steps model proposed. This could include the comparison with Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 101 organisational processes within committees from other Clark, R. (2014). #NotBuyingIt: Hashtag feminists expand countries or regions and how their presence on social the commercial media conversation. Feminist Media media meshes with the nurturing of collective actions Studies, 14(6), 1108–1110. https://doi.org/10.1080/ and their power of mobilizations over time. 14680777.2014.975473 Davis, C. (2019). Feminist rhetorical practices in digital Conflict of Interests spaces. Computers and Composition, 52(3), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2019.01.004 The authors declare no conflict of interests. Edwards, L., Philip, F., & Gerrard, Y. (2019). Communi‐ cating feminist politics? The double‐edged sword of References using social media in a feminist organisation. Femi‐ nist Media Studies, 20(5), 605–622. https://doi.org/ 8mhuelgafeminista. [@8mhuelgafeminista]. (2019, 10.1080/14680777.2019.1599036 March 1). Ya está el cartel con todas las actividades Fotopoulou, A. (2016). Digital and networked by default? que organizan desde la asamblea del 8M en Teruel. Women’s organisations and the social imaginary [The poster with all the activities organized by the 8M of networked feminism. New Media & Society, assembly in Teruel] [Photo]. Instagram. https://www. 18(6), 989–1005. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444 instagram.com/p/BudXIfIBmGS 814552264 Asturies Feminista 8M. [@sturies8m]. (2019, March 3). Fuchs, E. (2018). Jewish feminism: Framed and reframed. Mañana a las 18h charla sobre la desigualdad de Lexington Books. género y la violencia contra las mujeres, impar‐ Gibson, A. (2019). Free speech and safe spaces: How tida por Ángeles Martínez [Tomorrow at 6 p.m. talk moderation policies shape online discussion spaces. about gender inequality and violence against women, Social Media + Society, 5(1). https://doi.org/ given by Ángeles Martínez] [Tweet]. Twitter. https:// 10.1177/2056305119832588 twitter.com/Asturies8M/status/11200395002380 Gray, D. (2014). Doing research in the real world. SAGE. 20609 Huelga Feminista. [@HuelgaFeminista]. (2021, Asturies Feminista 8M. (2020, March 8). Por las que March 11). No te pierdas este artículo “El 8M, están, las que no están, las que peligran, todos los el refugio de todas las mujeres” de @MariahPerezS días son 8 de marzo. Mañana #Laluchasigue [For para la reflexión [Do not miss this article “8M, the those who are here, for those who are not here, for refuge for all women” by @MariahPerezS after those who are in danger, every day is March 8. Tomor‐ another unforgettable #8M despite all the difficul‐ row #Thefightcontinues] [Facebook status update]. ties #8M2021] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ https://www.facebook.com/AsturiesFeminista8M/ HuelgaFeminista/status/1370004052281614337 videos/3079145815679058 Kiraly, M., & Tyler, M. (2015). Freedom fallacy: The limits Baer, H. (2016). Redoing feminism: Digital activism, body of liberal feminism. Connor Court Publishing. politics, and neoliberalism. Feminist Media Stud‐ Leavy, P. (2007). The feminist practice of content analy‐ ies, 16(1), 17–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777. sis. In S. N. Hesse‐Beber & P. L. Leavy (Eds.), Feminist 2015.109307 research practice: A primer (pp. 223–248). SAGE. Banet‐Weiser, D. (2018). Empowered: Popular feminism LeFebvre, R., & Armstrong, C. (2018). Grievance‐based and popular misogyny. Duke University Press. social movement mobilization in the #Ferguson Twit‐ Banet‐Weiser, S., & Portwood‐Stacer, L. (2017). The traf‐ ter storm. New Media & Society, 20(1), 9–28. https:// fic in feminism: An introduction to the commentary www.doi.org/10.1177/1461444816644697 and criticism on popular feminism. Feminist Media López, K. J., Muldoon, M. L., & McKeown, J. (2018). One Studies, 17(5), 884–888. https://doi.org/10.1080/ day of #feminism: Twitter as a complex digital arena 14680777.2017.1350517 for wielding, shielding, and trolling talk on feminism. Bennett, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2013). The logic of con‐ Leisure Sciences, 41(4), 203‐220. https://doi.org/ nective action: Digital media and the personalization 10.1080/01490400.2018.1448022 of contentious politics. Cambridge University Press. Maloney, A. R. (2017). Influence of the Kardashian– Calhoun, C. (2011). Civil society and the public sphere. In Jenners on fourth wave feminism. Elon Journal of M. Edwards (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of civil soci‐ Undergraduate Research in Communications, 8(2), ety (pp. 311–323). Oxford University Press. 48–59. Cammaerts, B. (2015). Social media and activism. In Morozov, E. (2009). The net delusion: The dark side of R. Mansell & P. Hwa (Eds.), The international ency‐ internet freedom. Public Affairs. clopedia of digital communication and society (pp. Navarro, C., & Coromina, Ò. (2020). Discussion and medi‐ 1027–1034). Wiley. ation of social outrage on Twitter: The reaction to Christensen, H. (2011). Political activities on the the judicial sentence of “La Manada.” Communica‐ Internet: Slacktivism or political participation by tion & Society, 33, 93–106. http://doi.org/10.15581/ other means? First Monday, 16(2). https://doi.org/ 003.33.1.93‐106 10.5210/fm.v16i2.3336 O’Meara, V. (2019). Weapons of the chic: Instagram influ‐ Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 102 encer engagement pods as practices of resistance #brexit. Emeral Publishing. to Instagram platform labor. Social Media + Society, Tufekci, Z. (2014). Social movements and governments in 5(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119879671 the digital age: Evaluating a complex landscape. Jour‐ Phipps, A. (2020). Me, not you: The trouble with main‐ nal of International Affairs, 68(1), 1–18. stream feminism. Manchester University Press. van Dijck, J., & Poell, T. (2013). Understanding social Roestone Collective. (2014). Safe space: Towards a recon‐ media logic. Media and Communication, 1(1), 2–14. ceptualization. Antipode, 46(5), 1346–1365. https:// https://doi.org/10.12924/mac2013.01010002 doi.org/10.1111/anti.12089 Varghese, N., & Kumar, N. (2020). Feminism in advertis‐ Rotman, D., Vieweg, S., Yardi, S., Chi, E., Preece, J., Shnei‐ ing: Irony or revolution? A critical review of femver‐ derman, B., Pirolli, P., & Glaisyer, T. (2011). From tising. Feminist Media Studies. Advance online publi‐ slacktivism to activism: Participatory culture in the cation. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020. age of social media. In D. Tan, B. Begole, & W. A. Kel‐ 1825510 logg (Eds.), CHI EA ’11: CHI ’11 extended abstracts on Wellman, B. (2002). Little boxes, glocalization, and net‐ human factors in computing systems (pp. 819–822). worked individualism. In M. Tanabe, P. van den Besse‐ Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi. laar, & T. Ishida (Eds.), Digital cities II: Computational org/10.1145/1979742.1979543 and sociological approaches (pp. 10–25). Springer. Rottenberg, C. (2014). The rise of neoliberal feminism. https://doi.org/10.1007/3‐540‐45636‐8_2 Cultural Studies, 28(3), 418–437. https://doi.org/ Willem, C., & Tortajada, I. (2021). Gender, voice and 10.1080/09502386.2013.857361 online space: Expressions of feminism on social Şener, G. (2021). Digital feminist activism in Turkey media in Spain. Media and Communication, 9(2), (Working Paper No. 67). London School of Eco‐ 62–71. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i2.3851 nomics and Political Science. https://www.lse.ac.uk/ Williams, S. (2016). #SayHerName: Using digital activism media‐and‐communications/assets/documents/ to document violence against black women. Femi‐ research/working‐paper‐series/WP67.pdf nist Media Studies, 1(5), 922–925. https://doi.org/ Statista. (2021). Distribution of Instagram users world‐ 10.1080/14680777.2016.1213574 wide as of July 2021, by age group. https://www. Zimmerman, T. (2017). #Intersectionality: The fourth statista.com/statistics/325587/instagram‐global‐ wave feminist Twitter community. Atlantis, 38(1), age‐group 54–70. Tong, J., & Zuo, L. (2018). Tweeting the environment About the Authors Celina Navarro is a lecturer at the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a member of the research group GRISS‐UAB. She has a PhD in audiovisual communication. Her research and publications focus mainly on transnational media flows, television studies, and activism on social media. Gemma Gómez‐Bernal holds a PhD in audiovisual communication and advertising. She is lecturer and researcher in the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Universitat Oberta de Catalonia. Her research interests include social media and online communication, television studies, and new advertising formats. Media and Communication, 2022, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 93–103 103