ANALYZING THE GLOBAL DIFFUSION OF THE #METOO MOVEMENT USING TWITTER DATA

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Mitra, S. (2019). ANALYZING THE GLOBAL DIFFUSION OF THE #METOO MOVEMENT USING TWITTER DATA. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

The #metoo movement started in the United States but has spread across the world with the goal of increasing awareness about the sexual harassment women endure. This paper aims to understand the factors affecting the diffusion of the #metoo movement, which has led some countries to change their laws as it has spread internationally. Given its influence, it is imperative to understand the relationship between country characteristics, such as gender inequality, degree of internet censorship, and position in world society, and the involvement of a country’s residents in the movement. The data were gathered using Twitter API to document the number of #metoo Tweets that originated from many different countries and Python was used to clean and structure the dataset. Data on country-level characteristics was gathered from multiple sources and linked to the Twitter data to create a unique dataset. Descriptive analyses indicate that the #metoo movement was modified by various countries to make it more relatable to local experiences and match the native language. Although the United States dominated the movement, the movement has become more global with the participation of an increasing number of countries especially since 2019. Regression analysis indicates that higher gender inequality and higher GDP per capita are positively associated with the number of Tweets originating from a country, while lower numbers of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and women’s INGOs (WINGOs) are associated with fewer Tweets originating from a country. These findings are generally consistent with world society theory expectations and open new avenues for using social media data to analyze digital movements. Building on and extending existing theories, the results have implications for research that could use online social activism to map and better understand global citizenship.

Details
Author

Mitra, Sharoni

Title

ANALYZING THE GLOBAL DIFFUSION OF THE #METOO MOVEMENT USING TWITTER DATA

Physical Description

1 online resource (64 pages) : PDF

Date

2019

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

The #metoo movement started in the United States but has spread across the world with the goal of increasing awareness about the sexual harassment women endure. This paper aims to understand the factors affecting the diffusion of the #metoo movement, which has led some countries to change their laws as it has spread internationally. Given its influence, it is imperative to understand the relationship between country characteristics, such as gender inequality, degree of internet censorship, and position in world society, and the involvement of a country’s residents in the movement. The data were gathered using Twitter API to document the number of #metoo Tweets that originated from many different countries and Python was used to clean and structure the dataset. Data on country-level characteristics was gathered from multiple sources and linked to the Twitter data to create a unique dataset. Descriptive analyses indicate that the #metoo movement was modified by various countries to make it more relatable to local experiences and match the native language. Although the United States dominated the movement, the movement has become more global with the participation of an increasing number of countries especially since 2019. Regression analysis indicates that higher gender inequality and higher GDP per capita are positively associated with the number of Tweets originating from a country, while lower numbers of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and women’s INGOs (WINGOs) are associated with fewer Tweets originating from a country. These findings are generally consistent with world society theory expectations and open new avenues for using social media data to analyze digital movements. Building on and extending existing theories, the results have implications for research that could use online social activism to map and better understand global citizenship.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Sociology

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Diffusion
Global
#metoo
Social Media Analysis
Social Movements
Twitter

Subject Area

Sociology

Advisor(s)

Schmutz, Vaughn

Committee Members

Cao, Yang
Fitzgerald, Scott

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2019.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Mitra_uncc_0694N_12301

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2499