#MeToo as networked collective: examining consciousness-raising on wild public networks

ABSTRACT

In 2017, the #MeToo movement swept across social media, making the pervasiveness of sexual assault visible to millions. People shared hashtags and stories often only told in intimate settings on a variety of platforms, exposing this issue to the multitudes. At its core, the #MeToo movement was a consciousness-raising effort, but it was occurring in a new mediascape that dramatically altered its spread, force, and impact. This paper examines #MeToo as it unfolded across wild public networks and, in doing so, resisted contemporary image practices, transformed the rhetor into what we term a rhizomatically networked collective, and expanded audiences.