Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation
Thesis: Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, 2017.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113741 |
| _version_ | 1811084575272599552 |
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| author | Johnson, Amanda |
| author2 | Graham Jones. |
| author_facet | Graham Jones. Johnson, Amanda |
| author_sort | Johnson, Amanda |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, 2017. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:53:21Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/113741 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:53:21Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1137412019-04-10T13:19:36Z Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation Johnson, Amanda Graham Jones. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society. Program in Science, Technology and Society. Thesis: Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, 2017. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 306-317). This dissertation investigates Twitter parody accounts as a form of social critique and linguistic play across English, Japanese, and Arabic-one that is collaboratively created by the users, policymakers, and architects of Twitter. Together, apart, and in different constellations with governments and news media, these actors use parody accounts to recreate and experiment with everything from law to what constitutes a person. I argue that the Twitter parody account, both as negative critique and ambiguous personification play, is an off-platform use-an unintended use of platform, site, or app that is allowed to endure, with varying degrees of official encouragement, silence, and ignorance. Drawing on ethnographic, linguistic, and legal analysis, the dissertation details the contours of this use, its adversaries and proponents among traditional structures of authority, and how the platform has ratified and deployed it globally. Chapter 1, Aspect Shift, examines how a parody account works at a linguistic level through the name and profile photo play of a classic political parody account. Chapter 2, The Account-Person, proposes that personhood on Twitter is a cyborg entity and investigates five elements the shape this account-person: number, body, position, world, and time. Turning to parody accounts' relationship with authority, chapter 3, Warranting Parody, investigates why some in positions of authority mobilize apparatuses of power against parody accounts. Not all governmental employees, however, see parody accounts as threats. Chapter 4, Tweeting Like a State, explores the development of norms around parody among a key, but often overlooked group of contemporary interpreters of representative government: governmental social media managers. Chapter 5, The Social Media Contract, argues that the history of Twitter's parody policy is the history of its still-emerging social contract, a contract shaped by user demands, the abdication of traditional authorities, and Twitter's own interests. This social contract has uneven globality-as chapter 6, Of Policyness and Global Polysemy, shows through examining Twitter's parody policy across languages. Finally, in the conclusion I bring these various strands together through the concept of usership, a member relationship entangled with citizenship yet largely asserted and negotiated with corporations rather than governments. by Amanda Johnson. Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS) 2018-02-16T20:03:57Z 2018-02-16T20:03:57Z 2017 2017 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113741 1021851839 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 317 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Program in Science, Technology and Society. Johnson, Amanda Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation |
| title | Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation |
| title_full | Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation |
| title_fullStr | Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation |
| title_short | Twitter and the body parodic : global acts of re-creation and recreation |
| title_sort | twitter and the body parodic global acts of re creation and recreation |
| topic | Program in Science, Technology and Society. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113741 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johnsonamanda twitterandthebodyparodicglobalactsofrecreationandrecreation |