CC BY
81Copyright © 2022 by Cherkas Global University
« w
I
Published in the USA
International Journal of Media and Information Literacy Issued since 2005 E-ISSN 2500-106X 2022. 7(2): 422-433
DOI: 10.13187/ijmil.2022.2.422 https://ijmil.cherkasgu.press
Identity Construction of the New Face of Social Justice Warrior on Indonesian Twitter Users
Tuty Handayani a , *, Tsaniah Yaumil Rohmah a, Rahma Diva Lestari a, Fatimah Azzahra a a Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
Social Justice Warriors are now experiencing a shift in meaning, from positive to negative labels. This change occurs through a long process of identity construction. This study explores the construction of a new SJW identity on Indonesian Twitter users by implementing Hecht's communication identity theory. It aims to investigate the four identity frames of SJW based on this theory. The study applied a descriptive qualitative method by using virtual ethnography since the data are taken from social media. The study found that the evolution of SJW's new identity construction in Indonesian Twitter users provided clear evidence to form the characteristics of SJW pejorative labels. The construction undergoes four stages of frames, namely (1) the personal frame, which focuses on individuals-related, (2) the enactment frame, which focuses on social interaction-based, (3) the relational frame, which focuses on social relationship-based, and (4) the communal frame which focuses on group interaction-based. In conclusion, SJW identity will keep evolving and constructed within the dynamic development of times, which is related to people's ability to absorb or adapt to a condition or situation, so it is widely possible that the SJW's meaning is easily shifted over time.
Keywords: identity construction, four frames of identity, social justice warrior, social media, Twitter.
1. Introduction
Nowadays, the identity of Social Justice Warrior (SJW) has been labeled increasingly negative (Golbeck et al., 2017; Hartanto et al., 2020). There was a very significant difference between the meaning of the term SJW identity when it was first used with what is now commonly known. This does not happen without some reasons. J.H. Majcher (Majcher, 2017) explained that SJW is a phrase used to refer to people who engage in online discussions about social justice. Based on its terminology, SJW is used as a reward for people who have fought for social issues, which means a good way. However, the term SJW is recently used to label people who have fought for social issues in an opposite way. The researchers believe that SJW is a phrase that refers to good people who uphold social justice both online and offline. Unfortunately, its term has been poorly used in today's internet climate. The label of SJW on Twitter tends to describe the person as someone who claims themself always right and would blame other people with different perspectives (Eckert et al., 2015). It refers to a person who uses the name of social issues to achieve their personal desire. This negatively affected actual social justice activists who are already struggling to voice social justice, especially in Indonesia.
* Corresponding author
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (T. Handayani), [email protected] (T.Y. Rohmah), [email protected] (R.D. Lestari), [email protected] (F. Azzahra)
The phrase SJW has been used in the past 20 years positively. However, as it developed in an online environment, the phrase gained a pejorative connotation. A phrase cited as early as 2009 in a blog called "Social Justice Warriors: Do Not Engage" later appeared in an Urban Dictionary entry and on the something Awful forums in 2013. The term "keyboard warrior" may be a precursor to the phrase "social justice warrior" since it refers to a person who is unreasonably angry and hides behind their keyboard, typing tirades directed at an obscure audience (Massanari, Chess, 2018). The term is seen today as a negative identity toward people who voice social justice opinions because it is more like individual perceptions (Eckert et al., 2015; Reicher et al., 1995).
Twitter is one of the largest social media and most powerful tools to share ideas and opinions, interact with each other, and discuss virtually (Singh et al., 2020). Since its first launch in 2006, Twitter has not stopped releasing its ever-expanding features. Used by millions of users worldwide, Twitter allowed people to have freedom of expression. This freedom is also used by those who are labeled as today's SJWs. One of them is a Twitter user, @haronamd, who criticizes someone's value regarding manner standards. In fact, according to anti-paternalism, someone's value is subjective, and no one should intervene in others' values (Conly, 2016). Twitter user @haramona criticizes someone's value who thinks that the best partner is those who internalized three magic words: please, sorry, and thanks. She claimed that the three magic words are basic manners that are supposed to be a common thing to do rather than thinking it is a special thing to do with people. This study will explore this phenomenon because we saw that the construction of her identity as a Twitter user was contained by her perspective and principle, which she had personally experienced before. The researchers realized that the aspect of what she poured upon her tweets are the characteristics of SJW identity nowadays. On that note, the other Twitter users who responded and interacted with the SJW's tweet have formed a huge proof of the existence of identity construction within the tweet as an SJW (Oden et al., 2020; Marwick, Boyd, 2010).
There are several previous research regarding the corpus. The first previous research is about SJW memes as the monstrous feminine by A.L. Massanari and S. Chess, arguing that SJW is implied as a monstrous feminist who is unwieldy and out of control. It also claimed that the SJW meme that described them as having problematic bodies and different brains is potentially dangerous (Massanari, Chess, 2018). The second previous research was written by J.H. Majcher, which discussed exploring the nature of social justice discussions on the social networking site Tumblr. Using at least one of five common hashtags, which are #BlackLivesMatter, #Feminism, #Racism, #SocialJustice, and #SJW, the researcher claimed that these hashtags are related to social justice commonly identified on Tumblr with 15,160 public posts created by 8,794 users across the two weeks. The research argued that not all posts reflect a positive attitude toward social justice, with 8.6% of posts expressing disagreement or even hostility toward movements promoting equality (Majcher, 2017).
Other scholars exploring the SJW issue are Hartanto, Subandi, and O. Pavlova. They examined netizens' opinions about SJW and the dynamics of conflict or support in more detail. The research defined SJW as a pejorative term for individuals who struggle for the right of equality, environment, and gender. The researcher argued that the cause of controversies sparked by SJW is because their progressive morals differ from the predominant values (Hartanto et al., 2020). Furthermore, Phelan examined possible ideological and communicative affinities between neoliberalism and online media practices indicative of the empowerment of racist, misogynistic, and authoritarian discourse. He analyzed two distinct contexts in which social justice has been articulated: the disparaging representations of "social justice warriors" that originally circulated in "alt-right" subcultures but which have since become increasingly mainstream, and the neoliberal critique of social justice introduced by Friedrich Hayek (Phelan, 2019). Besides, V. Sehijpaul examined how Generation Zs (Gen Zs) can adapt to reduce slacktivism potentially. The research argued that SJWs might benefit from online activism, and Gen Zs generally find social media useful for easy access to information and can navigate it relatively easily (Sehijpaul, 2021).
There are significant differences between the previous research and this research. The first research discussed how the offensive SJW meme portrays SJW as a horrific creature while suggesting that feminists can still turn SJW into a positive image. The second research discussed shared posts regarding social justice issues on Tumblr and its receptions. The third research discussed netizens' opinions regarding SJW which showed more negative sentiments towards SJW. The fourth research is about the disparaging representations of SJW in an alt-right subculture. The fifth is about how Generation Z people can potentially adapt to reduce slacktivism and if
slacktivism is relevant to current social issues. In contrast, this research mainly discusses the construction of the new identity of SJW in Indonesian Twitter users.
This study argues that the former identity of SJWs as agents of positive justice both in real life and on social media has shifted to negative labels that impact the construction of new SJW identities, one of which is reflected through tweets on Twitter users. To prove this statement, this study has two research questions; how the term SJW develops and constructs a different identity through tweets from Twitter, and how the construction of SJW identity on twitter can affect the socio-cultural life of the community.
To answer the research questions, this research used the concepts of four frames of Identity from Hecht's communication theory of identity. Hecht argued that these concepts, which are the personal frame, enactment frame, relationship frame, and communal frame, attempted to understand a characteristic of a person, the enactment, the relationship, and the community that constructs the identity (Hecht, 1993).
The importance of this research is to explore how the identity of SJW is constructed on Twitter, especially through Indonesian Twitter users by analyzing the identity construction of SJW in Indonesian users' tweets using Hecht's Communication Theory of Identity. Moreover, theoretically, the research will contribute to the field of cultural studies of identity construction. Also, practically, this research will be beneficial for reference in applying the theory to achieve identity construction analysis of social media literacy.
2. Materials and methods
The research method that we are using is a qualitative method that concerns the specialties in cyberspace which differentiate it from the things happening in online spaces and explains the phenomenon with deep understanding by saturating the facts presented in the screenshots of the source persons, which are Indonesian SJW on Twitter (Lambert, 2013). Based on these statements, the qualitative approach used in this research has the purpose to identify the types of related devices that appear in the tweets of Indonesian SJW. The data was collected by applying these three steps: 1) searching some Indonesian tweets through Twitter; 2) sorting the data relating to social justice warriors' behaviors; 3) selecting the data dealing with the purpose of the research. While exploring, analyzing and comprehending the tweets, we attempted to deploy a qualitative approach and work within the framework of virtual ethnography. By ethnography, we are allowed to view a discourse from the point of view of the source persons (Saukko, 2003). It is a methodology for studying small society beliefs, social interactions, and behaviors, including long-term participation, observation, and data collection interpretation (Denzin, Lincoln, 2011). Christine Hine (Hine, 2000) states that ethnography in social media, namely virtual ethnography, is intended to give a deep and particular understanding of the significance and implication from the Internet users, which would give an extensive and theoretical comprehension and determine the continuity of relationship dynamics in the online world. To explore, analyze and understand deeper about the text, we attempted to use the framework of the communication theory of identity by M.L. Hecht. Hecht stated that identity could be defined as a characteristic of the person, the enactment, the relationship, and the community. In addition, these frames can be used to understand their layering, juxtaposition, interpenetration, and dialectical tensions: identity as the personal frame, enactment frame, relationship frame, and communal frame (Hecht, 1993). Based on these statements by Hecht's theory is used to analyze how the features and frameworks of Twitter would provide identity construction of SJW by viewing how these four frames operate collectively within the tweets and their responses.
3. Discussion
Construction within identity is a thing that might happen when any identity has emerged from any kind of new developed environment, situation, and culture, which encourages creating new ideas and forms of meaning. Identity is an essential label about how the individuals' existence is noticed while they stand alone and/or within a group in a social community (Darmastuti et al., 2019). It means clearly that identity helps an individual to be recognized by the surrounding of who they are. Thus, the identity construction we try to identify is SJW Twitter which recently has been discussed on Twitter, and how its identity developed within new meanings.
First of all, the evolution and construction of social justice warrior term significantly affect how social activists' identities form in society and online media. Before Twitter had the term SJW
become a pejorative term, activists and protesters were voicing their opinions in real situations. An article written by Abby Ohlheiser from the Washington Post, stated that more than 20 years ago, the term SJW in fact was used as a neutral or even described as a compliment. Another fact showed that, later in 2007, an SJW named Monsignor David Cappo was honored with an award (Ohlheiser, 2015). Besides that, in a study done by J. Urla and J. Helepololei (Urla, Helepololei, 2014), radical activists in the past were characterized as modern-day "Robin Hoods". Robin Hood is a popular folk that is known because of his generosity to the poor people and peasants. He also dislikes the authoritative figures who enforced oppressive forest laws. Because of this, Robin Hood is considered a hero who fights for social justice. This means that social justice activists in the past are regarded as positive, having their movement to achieve good common goals.
As the views on social justice activists developed until today, especially in the online world, social justice activists have taken their actions to a different medium. According to Crowder (Crowder, 2021), nowadays, protesters and activists may take their actions to a social media platform. For instance, social activists use Twitter to organize mobilizations. In an event called Black Lives Matter, social media protestors or activists showed solidarity by posting pictures of themselves carrying protest signs (Crowder, 2021). However, these online protestors or activists were characterized as anti-system, a pejorative term that suggests protesters that lack understanding regarding political-economic critiques or reasonable demands (Urla, Helepololei, 2014; Brown, 2019). From that example, we can see that people's perception of social activists on online platforms might have several assumptions and subjectivity in positive or negative ways, spreading the term massively across the social media network (Eckert et al., 2015). Therefore, activists' identities might have an identity crisis and how the public sees their identity, which mostly forms a community.
As the era progressively developed, from another perspective, Massanari also has done an extensive study regarding the today's characteristics of social justice activists. A.L. Massanari and S. Chess (Massanari, Chess, 2018) characterized the use of online platforms among social justice activists as a meme culture. He claimed that social justice activists that were regarded as strong warriors are now characterized as monstrous feminine (Massanari, Chess, 2018). Based on the study, A.L. Massanari and S. Chess mainly characterized today's social justice activists as having non-hegemonic bodies, regarded as emotional beings, diseased, and monstrous. They also explained that social justice activists with ambiguous gender, childlike, soft, have different types of brains, emotionally dramatic, irrational beings with mental illness, and have two heads (Massanari, Chess, 2018). The characteristics described by A.L. Massanari and S. Chess here show how the people see the SJW, mainly from the meme culture. Meme culture characterizes SJW negatively and how its negative characterization causes widespread use of the term across online media. In this case, the term is spread through memes across the internet and social media mediums.
Besides, in a meme based on the explanation above, we found an example of SJW on Twitter that is currently used as a term for an identity of a social activist, which most have negative assumptions of its existence. In addition, the meaning of the term in public is already formed as what they believe in whether it is a social justice community or individual. Recently, the use of the term SJW is more aimed at individuals, whether they uphold social justice or are considered SJW. We assumed that there is degradation in the meaning of the SJW term caused by how SJW activists proceed with their activity in negative behaviors which in turn created characteristics of SJW nowadays. Moreover, it can also be seen by the development of human thinking which is an understanding of something related to the social environment and how they react to the situation of recent updates. Furthermore, the initiation of social media culture has subjectively emerged and massively developed in constructing the identity of SJW.
According to username @Batman_Monyok on Twitter, SJW is a pejorative term for someone who upholds social progressivism views. The phrase first appeared at the end of the 20th century as a neutral or positive term for people who fight for social justice. In 2011, when the term 'SJW' started appearing on Twitter, its meaning changed from positive to overwhelmingly negative. SJWs today, according to @Batman_Monyok, imply that they are looking for self-justification, not because of their convincing views and pretending to join a debate. So, it can be said that SJW is a pejorative term that is considered neutral or positive at first, but when it appears on an online social media such as Twitter, the meaning changes to a negative impression (Monyok, 2021).
In other words, according to @Batman_Monyok, SJWs don't have strong principles, but pretend that their principles are the strongest. The problem today, he continues, is that SJWs are
not a real community group. It is just a way to silence everyone who brings up the topic of social justice. Furthermore, currently, the supporters of "social justice" are divided into two; left-wing groups and right-wing groups. According to @Batman_Monyok, the characteristics of the left and right wings are the same; like to rage, claiming to be a victim, and labeling the opposition as evil and vandals (Monyok, 2021; Saint-Louis, 2021). @Batman_Monyok explains that SJW is a digital-politics phenomenon with its main activity taking place in cyberspace.
Here are some characteristics of SJW Twitter that @Batman_Monyok puts forward in a Twitter thread. Usually, the people who are called SJW are those who have a view on a social issue where they feel the most correct, the smartest and the most caring so that they can be considered heroes or "warriors" (Bay, 2018). If someone is against their opinion, they will automatically get angry or curse at those with different opinions because they like to criticize but don't like being criticized. They always impose their standards on others by being sadistic critics. Actually, they are not interested in discussion and always pretend to have strong principles. When in fact they are only obsessed with self-reputation, they don't even accept it if someone doesn't like it. For SJWs this is a mind game to train or encourage people's critical thinking, especially in Indonesia who are still not used to critical thinking. But this is done in a way that invites netizens' controversy.
Besides explaining about SJW, a Twitter user with the username @Batman_Monyok explained that SJW Twitter is described and identified as above. He described SJW as someone with weak principles, not a real community group, and is divided into two groups which are left-wing and right-wing. This user's tweet proves that people use the term SJW to identify people who uphold progressive social views.
As we have mentioned before, Social Justice Warrior (SJW) is an identity within individuals who shows their existence by voicing their awareness about social justice without actually having a deep attentiveness to the subjects that they are trying to speak on behalf (Foy, 2018). Therefore, SJWs only demand validation, which is only favorable to themselves (Quatrini, 2022). As the era and culture are developed, it can change identity and evolve a certain meaning in available spacetime. In this research, we provide the example of SJW identity constructed in one of the Indonesian tweets.
@haronamd tweeted,
"basic manners kaya bilang 'makasih, maaf, tolong' kok bisa dibilang the best mba", to reply the original tweet from @gadisssmelayu,
"punya pasangan yang bisa bilang kayak 'maaf ya sayang' ketika salah, 'sayang tolong dong' ketika butuh, dan ga lupa bilang 'makasih ya sayang' is the best relationship ever."
It has attracted the community, becoming a heated discussion that gained 1336 Retweets, 258 Quoted Tweets, 6068 Likes, and many kinds of replies (Onaa, 2021).
The Twitter user @haronamd claimed that basic manners should be a common thing to do rather than thinking that is a special thing to do from other people. User @haronamd's way of expressing an opinion is opposing the original tweet. Based on the above example, @haronamd claimed to have more knowledge of basic manners. This tweet was a response to an original tweet that said, "Having a partner that can say something like 'sorry, babe' when he is wrong, 'babe, help me please' when in need, and not forgetting to say 'thank you, babe' is the best relationship ever" (Gigi, 2021).
Which was tweeted by @gadisssmelayu on November 20th, 2021. Twitter user @haronamd appears to disagree with @gadisssmelayu on November 21st 2021, tweeting a response saying "basic manners, such as 'thank you, sorry, please' is not the best, Sis" (Onaa, 2021). Her tweet then gained traction and heated arguments from other Twitter users. We argue that this Twitter user by @haronamd belongs to the characteristics of SJW nowadays.
This proves that SJW is an identity that sticks to its own principles that have several special characteristics. On Twitter, SJW can be researched through tweets because tweets are the main medium of communication on the Twitter platform. The characteristics of SJW raised by @haronamd can be seen through how she acts through his speech on Twitter and how the content and meaning of the speech.
Next, to seek the identity construction of social justice warrior Twitter, Hecht's theory is used to discover and identify how SJWs build their identity. As the tweet of user @haronamd about basic manners on the Twitter platform, it is considered a tweet from a SJW based on some factors. The first factor is the high engagement from other Twitter users. As shown from the quoted tweets from the original tweet, this tweet gained 1336 Retweets, 258 Quoted Tweets, and 6068 Likes.
The other factor is that she insists that her opinion is the rightest one compared to the tweet she quoted, which contains the exact opposite opinion. Thirdly, there is a sign of political correctness based on how she responds to some other users that agree with her tweet, which shows that @haronamd demands validation from others. According to Hecht, it can be seen that there is an identity construction of Social Justice Warrior through the four frames which form the identity itself.
The personal frame is the first identity form to recognize SJW identity. L. Gusri et al. (Gusri, et al., 2020) state that an individual would capture some feelings and ideas. In short, they would see how they are in the society that they live in. Besides that, within the online community, the individual roles can easily be self-centered and prominent (Yang et al., 2019). Based on her tweets, we can assume her personality regarding her identity as SJW. One of her tweets shows that she considers three magic words to be basic manners, which are common in her environment. This assumption shows how the social situation affects her identity. It is also shown that @haronamd was born in a good environment where the standard of virtue is set higher. Therefore, there is a hierarchy in which @haronamd stands as an individual with higher standards. We can also assume that she is already shaped like a figure with a great awareness of manners, leading her to be an SJW who views other opinions that object to her principles as invalid. In this case, her identity is affected by the other societal individuals. As stated by E. Jung and M.L. Hecht (Jung, Hecht, 2004), the personal frame is how a person understands his own identity through personal concepts or images. @haronamd sees herself as having the level of "the best thing," which is far from just the "basic thing" that @gadisssmelayu expressed. @haronamd wants to build an image that she comes from a well-mannered environment so that, according to her, three magic words are common. @haronamd's personal frame about her is that she is not happy enough if she just has a boyfriend who only has these three basic manners. The personal frame in analyzing identity is obtained from oneself (Pang, Hutchinson, 2018).
The second identity form can be shown by the enactment frame. In communication, people can tell a person's identity from how they act towards others. Other people can judge a person by seeing how that person does things. In this case @haronamd forms her identity through the views of others towards her who see or know how @haronamd acts. This can be seen in reply to a tweet from someone who said that @haronamd was "salty" and then @haronamd showed her SJW characteristics by behaving by rejecting that opinion and feeling that her opinion was the most correct, she forced her opinion by saying "everyone should be able to have basic manners''. Using the same sentence as the previous reply, @haronamd seemed disinterested in the wider discussion. @haronamd does not issue any other views that can support the previous statement, it seems that she does not actually have strong principles so that she does not have additional ideas to strengthen the previous idea which some people dispute. Social Justice Warriors are also accused of offering only superficial arguments to support their claims. This also shows the main trait of SJWs that they are emotional rather than rational beings (Massanari, 2018) @haronamd does not accept the fact that some do not like her opinion so she insists on upholding her views by repeatedly voicing the same words, this also indicates @haronamd's attitude of avoiding discussion and pretending to have strong principles. This supports the statement about the enactment frame that people will get information about the identity of others by knowing the form of their actions (Gusri et al., 2020). Here is the example of how SJW responds to someone's reply to her tweet.
@khrsm_ replied her tweet,
"Karena gak semua orang bisa... Salty banget sih... Bilang the best itu bentuk rasa syukur..." (Not everyone can do it... you're being so salty... saying the best is used for being grateful...), and @haronamd also gives her response to it,
"yg namanya basic manners tu semua org harusnya bisa" (well, everyone must do basic manners well) which intentionally claimed her will. Another response also reacted to her tweet reply,
"E ko maksa" (Wow, why are you forcing it) from user @radjagopali.
People can also see @haronamd's SJW identity through the expressions she makes. One of @haronamd's behaviors that identify SJW characteristics is when she indirectly justifies other people's replies that demean @gadisssmelayu with a sentence that essentially assumes that @gadisssmelayu's taste in "the best thing" is very low. @haronamd replied to the tweet using several exclamation points which meant that she strongly agreed with that opinion. @haronamd agrees that @gadisssmelayu's view of "the best thing" is very common and should not be included in "the best thing". In this case, @haronamd lowered @gadisssmelayu's point of view on something. This is in line with the opinion of Jung and Hecht that identity can be seen from how a
person expresses or presents him/herself in communication (Jung, Hecht, 2004). Here is the example of how SJW gives enforcement to her beliefs.
@ayambberkah replied her tweet,
"the bar is low!!!" and @haronamd also gives enforcement to her beliefs by replying the tweet, "!! !! !!" and accepting the statement with some exclamation marks.
According to the analysis above, it can be concluded that other people can infer @haronamd's identity through how she acts, expresses and presents. In the enactment frame, @haronamd has several SJW characteristics, namely rejecting opinions, feeling the most correct, forcing opinions, not interested in discussions, not having strong principles, not being able to accept the fact that some people don't like them and demeaning other people's points of view.
As the third identity form, the relational frame helps to identify the interaction and connection of any identity in society. According to E. Jung and M.L. Hecht (Jung, Hecht, 2004), there are four levels of relational identity, the first is when a person makes other people's views of himself the center of his identity, the second is to make relationships with other people such as partners or friends as a way to identify his identity, third is identity exists when a relationship is forged between different identities, the four relationships themselves can become the center of the identity. In her tweets, @haronamd does not show her relationship with anyone. But her interactions on Twitter have led to a connection between @haronamd and those who agree with her. In this case, @haronamd has people by her side. @haronamd shows her SJW characteristics by putting one's reputation first. She tries to look humble by saying "what do I know about people's relationships." She did that after again repeating her opinion that basic manners are something that everyone should be able to do and it's nothing special. She did this to get a good image and validation of his opinion. She does it to people who have the same views as him. In social media, the similarity of opinions can lead to an implied relationship in an understanding. K. Pang and C. Hutchinson (Pang, Hutchinson, 2018) argued that relational identity is formed through relationships. So, it can be concluded that relational identity is formed, arises and emerges from existing interpersonal relationships. Here is the example of how someone who agrees with @haronamd's tweet.
@febrinasugianto also replied her tweet,
"Fes pretty normal. Kalo dia ngerasa itu special harus mikir lagi deh kayaknya bergaul dengan manusia2 yg salah." (Yes, pretty normal. If she feels it special, I guess she should think twice to hang out with the wrong people.), and @haronamd replied with her agreement,
"sebenernya 3 magic words itu udah common banget, tp tau apa aku soal hubungan orang
(Actually, 3 magic words is very common. But, do I know about people relationship ©). Another response also reacted to her tweet reply,
"Fou know the answer. Lu tau apa (You know the answer. Do you even know it ©) from user @dellasabar.
In another tweet reply, @haronamd got someone who agrees with her. That person teased @gadisssmelayu that three magic words were nothing special to be proud of because they were basic things. @haronamd replied with the same sentence; she confirmed the person's ridicule. She "agrees" with the joke. In this case, the characteristic of SJW that can be seen from @haronamd in the relational frame is that he mocks or demeans the opinions of others who do not agree with her. Here is the example of how @haronamd is mocking the original tweet with another replier.
@DiajengLrst tweeted her reply,
"Three magic words :" D", and replied back by @haronamd,
"makanya kok dibilang the best:" D" (That's why it called as the best :" D), that showed her emotion with an emotion of how she laughed at it.
Therefore, in the relational frame, @haronamd's SJW characteristic is prioritizing reputation by trying to look inferior to get validation for her opinion. Then the next SJW characteristic that can be seen from the relational frame of @haronamd's tweet is agreeing to demean the views of others who have different opinions from him.
The last identity form is called communal frame, which focuses on how one big community helps to notice the formed identity. The identity of @haronamd can be analyzed by how others from a larger group or collectivities respond to her tweet. In this case, her identity can be analyzed using one of Hecht's frames in his Communication Theory of Identity, which is the Communal Frame. According to L. Gusri, et al. (Gusri et al., 2020), communal frame is a form of someone's interaction with other individuals which is bounded by a bigger group or culture. Furthermore,
communal identity deals with how collectivities formed an identity. The communal frame goes beyond the individual and is considered a characteristic of the group (Jung, Hecht, 2004).
K. Pang and C. Hutchinson (Pang, Hutchinson, 2018), similar to Gusri, et al.'s understanding, define a communal frame as an individual's identity which is bounded to a larger group. Oftentimes, group identities are created through common characteristics and experiences as a supportive community is formed. So, based on the explanation above, communal frame is an individual identity that is bounded or attached to a larger group or culture. In this particular case, the identity of @haronamd as an SJW can be identified through other individuals' tweets which are attached to a much bigger group. Here is the example of how someone's reply gives a neutral response to her tweet.
@tidaktiduk replied her tweet,
"Hi bestie here's a friendly reminder that it's not cool to invalidate other people's experience. Seremeh apapun itu di mata kita, bisa jadi itu hal yang berarti buat orang lain, karena who knows itu adalah kualitas yang sulit di lingkungannya. Let her have her moment." to give her two-sided perspectives.
The above tweet by Twitter user @tidaktiduk can be read as, "Hi bestie, here's a friendly reminder that it's not cool to invalidate other people's experiences. No matter how trivial it is in our eyes, it could be something that means a lot to other people because, who knows, that is a rare quality in her environment. Let her have her moment."
Based on the tweet, the characteristic of @haronamd as an SJW is identified as someone who invalidates other people's experiences. This is related to the characteristics of SJW, which was also explained by @Batman_Monyok, which identifies SJW as having the mindset of being the most correct out of anybody else. Twitter user @tidaktiduk, in this case, is an individual who is attached to a larger group or culture. The identity of @haronamd as an SJW can also be found in another tweet quoting @haronamd's original tweet. Here are the other examples of someone giving a neutral response to her tweet.
@Hirumaaaaaaaaa also replied her tweet,
"Maaf ya, tapi anda terlalu julid, tolong diperbaiki lagi perilakunya, terima kasih.", and she added that,
"Justru karena itu hal basic makanya perlu diapresiasi, kalo hal yang basic aja gak bisa mengapresiasi, apalagi yang gede." (Precisely because it's a basic thing, that's why it needs to be appreciated. Even if it's basic and small, if you can't appreciate it, how do you appreciate the big one.) to emphasize her points.
The above tweet by @Hirumaaaaaaaaa can be read as, "I'm sorry, but you are too mocking, please fix your behavior, thanks." The same Twitter user then replied to his own quote tweet which can be read as, "Precisely because of that, basic things need to be appreciated, if you can't appreciate basic things, you won't appreciate the next big thing." Based on his quote tweet, @haronamd's characteristic as an SJW is identified as a person who is too mocking. This is related to how SJW activists proceed their activity in negative behaviors which in turn created characteristics of SJW nowadays as mentioned before. Twitter user @Hirumaaaaaaaaa is the individual attached to the larger group which considers @haronamd's behavior as too mocking. The last proof of how another person constructs the identity of @haronamd as an SJW from a larger group can be found in another quote tweet. Here is an example of someone's reply gives a neutral response to her tweet.
@mikazukiaaugusxx also gives her neutral tweet reply,
"Basic manner kaya mind your own business kok bisa ga dilakuin mba?" (Why are you not doing a basic manner such as 'mind your own business', Sis?).
The above tweet by @mikazukiaugusxx can be read as, "How about basic manners like minding your own business, which you didn't do." What can be interpreted from this tweet is that Twitter user @mikazukiaugusxx claimed that @haronamd herself didn't do basic manners. In this case, the characteristic of @haronamd as an SJW is imposing her standards on others without actually doing it themselves. This is related to the characteristics of SJWs identified by Twitter user @Batman_Monyok, who characterize SJWs as individuals who always impose their standards on others. The Twitter user @mikazukiaugusxx is an example of an individual bound by a larger group or culture.
In the communal frame, the SJW characteristic of @haronamd is defined by individuals which are bound or attached to larger groups or cultures. These characteristics are invalidating others' opinions, mocking others, and imposing their standards on other people.
To sum up, while these four frames of identity may be considered independently for analytic purposes, they are not really independent of one another. A person's personal identity is bound up with their enacted, relational, and communal identities, just as these identities are bound up with their other identities. In examining a person's gender identity (personal identity), it is important to take into account how society defines gender roles (communal identity) and how others view them (relational identity). CTI calls this interpenetration of frames (Jung, Hecht, 2004). Based on this explanation by Hecht and Jung, it can be concluded that interpenetration of frames is a way to examine someone's identity by connecting one or two of the four frames of identity; personal, relational, enactment, and communal frame. Therefore, the characteristics of SJW can be seen by connecting the relation of four identity frames of SJW Twitter. Its relation explains one another which describes how SJW identity and its characteristics existed within @haronamd's as an individual and identity.
Interpenetration occurs in a variety of ways. One of those ways is dialectical interpenetration. Identity is not always compatible with other identities. In fact, they may be in opposition to one another or may be exclusive. Although the frames contradict each other, they still function as parts of identity. As a result, they interpenetrate each other and are entangled in dialectical tensions. An example of a discrepancy or contradiction between the personal and relational frames can be seen between the personal and the enacted frames. Despite the contradictions between these frames, they coexist and work together to form an individual's identity (Jung, Hecht, 2004). Therefore, even if, at first sight, the frames are not compatible with each other, they still function as parts of identity. We found that there are no contradictions in this research in which all the frames depict the completion of one another that described SJW's Twitter identity.
4. Results
As a result, the evolution and construction of the SJW term are developed over time and technology. From its first appearance until today, the identity of SJWs has kept evolving. A new identity formed in an SJW is not only a community group but a negative label that was inserted for people who struggle to voice their views or paradigm while ignoring other people's opinions. This negative label which spread massively across internet media, makes it hard for actual social justice activists to voice their opinions. Besides that, Hecht's theory of identity, which includes four frames of identity as explained above, pictured the SJW identity of @haronamd through her personal frame, enactment frame, relationship frame, and communal frame.
First of all, the result of the personal frame analysis is that she is not happy enough if she just has a boyfriend who only has these three basic manners so that a lot of reactions happen to be agreed or opposed to her. It concludes that SJW Twitter showed her behaviors toward one of Twitter user's tweets by doing an intervention to mention her personal value, which resulted in bridging a special social concept to diverse communities and presenting her identity.
Second, SJW Twitter gained much attention from the online community and delivered her defense to validate the existence of her identity construction is a normal thing. The enactment frame analysis shows that she prioritizes her reputation by trying to look inferior to get validation for her opinion by replying to those who reacted to her intentional tweet.
Third, it is shown by the result in the relational frame analysis, one of which is that she mocks or demeans the opinions of others who do not agree with her. She tried hard to affect others that she was doing the right thing. This means that SJW Twitter constructed her identity to prove their personal self-concept; principles, values, and life experience, instead of seeking the opposed situation, and retaining her identity as the standard.
Lastly, the result in the communal frame analysis is invalidating others' opinions, mocking others, and imposing their standards on other people. So, it can be concluded that the characteristics of SJW shown by @haronamd are very tied to her principles. It also includes that SJW Twitter engaged to the wide communities to maintain how her identity will definitely be common to others as she reacted to original tweets.
The interpenetration of frames also took part in identifying the relation of SJW characteristics and the identity of @haronamd. All frames are integrating @haronamd identity construction as SJW, how she is personally, she acts, she communicates, and she interacted in the
online discussion in the online community. And, it is resulting in herself being suitable for being defined as SJW Twitter of what the public has been known nowadays.
5. Conclusion
SJW identity will keep evolving and constructed within the dynamic development of times, which is related to people's ability to absorb or adapt to a condition or situation so that it is widely possible that the SJW's meaning is easily shifted by times. Besides that, SJWs themselves are essentially people who fight for something social based on what they think is right, and many audiences and communities welcome them as a basis for validating their existence and the social values they stand for. This makes SJWs have an important and influential role. However, in online communities, such as the scope of Twitter as a social media, the shifts in SJW's meaning are very visible based on what is believed by the public regarding the attitudes they are taken, thus polluting the SJW name with other meanings that turn into a negative conclusion. The characteristics of genuine SJWs faded with the development of online SJWs, both those who reveal their identity as SJWs or those who do not show them, and/or even not SJWs, can be labeled as SJWs negatively because they are identified as based on what meanings are constructed and believed by the general public today. As we know, Twitter is one of the social media mainly used for the online community to discuss a lot of social contexts by stimulating the identity of oneself. Therefore, it is also reflecting users' personal life and reality which flows within their tweets and the reflected negative label built from how they define themselves through online media. Then, the identity SJW constructed based on what they fight for a self-reputation. In the end, the construction of SJW identity and the SJW's values are no longer a context for social justice, but the formation of any social concept as a reference for the existence of SJW identity, especially on social media in Indonesia, which prioritizes self-values, principles, models as the standard on a social justice concept.
This study became important for the further development of identity construction analysis. The results provided in this research can be proved as the identity construction of SJW in recent times, and moreover Hecht's theory described the SJW characteristics very well. Also, using the communication theory of identity by Hecht will help the relation of the individual to their identity. Furthermore, the suggestion for the next research can be using Twitter SJWs' identity in any case study and phenomenological study which is specifically discussed, such as cultural appropriation, since its urgency will be beneficial for cultural studies.
References
Bay, 2018 - Bay, M. (2018). Weaponizing the haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation. First Monday. 23(11). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v23i11.9388
Brown, 2019 - Brown, S. (2019). What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding? The role of social justice in ELT. IATEFL TDSIG Newsletter. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://mailchi.mp/481e62269215/iatefl-tdsig-ebulletin-281685?e=8298aced78
Conly, Sarah, 2016 - Conly, Sarah (2020). "A Puzzle for Paternalism: Personal Values." Geo. JL & Pub. Pol'y. 14: 735.
Crowder, 2021 - Crowder, C. (2021). When #BlackLivesMatter at the Women's March: a study of the emotional influence of racial appeals on Instagram. Politics, Groups, and Identities. 0(0): 1-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2021.1908373
Darmastuti et al., 2019 - Darmastuti, R., Edi, S.W.M., Christianto, E, Prabawa, T.S. (2019). Understanding the meaning of self-identity construction of salatiga community. Jurnal The Messenger. 11(2): 232. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26623/themessenger.v11i2.1273
Denzin, Lincoln, 2011 - Denzin, K.N., Lincoln, S.N. (2011). The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications.
Eckert et al., 2015 - Eckert, S., Deller, R., Croeser, S., Donovan, G. (2015). Imagining social justice through the Internet and beyond. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. 5. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/8666
Foy, 2018 - Foy, M. (2018). Erecting and impaling the monstrous social justice warrior in the green inferno. The Popular Culture Studies Journal. 6(2-3).
Gigi, 2021 - Gigi. gigi on Twitter: "punya pasangan yang bisa bilang kayak 'maaf ya sayang' ketika salah, 'sayang tolong dong' ketika butuh, dan ga lupa bilang 'makasih ya sayang' is the best relationship ever." Twitter. 10.11.2021. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://twitter.com/gadisssme
layu/status/1461877687316668422
Golbeck et al., 2017 - Golbeck, J, Ashktorab, Z, Banjo, R.O., Berlinger, A. et al. (2017). A large labeled corpus for online harassment research. Proceedings of the 2017 ACM on web science conference: 229-233. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3091478.3091509
Gusri et al., 2020 - Gusri, L., Arif, E., Dewi, R.S. (2020). Konstruksi Identitas Gender Pada Budaya Populer Jepang (Analisis Etnografi Virtual Fenomena Fujoshi pada Media Sosial). Medialog: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi. 3(1): 89.
Hartanto et al., 2020 - Hartanto, Subandi, Pavlova, O. (2020). Progressive view on social justice: Netizen opinions about social justice warrior. Psikohumaniora: Jurnal Penelitian Psikologi. 5(1): 107. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21580/pjpp.v5i1.5250
Hecht, 1993 - Hecht, M.L. (1993). 2002 — A research odyssey: Toward the development of a communication theory of identity. Communication Monographs. 60(1): 76-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759309376297
Hine, 2000 - Hine, C. (2000). Virtual Ethnography. Sage Publication Ltd. Jung, Hecht, 2004 - Jung, E., Hecht, M.L. (2004). Elaborating the communication theory of identity: Identity gaps and communication outcomes. Communication Quarterly. 52(3): 265-283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370409370197
Lambert, 2013 - Lambert, VA., Lambert, C.E. (2013). Qualitative descriptive research: an acceptable design. Pacific Rim International Journal of Nursing Research. 16(4): 255-256.
Majcher, 2017 - Majcher, J.H. (2017). Social justice and citizen participation on Tumblr: Examining the changing landscape of social activism in the digital era. Bowling Green State University. [Electronic resource]. URL: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510428529403768
Marwick, Boyd, 2010 - Marwick, A.E., Boyd, D. (2010). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience. New Media & Society. 13(1): 114-133. DOI: 10.1177/1461444810365313
Massanari, 2018 - Massanari, A. (2018). Social Justice Warriors as the "alt-right" Bogeyman. www.flowjournal.org. 30.04.2018 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.flow journal.org/2018/04/alt-right-bogeyman/
Massanari, Chess, 2018 - Massanari, A.L., Chess, S. (2018). Attack of the 50-foot social justice warrior: the discursive construction of SJW memes as the monstrous feminine. Feminist Media Studies. 18(4): 525-542. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447333
Monyok, 2021 - Monyok, B. (2021). Batman Monyok on Twitter: 'Yuk.. kupas ttg #Pejuang keadilan sosial# (bahasa Inggris: Social justice warrior, umumnya disingkat SJW). Twitter. [Electronic resource]. 23.10.2021. URL: https://twitter.com/Batman_Monyok/status/
1319663445214593024?s=20
Oden et al., 2020 - Oden Choi, J., Herbsleb, J., Hammer, J., Forlizzi, J. (2020). Identity-based roles in rhizomatic social justice movements on Twitter. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media. 14(1): 488-498. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/ICWSM/article/view/7317
Ohlheiser, 2015 - Ohlheiser, A. (2015). Why 'social justice warrior,' a Gamergate insult, is now a dictionary entry. The Washington Post. [Electronic resources]. URL: https://www.washingtonpost. com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/why-social-justice-warrior-a-gamergate-insult-is-now-a-dict ionary-entry/
Onaa, 2021 -Onaa on Twitter: "basic manners kaya bilang 'makasih, maaf, tolong' kok bisa dibilang the best mba". Twitter. 21.11.2021. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://twitter.com/ haronamd/status/1462264306666389505?s=20
Pang, Hutchinson, 2018 - Pang, K., Hutchinson, C. (2018). An application of the communication theory of identity: third culture kids. Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research. 6(5): 20-27.
Phelan, 2019 - Phelan, S. (2019). Neoliberalism, the Far Right, and the Disparaging of "Social Justice Warriors." Communication, Culture and Critique. 12(4): 455-475. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcz040
Quatrini, 2022 - Quatrini, A. (2022). On J.K. Rowling's Discourse on Transsexual Issues, An Analysis of the Language Used on Rowling's Twitter and the Sociolinguistic Implication of Hate Speech. International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics. 8(2). DOI: 10.18178/ ijlll.2022.8.2.328
Reicher et al., 1995 - Reicher, S.D., Spears, R., Postmes, T. (1995). A social identity model of deindividuation phenomena. European Review of Social Psychology. 6(1): 161-198. DOI: 10.1080/ 14792779443000049
Saint-Louis, 2021 - Saint-Louis, H. (2021). Understanding cancel culture: Normative and unequal sanctioning. First Monday. 26(7). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i7.10891
Saukko, 2003 - Saukko, P. (2003). Doing research in cultural studies: an introduction to classical and new methodological approaches. Doing Research in Cultural Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209021
Sehijpaul, 2021 - Sehijpaul, V. (2021). Offline activism: does it take more than online social justice warriors? The Journal of Intellegence, Conflict, and Walfare: 175-178.
Singh et al., 2020 - Singh, S., Thapar, V., Bagga, S. (2020). Exploring the hidden patterns of cyberbullying on social media. Procedia Computer Science. 167: 1636-1647. DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.procs.2020.03.374
Urla, Helepololei, 2014 - Urla, J., Helepololei, J. (2014). The ethnography of resistance then and now: On thickness and activist engagement in the twenty-first century. History and Anthropology. 25(4): 431-451. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2014.930456
Yang et al., 2019 - Yang, D, Kraut, R.E., Smith, T., Mayfield, E, Jurafsky, D. (2019). Seekers, providers, welcomers, and storytellers. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '19. DOI: 10.1145/3290605.3300574
