@article{ref1,
title="Ferguson and the death of Michael Brown on Twitter: #BlackLivesMatter, #TCOT, and the evolution of collective identities",
journal="Ethnic and racial studies",
year="2017",
author="Ray, Rashawn and Brown, Melissa and Fraistat, Neil and Summers, Edward",
volume="40",
number="11",
pages="1797-1813",
abstract="Recent events related to police brutality and the evolution of #BlackLivesMatter provides an empirical case to explore the vitality of social media data for social movements and the evolution of collective identities. Social media data provide a portal into how organizing and communicating generate narratives that survive over time. We analyse 31.65 million tweets about Ferguson across four meaningful time periods: the death of Michael Brown, the non-indictment of police officer Darren Wilson, the Department of Justice report on Ferguson, and the one year aftermath of Brown's death. Our analysis shows that #BlackLivesMatter evolved in concert with protests opposing police brutality occurring on the ground. We also show how #TCOT (Top Conservatives on Twitter) has operated as the primary counter narrative to #BlackLivesMatter. We conclude by discussing the implications our research has for the #BlackLivesMatter movement and increased political polarization following the election of Donald Trump.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0141-9870",
doi="10.1080/01419870.2017.1335422",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1335422"
}