Signal Twitter and disability activism: leadership and topics in online conversation

Summary

Researchers analyzed Twitter conversation around the #disability hashtag before and after the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, examining more than 18,000 tweets and a comparable number of mentions. Using Gephi software and the Force Atlas 2 algorithm, they built a weighted network graph of mentions to identify conversational communities, their main themes and prominent participants. The analysis found the mention network was highly dispersed, though in the Latin American sphere some claims received institutional and political support, including from organizations such as the ONCE Foundation. The study concluded there was a clear predominance of female activists in the conversation. This points to a prominent role for women in online disability-rights discourse.