Description
This paper examines underexplored online ethnography through Twitter and its intersection with feminist activism. It draws upon my experience conducting a feminist activist ethnography through the Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Saudi and Yemeni Feminist Twitters. I argue that long-term activism and online ethnography can enhance the researcher’s transparency, build rapport with various feminists, and emotionally connect them. Affects developed in online spaces can potentially forge friendships. However, friendships may not sustain due to the multiplicity of voices and discourses, which reveal divisions around strategies and priorities. Therefore, I propose approaching other activists as “fellows” rather than friends per se. This shift in the relationship gives the researcher and informants a critical space for constructive debate while sustaining mutual respect and a sense of commitment to the cause itself. It opens avenues for collaboration and unconventional methods of knowledge co-production. As fellow activists, the researcher and the researched can face many online challenges. An activist fellowship approach promises solidarity and support, bridging our differences and disagreements.
