In Search of a “Style:” Capturing the Collective Identity of Social Movements Based on Digital Trace Data

Authors

Theresa Henn-Latus, University of BambergFollow
Sarah Tell, University of BremenFollow
Julian Polenz, University of BambergFollow
Thomas Kern, University of BremenFollow
Oliver Posegga, University of BambergFollow

Abstract

The emergence of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook is widely acknowledged to have fundamentally changed digital activism. Scholars remain divided, however, on the role of collective identity for social movements online, particularly in terms of the debate between connective and collective action. This paper contributes to this debate by demonstrating that collective identity formation online is possible and can create distinguishable social actors that can be sustained over time. When evaluating collective identity formation online, previous research has focused either on cultural references shared by platform users or on the interaction patterns among them. Foundational theories on collective identity, however, argue that both cultural and social dynamics must be examined together. This paper fills this research gap by drawing on the notion of “style” as introduced by network sociologist Harrison White, which inherently captures collective identity’s duality of culture and structure. We operationalized style based on socio-semantic network analysis, enabling the empirical assessment of collective identity formation online. We applied our style conceptualization to the Querdenken (German for “thinking outside the box”) movement—Germany’s most successful movement mobilizing against COVID-19 measures—analyzing its activity on Twitter. Our findings revealed that Querdenken’s collective identity online materialized through recurring social and cultural patterns that persisted independently of individual users. These patterns were sustained over time by a multitude of users, with some temporarily assuming emergent leadership roles, thereby significantly shaping Querdenken’s collective identity. We theorize our findings in relation to the existing literature, offering nine propositions to guide future research on the collective identity formation of social movements online.

Recommended Citation

Henn-Latus, Theresa; Tell, Sarah; Polenz, Julian; Kern, Thomas; and Posegga, Oliver (2025) "In Search of a “Style:” Capturing the Collective Identity of Social Movements Based on Digital Trace Data," Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 26(6), 1566-1629.
DOI: 10.17705/1jais.00951
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol26/iss6/9

DOI

10.17705/1jais.00951