Diasporic Technoculture and "Hyperbridity": Mediating Racial and Transnational Identity on Reddit's r/ABCDesis

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Abstract

This study examines how Reddit's r/ABCDesis, a subreddit dedicated to South Asian diasporic experiences, (re)constructs racial and transnational identity through platform-mediated discourse. Drawing on Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA), we analyze over 46,000 posts using large language models (LLMs) to identify thematic clusters related to race, belonging, and solidarity. We conceptualize this subreddit as a site of diasporic technoculture; a digital environment where diasporic life is shaped through the interplay of user practices, cultural memory, and the sociotechnical architectures of the platform. Within this technoculture, we introduce the concept of hyperbridity to theorize a digitally intensified form of hybrid identity, one forged through constant negotiation between cultural difference and the infrastructural constraints of platform capitalism. Unlike classical notions of hybridity, hyperbridity emphasizes how diasporic subjectivity is filtered, amplified, and sometimes distorted through platform logics such as algorithmic visibility, pseudonymity, and content moderation. While r/ABCDesis fosters transnational-community making, our findings also reveal the limitations of LLMs in capturing the nuance of informal, affective, and culturally specific speech, highlighting the epistemic frictions between computational methods and the lived complexity of digital diaspora.

Authors

• Kellen Sharp, University of Maryland-College Park

• Dhiraj Murthy, University of Texas at Austin