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#CripTheVote: How Disabled Activists Used Twitter for Political Engagement During the 2016 Presidential Election

Fri, September 6, 1:00 to 2:30pm, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Floor: Five, Grand Ballroom C

Abstract

In preparation for the 2016 presidential election, disabled activists in the US organized via twitter using #CripTheVote to mobilize online communities to make disability access and inclusion a recognized social problem during the 2016 election. This paper analyzes the #CripTheVote campaign using the logic of connective action as a model of community mobilization. Community-generated calls to action are examined, with a particular focus on the technological production of counter-narratives and political voice. Using the Twitter Archiver Add-on tool through google, 11,311 unique tweets from 6,949 unique twitter users spanning a two-month period were aggregated. Themes, categories, and sub-categories were identified and analyzed using phenomenological analysis. Findings reveal campaign users rallied around four calls to action: 1) calling all disabled people to engage politically in the election; 2) calling for disability issues to be recognized as a social problem, broadly; 3) calling for more coverage of disability issues during the presidential debate cycle; and 4) calling for policy change to better recognize the civil rights of disabled persons. Three counter-narratives emerged around social recognition: 1) disabled people are politically aware; 2) disability cannot be reduced to tragedy or inspiration; and 3) disabled people can speak for themselves. To contextualize the findings, the online social landscape of disability rights issues, technologic civic participation, and voice are discussed.

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