Affective News and Networked Publics

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the use of Twitter as a mechanism for news sharing and storytelling during the Egyptian uprisings that led to the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. Mechanisms of networked framing and networked gatekeeping helped identify the movement as a revolution before it had actually resulted in regime reversal. The affective rhythms of news storytelling on Twitter reproduced and reinforced feelings of community for an existing public of indignant citizens who had had enough. A digital path to regime change was paved and further supported by connections to global and diasporic publics, sustained through an always-on affective news feed with a pulse of its own. Quantitative and qualitative analyses point to connective flows of storytelling that supported feelings and engagement and permitted publics to frame the movement as a revolution before it had resulted in regime reversal.