DIGITAL SILENCE AND SYMBOLIC RESISTANCE: SILENCE AS COMMUNICATIVE ACTION IN THE #BLACKOUTTUESDAY CAMPAIGN

Authors : Ayça Bakıner

Pages : 107-122

Doi:10.5281/zenodo.15575374

View : 45 | Download : 59

Publication Date : 2025-06-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study investigates the role of digital silence and symbolic resistance as forms of communicative action in the #BlackoutTuesday campaign, a global online protest that emerged in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. While silence is often conceptualized as a lack of expression, this article argues that, in digital activism, silence can operate as a deliberate and symbolically charged act of protest. Drawing on a qualitative discourse analysis of Instagram and Twitter posts-including black square imagery, user captions, and critical responses-the study identifies four key functions of digital silence: presence, solidarity, controversy, and aesthetic disruption. Findings show that social media users used visual and textual minimalism not merely to withdraw from digital discourse, but to reframe social media space as a site of mourning, reflection, and symbolic resistance. However, the campaign also generated tensions around performative allyship and the suppression of essential activist information, revealing the contested nature of symbolic gestures in networked publics. The study contributes to communication theory by extending understandings of silence as strategic and affective practice, and by highlighting the political significance of inaction in digital protest cultures. These insights suggest that silence-when mobilized with intention-can serve as a powerful form of resistance, yet remains vulnerable to misinterpretation and appropriation within algorithmically mediated platforms.
Keywords : dijital sessizlik, iletişimsel eylem, BlackoutTuesday, sosyal medya aktivizmi, söylem analizi

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