ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a literature review of early social technologies to trace a rough history of online feminism, from early computer-mediated technologies, to personal homepages and e-zines popular during the late 1990s to mid-2000s, to the blogging wave of the mid- to late 2000s. It aims to explore the contemporary technologial landscape and explore feminist practice on sites like Twitter and Tumblr. The chapter shows that while social media facilitates connection and collaboration, and highlights conflict, not only between feminists and their detractors but also within feminism itself. Hashtag feminism, then, can be a simplistic answer to complicated problems. Social features like forums, Twitter, hashtags, digital video, and the like are used by individuals and a variety of groups to systemically shut down feminist discourse online, as are tactics like “doxxing,” or publicizing personal, private information; “dogpiling,” or coordinating attacks, and social shaming.
