The fall after the hatching: Evolution and engagement of Greta Thunberg’s frame on Twitter

Abstract

Greta Thunberg pushed forward a new collective action frame for the climate movement with the necessary resonance to mobilize millions of people. However, the coronavirus outbreak forced Thunberg to adjust her strategy in an abrupt way, and the resonance of the activist’s frame decreased after achieving its peak in 2019. How has Thunberg’s frame evolved before, during and after the pandemic? Can we attribute the loss of resonance to a failed frame adaptation? This article studies the composition and resonance of the Swedish activist’s frame on Twitter between August 2018 and December 2022, making use of a methodological design that combines qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse 61 public interventions and 1692 tweets. The results show that, despite adapting successfully to the pandemic, the loss of the core elements of the original frame provoked a misalignment between her framing strategy and her storytelling, which reduced Thunberg’s ability to provide resonance.