Platform visibility and the making of an issue: Vernaculars of hereditary cancer on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between platform visibility and meaning making. Drawing on a quanti-quali investigation of hashtag practices in a cross-platform dataset, we explore how hereditary cancer is constructed, as an issue, on social media. Our findings provide strong evidence of significant variations across Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, with hashtag practices on these platforms tapping into platform-specific understandings of hereditary cancer: a pink ribbon issue on Instagram, the opportunity for non-normative exposures of bodies, pain and acceptance on TikTok and a scientific matter on Twitter. Platforms do not dictate choice, but their encounter with user interpretations, given similar material constraints (hashtag technology), lead to very different affordances. These affordances shape practices and, ultimately, meaning making. While raising concerns on the impact platform visibility might have on experiences and understandings of hereditary cancer, our work suggests broader implications for how we imagine and respond to the issues we care about.