This article examines how social media platforms function as critical infrastructures for the formation of transnational feminist consciousness. Building upon theories of mediatization, affective publics and transnational feminism, the study conceptualizes “networked voices” as both an expressive and political phenomenon – a digitally mediated form of feminist communication that transcends geographic, linguistic, and ideological boundaries. Drawing on qualitative analyses of online feminist campaigns including #MeToo, #NiUnaMenos, and #WomanLifeFreedom, the research explores how individual testimonies, emotional expressions, and digital storytelling converge to construct a shared feminist awareness that is simultaneously local and global. The findings reveal that platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok not only facilitate new modes of feminist visibility but also reshape the very conditions under which feminist solidarity is articulated. However, the formation of networked feminist voices is not without tension. Algorithmic amplification privileges certain aesthetics and narratives, often reinforcing Western-centric discourses and marginalizing voices from the Global South. At the same time, digital participation fosters affective alliances that challenge national and cultural boundaries, producing a distributed, fluid, and relational form of feminist consciousness. By situating these dynamics within broader debates on media infrastructures and global power asymmetries, the study argues that networked feminist voices represent both a new epistemic formation and a site of struggle – where the politics of visibility, authenticity, and affect are continually negotiated. The article concludes that understanding transnational feminist consciousness in the digital era requires attention to the interplay between mediated voice, platform governance, and global solidarity.
References
[1] Turley, E., Fisher, J. (2018) Tweeting back while shouting back: social media and feminist activism. Feminism & Psychology, 28(1), 128-132.
[2] Baer, H. (2018) Redoing feminism: digital activism, body politics, and neoliberalism. Digital Feminisms, 25-42.
[3] Jain, S. (2020) The rising fourth wave: feminist activism on digital platforms in India. ORF Issue Brief, 384, 1-16.
[4] Ozkula, S. M. (2021) What is digital activism anyway? Social constructions of the “digital” in contemporary activism. Journal of Digital Social Research, 3(3), 60-84.
[5] Prøitz, L., Carlquist, E., Roen, K. (2019) Affected and connected: feminist and psychological perspectives on emotion in social media. Feminist Media Studies, 19(8), 1114-1128.
[6] Nau, C., Zhang, J., Quan-Haase, A., Mendes, K. (2023) Vernacular practices in digital feminist activism on twitter: Deconstructing affect and emotion in the #MeToo movement. Feminist Media Studies, 23(5), 2046-2062.
[7] Weatherall, R. (2020) Even when those struggles are not our own: Storytelling and solidarity in a feminist social justice organization. Gender, Work & Organization, 27(4), 471-486.
[8] Whittier, N. (2021) How emotions shape feminist coalitions. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 28(3), 369-386.
[9] Vachhani, S. J. (2024) Networked feminism in a digital age-mobilizing vulnerability and reconfiguring feminist politics in digital activism. Gender, Work & Organization, 31(3), 1031-1048.
[10] Milani, I. (2025) Feminist solidarity in digital spaces: Transcending non-physical borders. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 29(4), 477-488.
[11] De Blasio, E., Selva, D. (2019) Emotions in the public sphere: networked solidarity, technology and social ties. Emotions and Loneliness in a Networked Society,13-44.
[12] Bonyad, S. T., Zabardastalamdari, S. (2023) Feminist Geopolitics as a dimension of Critical Geopolitics. International Journal of Social and Humanities Sciences, 7(1), 69-92.
[13] Wibben, A. T., Confortini, C. C., Roohi, S., Aharoni, S. B., Vastapuu, L., Vaittinen, T. (2019) Collective discussion: Piecing-up feminist peace research. International Political Sociology, 13(1), 86-107.
Share and Cite
Li, X. (2025) Networked Voices: The Role of Social Platforms in Shaping Transnational Feminist Consciousness. Journal of Social Development and History, 1(6), 1-5.