Frame alignment through network structures: advancing framing theory through network analysis to map the #savewomenssports social movement

2025/12/04 by Travis R. Bell, Fan Yang · 1 voice
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Community Health and Development #Information Systems Theories and Implementation #Youth Development and Social Support

paper · doi:10.1080/1369118x.2025.2595665

openalex created_date 2025/12/04 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15

Abstract

Utilizing a network analysis of all 871,095 tweets from 205,116 unique authors, this study examines the #savewomenssports social movement on Twitter/X from September 2019 to August 2024. The findings of this study reveal three distinct peaks of public engagement within this social network, with each peak surpassing the previous one regarding engagement. Each peak witnessed stronger frame alignment among actors who actively advocated for the movement and those who might not choose to use the #savewomenssports hashtags themselves but still involved in the mobilization by others. This study also discovers frame alignment by analyzing the hashtag networks of all three peaks. The #savewomenssports movement gradually evolved from focusing on individual athletes or sporting events to align with a larger social debate on gender fluidity and the sex binary. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

Citations

• Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation
• Resonance and Radicalism: Feminist Framing in the Abortion Debates of the United States and Germany
• Who counts as a woman? A critical discourse analysis of petitions against the participation of transgender athletes in women's sport
• Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment
• Power to the frame: Bringing sociology back to frame analysis
• Social media empowerment in social movements: power activation and power accrual in digital activism

Discussions

• #OutNow in #iCS Analysing more than 870,000 tweets, this article shows how #savewomenssports moved from focusing on individual athletes to anchoring itself in wider debates about gender fluidity and t [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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