Hashtag Feminism Archive Tara Conley Hashtag Feminism Archive Tara Conley

How To Read the Hashtag Feminism Archive (2013 - 2015)

Hashtag Feminism (#F) began in 2013 as a way to document and track feminist discourse, including emerging conversations and social movements online. This archive includes content from 2013-2015.

Hashtag Feminism is a digital platform that was born out of a fascination with Internet culture and social justice discourse. I launched the website on December 20, 2013, seven days after Beyonce dropped her first digital album, Beyonce, and four days after I published an online case study about Renisha McBride. I was in my third year of graduate school drafting ideas for my dissertation. I had time and creative juices to spare. All of these factors, including the demand for ‘collecting receipts’ on Twitter influenced the form and function of Hashtag Feminism. Over the next several months, I worked with feminist writers who I met on Twitter, to build an online platform that reflected the culture and politics of the so-called hashtag activism era. In 2015, about a year into my dissertation, I realized I spent more money and time than I could afford trying to maintain the site while also paying writers. The website was being hacked around the time of GamerGate and targeted harassment of feminist media online. It was also around this time that I lost content on the site. A Columbia professor and his students hosted a #Feminism hack-a-thon to try to help retrieve some of the content, but ultimately, the Hashtag Feminism I started in 2013 was gone.


Fast forward five years. I’m now an Assistant Professor dedicated to continue the work of documenting Internet culture and social justice discourse; this includes archiving Hashtag Feminism. I spent several weeks scouring old emails, Google Docs, and The Internet Archives’ Way Back Machine to piece together the Hashtag Feminism Archive. This archive is for anyone who, like me is fascinated by Internet culture and cares deeply about social justice issues. It’s especially for all of the contributing writers who dedicated their time to help grow Hashtag Feminism. This archive is also for Hashtag Feminism followers that stuck around even when the Twitter account laid dormant for months.

Before you dig in the archive, please note:

  • Not all posts were able to be archived via the Internet Archives’ Way Back Machine.

  • Not all links in the posts are active. Most links will redirect to The Way Back Machine’s snapshot of the linked website.

  • To read Hashtag Feminism archived posts, scroll all the way down to the Archive section below, and click on the title of the post.

  • Share the Hashtag Archive on social media using #FemArchive.

  • For inquiries about this project, visit the contact form.

When you’re done reading through the archive, visit the new Hashtag Feminism. Enjoy this piece of Internet history!

- Tara L. Conley, Founding Publisher and Editor of Hashtag Feminism.

By The Numbers

Hashtag Feminism Contributing Writers and Editors

Archive

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#Hacked…but back!

This post originally appeared on May 29, 2016 written by Founder, Tara L. Conley, after Hashtag Feminism was hacked. This would be one of the last posts on #F before the original site shut down.

This post originally appeared on May 29, 2016 written by Founder, Tara L. Conley, after Hashtag Feminism was hacked. This would be one of the last posts on #F before the original site shut down.

Over the past few weeks, Hashtag Feminism has been experiencing random hacks. This isn’t the first time we’ve been #hacked. Nonetheless, we’re back (actually we never left). We are currently in archive mode because, as you know, it takes a village to raise a multimedia web platform–(and because I need to finish writing my dissertation). We’re proud to be one of the only resources online since 2013 where people can find past and relevant hashtags that have generated some of the most inspiring moments in recent feminist history.

As always, you can continue to support #F here (all proceeds go to contributors and operations to keep the website hacker-free).

You can read more about #F here.

And, as always, always, always you can find us on Twitter curating the best of #Feminism.

Thank you again for your support.

Oh, and to the hackers out there, don’t get it twisted,#F isn’t going anywhere because this is our s*it.

-Tara L. Conley (Founder).

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It is me. I am her. #HashtagFeminism #F

This post originally appeared on December 21, 2013 written by founder, Tara L. Conley. It was the first full-length piece published on Hashtag Feminism.

This post originally appeared on December 21, 2013 written by founder, Tara L. Conley. It was the first full-length piece published on Hashtag Feminism. At the bottom of the post, you’ll find an archive of the first blurb posts on Hashtag Feminism.

It is me. I am her  #F RT @TheJLV @hashtagfeminism oh that’s YOU!? well alright now ..

— Tara L. Conley (@taralconley) December 21, 2013

I’m an observer by birth and an ethnographer by training. I like to watch people. I like to research environments. I like to build things with digital words and artifacts. That is why Hashtag Feminism exists. Yesterday evening Twitter suspended @hashtagfeminism because they didn’t know who we were. Someone most likely reported the account as spam. After a quick email and after I unauthorized some wack widgets, we were up and running within ten minutes of being shut down.

I woke up Saturday morning to folks talking about @hashtagfeminism, wondering who it was, skeptical it might just be another troll. Indeed, in an era of digital harassment and contentious Twitter conversations about race, class, abelism, transphobia, and politics, I understand why people would be weary of what appeared to be an anonymous Twitter handle.

I’m here to say that @hashtagfeminism is me. I am @hashtagfeminism. I own this domain you are currently viewing, along with www.twitterfeminism.com (which redirects here). I am not a troll. I ponder. I set up this website and logo in a day so I can immediately begin to build and engage an audience that I am utterly fascinated by and of which I am part.

As I said on Twitter earlier today from my personal account @taralconley:

Hi all. Yes, I own http://t.co/V9GVdCgitQ as well as http://t.co/BJTE6WJfut (which redirects). I also own @hashtafeminism. — Tara L. Conley (@taralconley) December 21, 2013

I want to build a digital space where we can explore how we talk about and archive feminism. #F @hashtagfeminism — Tara L. Conley (@taralconley) December 21, 2013

My vision is for http://t.co/V9GVdCgitQ is to be a generative space of analysis, debate, and exploration. #F @hashtagfeminism

— Tara L. Conley (@taralconley) December 21, 2013

My aim is to produce quality original content of analysis and mediaworks. #F@hashtagfeminism

— Tara L. Conley (@taralconley) December 21, 2013

If you are interested in building *with* me, holla atcha girl! #F @hashtagfeminism

— Tara L. Conley (@taralconley) December 21, 2013


I’m currently running this show solo dolo, but I suspect that won’t be the case for long. I want to involve the voices and perspectives I’ve so long been engaged with, along with new perspectives that rarely get seen by mainstream outlets and broad audiences.

I don’t see this as just another feminist blog. I see Hashtag Feminism as a digital space comprised of all kinds of works, including media and art. How can we explore our lives with video, interactive media, and prose?

If you are interested in getting involved, which I hope you are, shoot me an email to inquiries [at] hashtagfeminism [dot] com. Tell me about yourself. What wakes you up in the morning? Why are you compelled to write and create? Why Twitter? Also check out the submissions page to contribute!

Venture capitalists welcome. 

I can’t wait to get this going. I’m ready. Are you?

As always, share your thoughts below.

#F

UPDATE: Emails are coming in from contributors. I’d like to pay them. Click the donate button below to donate to Hashtag Feminism. All donations will go directly to writers, designers, and mediamakers.


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