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Hashtags as attention seeking in a global event: Gender hijacking, spamming, and appeals to unrelated causes
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Hashtags as attention seeking in a global event: Gender hijacking, spamming, and appeals to unrelated causes

Asta Zelenkauskaite and Peter English
Telematics and informatics, v 101, 102303
Sep 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2025.102303
Featured in Collection :   Research Supported by Drexel Libraries' OA Programs
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2025.102303View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access via Drexel Libraries Read and Publish Program 2025CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Gender Spam Hashtags Hashtag hijacking Global media event Women's World Cup Mass Media Sociology of Sex and Gender
Global events attract widespread attention not only from fans who go to see the games but also from online users. Yet, the staging of such events can also overlap with a range of events: international issues occurring at the same time or promotion or selling of services that can be typically classified as spam. This study uncovers how hashtag spamming can overshadow a major global sporting event. By focusing on hashtags unrelated to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and employing mixed methods approaches, we focused on how hashtags were hijacked to promote causes that were irrelevant to the Women’s World Cup, and served as arenas for visibility of spam. The results of this study reflect how unrelated content can hijack elements of a media event and reveal the mechanisms utilized to highlight how this occurs.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Information Science & Library Science
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