Constructing National Identity Online: The Case Study of #IranJeans on Twitter

Abstract

This article explores social media users’ circulation of a Twitter hashtag #IranJeans as it reflects a complex transnational dialogue about Iranian identity markers in a globalized mediascape. By conducting a thematic analysis of 140 tweets and photos shared under #IranJeans, this study draws attention to the ways in which social media provide users a unique space to address global political discourse, reconstruct their identities, and refute cultural misconceptions on a transnational level. The study presents this transcultural dialogue as an “affirmative opposition,” focusing on identity construction processes that simultaneously critique and rearticulate existing cultural binaries. This, in turn, expands the discussion of identity construction from older generations of mass media to new, online, media platforms.