A comparative netnographic analysis of postcolonial identity and neo-identity movements: The case of woke movement

This study examines the development and dissemination of the 'woke' movement as a contemporary form of identity construction within the post-truth digital environment, utilizing Andrew Pickering's notion of the dance of agency. Pickering conceptualizes agency as an emergent, reciprocal process between human and non-human actors, wherein neither side holds absolute control, while Jeremy Rose and Matthew Jones defines the "double dance of agency" as a dynamic in which "human agents seek to channel material agency to shape the actions of other human agents." Within this framework, human behaviors on social media platforms and technological infrastructures—such as algorithms and engagement-driven logics—co-evolve, generating unpredictable socio-political outcomes. Drawing from postcolonial theories, the research contrasts traditional identity constructions shaped through literary and historical discourses with digitally mediated woke identities, conceptualized as hyper-identities. Social media platforms serve simultaneously as amplifiers of marginalized narratives and as gatekeepers reinforcing dominant discourses through algorithmic curation and confirmation biases. The study demonstrates that identity today is not merely a product of human intention, but a performative outcome shaped collaboratively with technological affordances. Empirically, the study applies a netnographic method using NVivo 1.7.2 to analyze tweets tagged with #StayWoke, identifying five main thematic domains: (1) Social Justice and Racial Equality, (2) Political and Social Activism, (3) Identity and Intersectionality, (4) Critical Consciousness and Counter-Narratives, and (5) Opposition and Contradiction. Within these, key subthemes include police violence, systemic racism, protest discourse, intersectional narratives, and algorithmically-mediated resistance. Additionally, a sentiment analysis using the Syuzhet and NRC lexicons reveals a nearly equal distribution of positive and negative emotions, with dominant affective registers of trust, anticipation, fear, and anger—suggesting both hopeful mobilization and affective polarization. By mapping the intersections of postcolonial theory, digital sociology, and post-truth politics, the research identifies a paradigmatic shift from literature-centered, elite-driven critiques to networked, participatory identity formations. The findings show that social media contributes not only to the visibility of marginalized voices, but also to the viral spread and normalization of decentralized, disembodied, and contextless identities. Ultimately, the study argues that the dynamic, reciprocal dance of agency between humans and technology represents a profound transformation in the production and circulation of contemporary identities—reshaping how identity is performed, how collective meaning is constructed, and how socio-political mobilization is enacted in the digital era.