Violence against women in the context of anger and claiming rights: An X analysis

International and national statistics indicate that Turkey leads OECD countries in the prevalence of violence against women, alongside a rising trend in femicides. Recognizing that social media platforms do more than report events—they actively shape collective memory—this study reconceptualizes X (formerly Twitter) as a dynamic communication ecosystem. We analyze 30,613 original Turkish-language tweets posted between 7 November 2022 and 16 January 2023 using a mixed-methods pipeline: automated text mining for hashtag networks and engagement metrics, combined with a two-stage content and discourse analysis that preserves key platform affordances such as hashtags, mentions, emojis, and thread depth. Drawing on second-level agenda-setting theory, Bruns & Moe’s algorithmic amplification research, and Ferron & Massa’s digital memory framework, we identify three strategic communication phenomena: “Anger Flashpoints” (hashtag-driven outrage cascades), “Rights-Claiming Petitions” (mention-mediated appeals to institutions), and “Collective Resistance Debates” (thread-based deliberations). Our findings reveal that spikes in discourse align with rapid retweet cascades and trending-topic promotions; direct mentions function as crowd-sourced petitions for legal and policy change; and extended reply threads nurture sustained counter-narratives. These thematic clusters act as both emotional expressions and tactical communication tools, leveraging X’s algorithmic affordances to coordinate public outrage and embed discussions of femicide within social memory. By highlighting these communicative mechanisms, we demonstrate X’s dual role as both a mirror and driver of public sentiment, emphasizing its potential to influence policy debates and support advocacy against violence toward women.