Greek national identity on twitter: re-negotiating markers and boundaries

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent empirical research is examining national identity as a bottom–up process. Despite the promise held by social media in accessing the ‘black box’ of ordinary citizens’ national identity, literature on the subject is scarce. We study Greek national identity on Twitter, in relation to the acceptance of the agreement between Greece and Northern Macedonia about the name of the latter. Despite the systematic recourse to a plethora of references and symbols from antiquity in public discourse and mainstream media, we found that Twitter users made limited use of national identity markers and put a strong emphasis on the present.