relational hashtag patterns of Scandinavian instapoetry

Abstract

This paper uses visual network analysis (VNA) to do an exploratory data analysis of instapoetry, focusing on the use and co-occurrences of hashtags connected to Scandinavian instapoetry. The goal was to reveal and explore some of the networked patterns and processes connected to the production and distribution of instapoetry, by using digital methods. Through descriptive measurements of metadata of instapoetry and a visual network analysis, this paper has been able to identify characterizations of such patterns. Findings reveal that the Scandinavian instapoetry community is small and Norwegian dominant, with an established use of semantically close words related to poetry being used as tags to organize and make the poetry findable. In addition, the hashtags also reveal larger popular themes and topics. Reoccurring themes are emotions, interpersonal relations, and mental health. While they at one scale state something about the content of the poems, some of these tags bring instapoetry into other communities and interest spheres on Instagram, with prominent examples being interest spaces of specific mental illnesses, but also, by way of one high-visibility instapoet, into the interest sphere of nature photography and Norwegian tourism promotion.