The Mobilisation of r/wallstreetbets : A critical discourse analysis of GameStop short squeeze comments

Sammanfattning: This thesis revolves around the subreddit r/wallstreetbets (WSB) and how members started buying the GameStop stock (GME) to push up the price. This thesis aims to develop an understanding of how WSB was mobilised through internal discourses and what significance social media had as a communication tool in the mobilisation. This study qualitatively analyses the top comments of moderator hosted threads in WSB through critical discourse analysis. The results of the analysis show that WSB became a social movement in January of 2021 as the subreddit engages in collective action as well as in organised activity, challenges authorities and develops some degree of temporal continuity. The results also account for the discursive developments of an easy-to-personalise action frame in holding GME and participatory ethos’s such as economic profit, punishing the hedge funds, and standing up for the weak. The conclusion state that WSB reached its success by following the logic of connective action. Here, parallels are drawn to the Occupy Movement as the easy-to-personalise action frames and the participatory ethoses of the movements bear resemblance to one another.  Finally, the conclusion emphasises that Reddit as a communication platform facilitated the mobilisation of WSB through stitching mechanisms such as the focus on peer-production by participants and the curation of content by moderators. This allowed for WSB to be self-organised and self-sustained.