The meat is the message : En undersökning av hur unga vuxna mottar djurrättsaktivism som visuell kommunikation på Instagram

Sammanfattning: Over the last decade, grassroots activist groups have utilized imagery in different forms of media designed and intended to shock its recipients, in order to elicit strong reactions and garner engagement and sympathy for their respective causes. This technique of “moral shock” is still widely used today by animal rights groups, who frequently use social media platforms to post and share content displaying violent or negligent treatment of animals. The aim of this study, “The meat is the message” is to examine how the intended audience of this type of content actually receives and processes its messaging. To do this, we assemble two focus groups of young social media users, to whom we show images meant to morally shock, originally shared on Instagram by Swedish animal rights groups. We then subject the resulting transcripts to a thorough thematic analysis. The resulting themes are studied and evaluated through the theoretical frameworks of Hall’s reception theory, as well as McLuhan’s conception of media ecology.  Finally, we show how Instagram as a social media platform, can both facilitate the spread of animal rights activism to those who would not normally seek it out themselves, but also conditions the user not to engage with the messaging on a meaningful level. With this study we hope to contribute to the media- and communications field and provide further insight into how animal rights activism on social media is received and interpreted by its recipients.