Role multiplicity of FeesMustFall students: Role differentiation analysis of Twitter data

Abstract

The FeesMustFall movement is an ongoing electronic and physical movement protesting against the need to pay fees for tertiary education in South Africa (SA). This paper reports on the online component of the movement under the Twitter handle FeesMustFall. Previous research has, through the lens of Role Theory, reported on the different roles social media users play in terms of propagating Twitter messages. This paper extends previous studies by considering the different roles assigned to/= or assumed by subjects of Twitter conversations, in this instance “students”. The study has shown that the student fulfills multiple roles, primarily that of activist. The role of activist involves internal role strain between those activists classified as victims versus those classified as perpetrators. Furthermore, the role of activist is in continual role conflict with socially differentiated roles such as the police, media and government. Situation specific roles that have developed due to the movement include those of students as “solutioneers”, scape goats and actors. The multiplicity of the student role in the FeesMustFall movement contributes to a small degree towards understanding the definition of the FeesMustFall movement. The multiple roles of the student are complex and fluid, influenced by current events in SA both on political and social level. This will affect the identity of the student which can have long term implications for tertiary education in SA. Further research needs to be dedicated to understand how the identity and student roles and behavior are influenced by social media.