Abstract

To date, research within the social sciences examining ‘collective identity’ in cyberactivist movements remains limited. Whilst much of the available literature on cyber social movements assumes that members within the group are aware of each other’s identities, few consider the impacts of individual anonymity on group solidarity. The interaction between the processes of ‘collective identity’ construction and the diverse contexts in which these processes occur provides the background for the current study. The research is based on a thematic analysis of twenty weblog posts and complete discussion forum threads which are then used to inform virtual interviews and focus groups with twenty-five activists who associate themselves with ‘Anonymous’, an online collective of dispersed individuals who are linked through their experiences of Internet culture. The accounts of participants reveal how a ‘liminal collective identity’ is negotiated in online spaces by movements of unidentifiable ‘members’.