Key network disruptors: A structural analysis of the #DisruptJMM network influencers and actions

Abstract

Twitter (now known as X) has been used by an active group of aca-demic mathematics communities to connect and share ideas and informa-tion. Like many other Academic Twitter communities, conference hash-tags have been widely used to share information between conference atten-dees and communicate new ideas presented at conferences to the broaderacademic community. However, in 2020, Dr. Piper Harris proposed a dif-ferent kind of academic hashtag — #DisruptJMM — as a counternetworkhashtag to an in-person conference. This study looks at the use of thishashtag through and in between the 2020 and 2021 Joint MathematicsMeetings, which are advertised as the largest mathematics gatherings inthe wold. Through qualitative coding, we investigate the many ways wecan conceptualize and define “influencers” in this context. We find thatsome definitions consistently identify the same individuals as “communityorganizers”, whereas some definitions of influencers allow us to identify al-ternative ways that individuals can influence the growth and propagationof hashtags. This study contributes to our understanding of the myriadways that individuals can contribute to build hashtag movements thatmove between in-person and online spaces.

Recommended citation:

Lewis, D., Roca, R., Marshall, S., Hibdon Jr., J., & Diaz Eaton, C. (2025). Key network disruptors: A structural analysis of the #DisruptJMM network influencers and actions. Preprint