Tenets
Guided by the principles described in the preceding section, we have identified five key tenets of a technofeminist approach to platform rhetorics:
Across all of these categories, questions emerge for us as technofeminist researchers regarding design (who designed the platform and who is it designed for? how does the platform functionality structure activity and opportunity on the platform?), policy (what are the rules and who defines/enforces them? how is the platform governed both officially and unofficially? who are the corporate stakeholders and decision makers?), and cultures (who participates on this platform and how? which voices or identities are discouraged or left out? how are platforms entangled with material, environmental, and other cultural practices?).
These kinds of questions, we feel, reflect the consequential nature that technofeminist inquiry can bring to bear on the rhetorical work of platforms. Although not exhaustive or prescriptive, they’re the kinds of questions that reveal the interconnected nature of the tenets we describe. With these kinds of questions in mind, we turn now to examining each tenet and why we see them as necessary points of entry into platform rhetorics.