The emergence of Intersectional Multi Micro Media on the French web

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of Intersectional Multi Micro Media (MMM) to explore how the mobilisation of intersectionality unfolds across digital platforms in the French-speaking context. Drawing on virtual ethnography and digital methods, the study examines how 33 actors engage with intersectionality across a networked media repertoire – comprising 189 social media profiles, pages and accounts – crafting tactical forms of engagement that resist the commercial and algorithmic logics of platforms. These MMM operate with low quantitative metrics but high intentionality, fostering autonomous content production. Three key findings emerge. First, MMM provide a methodological framework for mapping cross-platform ecosystems while distinguishing between media entities and personal accounts. Second, they reveal strategic practices that prioritise autonomy and visibility on the creators’ own terms. Third, the actors mobilise through platforms that, paradoxically, both serve as spaces for activism and embody the very racism, sexism and classism they seek to challenge. The study contributes to research on media activism by theorising how an academic concept is enacted and circulated through digital practices.