Low(er) visibility as a political resource. Italian feminist content creators and strategic multiplatform visibility management
This paper argues that Italian feminist content creators exercise political agency not by maximizing visibility, but through "strategic multiplatform visibility management," where they intentionally utilize lower-visibility spaces like Substack newsletters to foster argumentative depth, community building, and economic sustainability while mitigating the constraints and harassment of high-visibility platforms like Instagram.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
In the digital age, we often assume that being seen is the ultimate goal. Whether on social media or in public life, the prevailing belief is that more eyes on a message make it more powerful. This idea has shaped how we understand influence, suggesting that the best way to change minds or build a movement is to reach as many people as possible. However, this assumption overlooks a crucial reality: visibility is not just a quantity to be accumulated, but a complex relationship with risks and rewards. For people trying to share political ideas, especially those addressing sensitive or controversial topics, being constantly visible can invite harassment, force them to simplify their arguments, and subject them to the unpredictable rules of algorithms that decide who gets seen. This creates a tension where the very tool used to spread a message can also endanger the messenger or dilute the message itself.
A recent study explores how a specific group of women in Italy are navigating this tension. These are feminist content creators who use their personal platforms to discuss gender equality, violence, and social justice. They occupy a unique space, acting as educators, activists, and public figures all at once. Instead of trying to maximize their reach on every front, these women are experimenting with a different strategy. They are learning that sometimes, being less visible is not a failure, but a deliberate and powerful choice. By moving parts of their work to spaces where fewer people can see them, they are finding ways to speak more deeply, build stronger communities, and protect themselves from the pressures of the digital spotlight.
The research, conducted by a scholar at the Scuola Normale Superiore, focused on seven Italian feminist content creators who have built significant followings on Instagram, a platform known for its fast-paced, image-heavy, and highly public nature. These creators typically have between 50,000 and 365,000 followers on that platform. However, the study noticed something interesting: many of these same women were also running newsletters on a different platform called Substack. Unlike Instagram, where content is designed to be scrolled through quickly and shared widely, a newsletter is sent directly to a subscriber's email. It is a quieter space, often with a smaller audience, where the content can be longer, more detailed, and more personal. The researcher spent a year observing how these women used both spaces, looking at their posts, their newsletters, and the way they talked about their choices.
The findings reveal that these creators are not simply abandoning Instagram. Instead, they are treating it as a hub to introduce their ideas, while using the newsletter as a place to develop them. On Instagram, a creator might post a short, sharp critique of a government policy or a news event. This post is designed to grab attention and encourage people to click a link. That link leads to the newsletter, where the same creator writes a long, thoughtful essay explaining the history of the issue, the nuances of the argument, and the personal stories behind the politics. This is a strategic division of labor. The public platform serves as a billboard to announce the topic, while the lower-visibility space serves as a classroom or a community meeting where the real work of understanding happens.
One of the most striking discoveries is that for more than half of the women studied, this strategy has led to a partial or complete withdrawal from Instagram. Some creators stopped posting there entirely because the platform's rules felt unresponsive to their reports of harassment or hate speech. Others found the pace of content creation unsustainable, feeling that the demand for constant, performative updates was draining them. In some cases, they reported that when they tried to speak about their own experiences of harassment, the platform actually restricted their accounts, effectively silencing them. For these women, moving to a newsletter was not about hiding, but about finding a space where they could speak without fear of being silenced or attacked. They found that in these quieter spaces, they could discuss complex theories, share personal vulnerabilities, and build a sense of trust with their readers that is difficult to achieve in the chaotic environment of a public feed.
The study also highlights how these creators manage the risks of being a visible political figure. When a woman speaks out on Instagram, she is often treated as an individual target for criticism. The research shows that many of these creators are acutely aware of this "individuation," where the system rewards a single person for having strong opinions but exposes them to personal attacks. To counter this, some of the women in the study use their newsletters to shift the focus from themselves to a collective "we." They frame their writing as part of a shared struggle, inviting readers to see themselves as part of a community rather than just an audience for a celebrity. This approach helps them maintain their political agency without bearing the full weight of being the sole face of the movement.
Another key finding is that the value of these lower-visibility spaces is not just about safety, but about the quality of the conversation. In the newsletter, the creators can write about topics that are too complex for a short video or a photo caption. They can explain difficult concepts, such as specific psychological terms or legal frameworks, in a way that respects the reader's intelligence. They can also build a relationship based on mutual support rather than on the metrics of likes and views. Some of these newsletters are free, while others have a paid tier, but the money is often secondary to the goal of sustaining the work. The primary motivation is to create a space where ideas can be developed fully, free from the pressure to perform for an algorithm.
The research suggests that this approach represents a shift in how political influence works online. It challenges the common belief that a larger audience is always better. Instead, it shows that a smaller, more committed audience can be more effective for certain kinds of political work. The creators in the study are not trying to reach everyone; they are trying to reach the right people, in the right way, at the right time. They are treating visibility as a resource to be managed, not just a goal to be chased. By distributing their communication across different platforms, they are able to say different things to different groups, protecting their well-being while still making a significant impact.
This study does not claim that Instagram is useless or that all political creators should leave it. In fact, for most of the women observed, Instagram remains the starting point where they first built their public recognition. It is the place where they are discovered. But the research argues that the real depth of their political work happens elsewhere. The ability to move between a high-visibility platform and a lower-visibility one allows them to be flexible. They can use the reach of Instagram to bring attention to an issue, and then use the depth of the newsletter to foster understanding and community. This strategy allows them to maintain their independence from the strict rules of any single platform.
Ultimately, the paper paints a picture of digital activism that is more nuanced and resilient than often portrayed. It shows that for these Italian feminist creators, political power does not come from having the most followers, but from having the freedom to choose how and where they are seen. They have found a way to use the tools of the digital economy to build spaces that are not defined by the need for constant attention. By embracing lower visibility, they are creating environments where complex ideas can grow, where communities can form without the threat of immediate backlash, and where the work of feminism can continue even when the spotlight is turned down. This approach offers a new way to think about influence in the digital age, suggesting that sometimes, the most powerful thing a voice can do is to speak quietly, to a few, with great clarity.
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