In their recent paper, “'Your Very Existence Goes Against Our Community Guidelines': Interrogating Norms of Contributorship through Poetic Speech Acts on Instagram," published in Organization Studies, Monica Nadegger (LMU Munich & MCI – The Entrepreneurial School), Milena Leybold (JKU Linz), and Sean Kenney (CU Boulder) examine how these platforms enforce specific norms via content moderation, thereby shaping what is considered an appropriate contribution to platform organizing.

The paper discusses how content moderation on platforms—especially in relation to nudity—mirrors societal norms that favor specific types of contributions while sidelining others. Whether a contribution is authorized is shaped by "norms of contributorship"—implicit rules that govern what types of contributions are allowed to participate in platform organizing, which can ultimately shape organizational practices. These norms frequently ground in societal biases related to gender, race, and sexuality, thereby reinforcing established power dynamics.

Drawing on queer theory, the authors explore how users creatively resist those norms of contributorship on Instagram through “poetic speech acts.” Poetic speech acts challenge the platforms’ content moderation guidelines by playfully altering content, juxtaposing wor(l)ds and satire to interrogate rules and reveal underlying biases.

Such poetic speech acts shed light on underlying power structures in platform organizing, showing how certain voices are marginalized in such contexts. By queering the norms of contributorship through poetic speech, platform users can repoliticize such platform contexts, opening new avenues for inclusive platform organizing.