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The correct title of this article is #KHive. The omission of the # is due to technical restrictions.
Not to be confused with Khiva.

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Kamala Harris
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#KHive is the hashtag used by an informal online community supporting Kamala Harris, the 49th vice president of the United States and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. The hashtag is also a term that is always pronounced and occasionally transcribed as K-Hive, and refers to the wider online community that is not formally affiliated with her campaign or office. The community formed prior to and during her 2020 presidential campaign as an effort to defend Harris from perceived misinformation and attacks perceived as racist and sexist. The movement has been cited as an example of social media fandom or stan culture.

Origins

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Sources vary on the coinage of the term. The Daily Dot said Joy Reid first used the term in August 2017 in a tweet saying "@DrJasonJohnson @ZerlinaMaxwell and I had a meeting and decided it's called the K-Hive."[1][2] Reecie Colbert, a prominent member of the movement, told Bakari Sellers she believed Bianca Delarosa coined the term[3] but disputed a claim by Delarosa that she was "the only one who speaks for KHive."[4] She said the movement had no formal leaders but was "just a bunch of really scrappy accounts on Twitter, on social media."[3]

Usage of the hashtag increased in August 2018,[5] before Harris had announced her presidential candidacy but after she told MSNBC's Kasie Hunt that she was "not ruling it out."[6] As of July 2019, while Harris was in her presidential campaign, 38,000 Twitter accounts had used the hashtag and according to Vox "accrued an estimated 360 million impressions".[5] K-Hive is derived from a hashtag associated with the online fandom of Beyoncé, the #BeyHive, which is itself a play on beehive.[7][5][8]

The movement has been cited as an example of social media fandom or stan culture.[5][8][9] Politico and Buzzfeed News identified the KHive, alongside "Bernie Bros", the "Yang Gang", "Team Pete," and "Cuomosexuals", as part of a new wave of online political supporters that strongly support a single candidate in a semi-parasocial manner.[10][9]

Activity

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The community formed prior to and during Harris's 2020 presidential campaign as an effort to defend her from racist and sexist attacks and debunk misinformation.[5][7][8][11][12] It is not formally affiliated with the campaign.[5]

According to Wired, the organization was expected to be helpful to the 2020 Biden–Harris campaign.[13] According to Newsy, the strength of the relationship between KHive and Harris could be used to force Biden to take Harris' point of view seriously.[11] Kimberly Peeler-Allen of Rutgers' Center for American Women and Politics told Newsy that "the urge to stick with the status quo and the same voices around the table is extremely strong, so it will take the #KHive and coalition work all across the board to make sure that Senator Harris' voice is definitely heard and taken into account."[11]

In September 2020, Alanna Vagianos, writing for The Huffington Post, observed that "as with most loosely-organized online groups, it does not have a unified set of tactics, and bad actors are hard or impossible to control."[4] According to Vagianos, there have been claims by supporters of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren that they have been cyber-harassed by individuals alleged to be affiliated with the KHive. In response to the Huffington Post article, Sabrina Singh, the press secretary for Kamala Harris, stated "The campaign does not condone doxxing, derogatory language or harassment of any kind." Some progressives have argued that there is a double standard regarding KHive from the media and some Democrats due to the substantial amount of criticism that supporters of Bernie Sanders labeled as "Bernie Bros" received for allegations of harassment.[4]

In July 2024, following a drop in support for incumbent president Joe Biden,[14] KHive saw a resurgence with many Democrats saying she should take over the 2024 Democratic nomination.[15][16] When Biden dropped out of the presidential campaign on July 21, 2024, the support for Harris's campaign reached new levels of online fandom alongside meme edits of Harris to songs off of pop singer Charli xcx's album "Brat," which had released earlier in the summer.[17][18]

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Harris's supporters also use the hashtag #WeGotHerBack.[7][13] Followers of her husband on social media call themselves the #DougHive.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "What Is the K-Hive, Kamala Harris' Online Twitter Support?". The Daily Dot. August 12, 2020. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  2. ^ Kircher, Madison Malone (July 23, 2024). "What Is the KHive?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Sellers, Bakari (August 17, 2020). "Welcome to the #KHive With Reecie Colbert, Chris Evans, and Julie Zebrak". The Ringer. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Kamala Harris Has A Vibrant Online Fan Club. But It Also Has A Toxic Side". The Huffington Post. September 25, 2020. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Zhou, Li (July 25, 2019). "The #KHive, Kamala Harris's most devoted online supporters, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  6. ^ Shelbourne, Mallory (June 25, 2018). "Kamala Harris on 2020 presidential bid: 'I'm not ruling it out'". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Zakrzewski, Cat (August 13, 2020). "Kamala Harris is already facing online attacks in her bid for the vice presidency". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Bixby, Scott (August 12, 2020). "Kamala Harris Built a 'Digital Army'—Now She Gets to Use It". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Kamala Harris Dropped Out, But The #KHive and Stan Culture Aren't Leaving Politics". BuzzFeed News. December 4, 2019. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  10. ^ Robertson, Derek (August 15, 2021). "How 'Stan' Culture Infiltrated Politics". Politico. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c "#KHive Finds New Inspiration In Kamala Harris' VP Nomination". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  12. ^ Gontcharova, Natalie. "Inside The World Of The #KHive, Kamala Harris' Biggest Fans". www.refinery29.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  13. ^ a b "With VP Pick Kamala Harris, Joe Biden Gets a Digital Juggernaut". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  14. ^ "CNN Poll: Most voters think Democrats have a better chance of keeping White House if Biden isn't the nominee | CNN Politics". Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  15. ^ Lahut, Jake. "Senior dem Openly Says 'Replace Biden with Kamala'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  16. ^ Browning, Kellen; Levien, Simon J. (July 3, 2024). "Here Comes the 'KHive': Buzz for Kamala Harris Grows After Biden's Debate Stumble". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  17. ^ "What Is the KHive?". The New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  18. ^ "What is Kamala Harris' 'brat' rebrand all about?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  19. ^ Kennedy, Brigid (May 24, 2021). "The #DougHive made a Doug Emhoff Facebook group". The Week.
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