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Distant Suffering

Aqsa Mahmood created her first Twitter account in October 2010. She ceased using the account in August 2013, and it is most likely that it was around this time that she decided to leave the United Kingdom for Syria. During this period of just under three years, she posted some 33,500 tweets, averaging more than 30 tweets per day, reflecting but also constituting the shared world of intimate exchanges that play such a central role in the lives of young people in twenty-first-century Europe. During most of this period, Mahmood's profile picture, or 'avi', was a screenshot of herself, smiling in different poses. Many of her exchanges with close friends and family members allow her to be easily identified. It is not clear whether her decision to stop using this account in the period leading up to her departure for Syria reflects a desire to leave her childhood behind when departing, or whether it was to allow her anonymity in Syria, so that she or her family would not be identified. Across her tweets, we see evidence of transformation and rupture. The first two years of these tweets largely consist of exchanges between Mahmood's 'fam' (close friends). However, by the time she ceased using it in August 2013, she had replaced the profile portrait of herself smiling at the camera with a rear shot of a man looking at a library full of books, where we, the observers, are positioned behind him, sharing his regard directed at his library. This picture is underscored with a quote from Abdullah Azzam, the founder of the Welcome Services in Afghanistan which would later develop into al-Qaeda: 'The map of Islamic history becomes coloured with two lines. One of them black, and this is what the scholar wrote with the ink of his pen and the other one red, and that is what the martyr wrote with his blood.' While there is always much that we cannot understand about the path taken by any individual person, the experiential world created by Mahmood's posts and interactions suggests a pathway. How does a schoolgirl living in an intimate world of friends come to see herself defined by what Azzam calls 'Islamic history', something produced by two elites, scholars and fighters? Mahmood is neither a scholar nor a fighter, yet somehow this world becomes hers. Her social media communications, first with her friends and then with a wider audience, help us understand how.

The fam and everybody

For the first two years of her time using Twitter, Mahmood's account illustrates the kind of exchanges and preoccupations that we would expect of any other teenager, most involving exchanges between a small group of six friends - the 'fam', or family. Made up of both young men and young women, these friends constitute the social world she calls her own. Creating and circulating images is central to how they communicate. In October 2012, one year before she would leave the United Kingdom to join ISIS, she is circulating images of pop stars, of people getting married, of someone sitting on a toilet whose face has been replaced with that of a friend; another friend's face is imposed on a monkey, with the text 'you're all fags tbh'. She comments on fashion faux pas, from a friend's fluorescent pink hijab with matching fluoro lipstick, to a 'brother' with what she considers an overly complex pattern in his beard. In November, she and her friends exchange pictures of themselves staring out from behind Japanese ninja masks. Schoolwork and study often feature. Aqsa posts a picture of a person lying on the ground - 'can't be arsed studying'. Within 30 minutes, more than ten friends respond, most posting similar advice:

DO YOUR WORK NOW OR YOU'LL END UP MARRYING A FRESHY [a new immigrant, 'fresh' off the boat]

FREAKING STUDY.YOU WILL MARRY MY UNCLE IN AFRICA.

He's 40. Finds you fancy.

GO STUDY. U WILL MARRY A FRESHY

MY COUSIN IQBAL IS LOOKING FOR MARRIAGE ASAP. HE IS WRINKLY AND ALSO LOVES SCOTTISH PEOPLE. YOU CAN BOTH BE SHEEP SHAGGERS TOGETHER (Twitter, 9 November 2012)

These exchanges are playful and humorous, but they deal with things that matter: exploring who I am with my friends; the importance of study and profession for one's personal autonomy growing up as a woman of Pakistani origin in the United Kingdom, so as to avoid a marriage arranged to suit the family rather than oneself. Humour is fundamental to these communications: laughter constitutes a community. It is an activity we share, and it allows the group to raise questions in ways that otherwise would not be possible. Humour is also used to mark boundaries. Aqsa comes across a picture of a man in his forties on her timeline. He is looking longingly at the camera, and thus directly at the observer. She posts: 'What is this uncle doing on Instagram? ' Shared humour is also a medium of social control. Aqsa posts picture of a friend wearing a hijab who is also drinking from a vodka bottle, commenting 'during her gangster days'. A male member of the 'fam' uses an app to create four pictures of himself pointing to a message on the screen: 'For the girls that say; All guys are the same; Nobody told you to try them all; SLUT.' Aqsa retweets the image, adding as a comment: 'AMEN TO THAT BRUTHA' (27 October 2012).

The 'fam' is a refuge from the world of parents. One day, Aqsa uploads a screenshot of her phone with four separate messages from her mother, pleading to her to answer her calls. Aqsa and her friends are conscious of their impact in the wider network they are part of. Aqsa places a Twitpic image of her own face over that of a gangster with a machine gun, posting the image while adding the following text: 'Asian mafia tings < you know it fam' (16 November 2012). Another friend sends a tweet to the group: 'Fam we run this shit. Most relevant on people's timelines tbh~.' Mahmood responds, noting the claim but wanting to put it in perspective: 'so modest' (27 November 2012). Images of desire are shared and explored. Aqsa posts an image of a male television star, with the comment 'OMG~' (14 November 2012). A girlfriend texts: 'I like Walid cos he is funny cute hot I just love him [heart] But don't tel him.' Aqsa promptly uploads a screenshot of this text to Twitter, directing it to the boy concerned. Attractive men are not limited to screen stars. Mahmood tweets an image of a masked Palestinian fighter to two friends, one whom had earlier warned her about the risks of marrying a 'freshie' if she didn't study (Figure 2.1). The fighter is holding his gun and looking to camera, Mahmood adds as text 'this this this this' and a smiley face with heart eyes (15 November 2012).

Fame within this community is a constant preoccupation, reflecting the place of celebrity culture within the lives of young people. Aqsa tweets a poem describing mountains she needs to climb or move, an uphill battle she faces that 'sometimes I'm gonna lose'. What brings about her musing about loss and battles? Is she concerned with a major issue or challenge in her life? In fact, these poems are about 'How I feel when you quote tweet or favourite me instead of RTing [retweeting]'. This generates a putdown from one of her followers, who asks 'Do u have all of Hannah Montana's music lyrics printed out?' On another occasion, one of the group tweets about the 'Boltonian' accent of another. To which Aqsa joins in: 'Fucking shit stirrer. And stalker. And don't forget a Bengali' (23 November 2012).

Figure 2.1   this, this, this, this. Twitter, 15 November 2012.

How I'm feeling, atm

Across much research literature and policy response to radicalization, we meet the idea that the young person who becomes radicalized is in some way 'vulnerable'. In this case, this is clearly not so. Mahmood is central to the 'fam', and a prolific user of social media, with more than a thousand followers. There is a type of communication present in these tweets. Most are aimed less at communicating an idea or a proposition than at constructing sensation or a feeling with others. This is evident in many of what otherwise appear to be random photos circulating. They do not seek a discursive response; rather, they seek to elicit a shared feeling, often of surprise, pleasure or bemusement. In November 2012, Mahmood tweets a picture of some twenty men pushing a train in Pakistan, with the text 'Pakistani saying; as a nation if we push together we can accomplish anything ~.' She is sharing her affection for a group of people who together attempt to achieve a goal, despite what appears to be a lack of resources or any likelihood of success. A person on her timeline writes about himself 'I'm from Scottish', to which she replies: 'You're from Scotland, not "Scottish" you fucking inbred' (12 November 2012). She constantly posts photos of random, quirky objects or events - a sandal that has a mobile phone built into its sole, with the comment 'mobile robberies will now be history' (23 November 2012). She posts a picture of a man with a sun-umbrella hat speaking on the phone on a hot summer day in...