This article describes how ‘imagined’ constraints of the social media platform by its users stand crucial while actualising platform affordances and exercising individual agency. I use the term ‘imagined constraints’ to explain how constraints of the media platform are speculated by my participants while they negotiate between the materiality of the platform and social environment to formulate their restricted agency. Here, I use a recent example of feminist hashtag movement ‘#MeToo’ as a case in point. Previous literature addressing feminist hashtag activism and other social movements influenced by social media platforms mainly discuss the participatory potential of these platforms. However, empirical investigation into the factors leading to non-participation in movements like #MeToo has hardly captured any scholarly attention. To address this existing gap in the literature, this article analyses embodied experiences shared through in-depth interviews by 11 Indian women who made a conscious decision of not participating in the #MeToo movement. I discuss my results taking into consideration theories of ‘imagined platform affordances’ and shaping of individual agency in terms of activist participation. I discuss that ‘Imagined constraints’ of the social media platform are chiefly shaped by an individual’s analysis of their sociocultural environment in which media platforms exist. These imagined constraints of a platform lead to constitute a ‘constrained agency’ of an individual. I argue that, while we theorise the potential of social media platforms in facilitating hashtag feminist movements like #MeToo, we must take into consideration the formulation of ‘imagined constraints of the platform’ by its users, as it stands crucial in guiding their participatory action.

本文介绍了社交媒体平台的用户在想象中的约束在实现平台服务能力和行使单个代理机构时如何至关重要。我使用“想象中的约束”一词来解释参与者在平台的重要性与社会环境之间进行协商以制定其受限制的代理机构时，如何推测媒体平台的约束。在这里，我以女权主义者的标签运动“ #MeToo”为例。先前针对女权主义者的标签行动主义和受社交媒体平台影响的其他社会运动的文献主要讨论了这些平台的参与潜力。但是，对导致未参与#MeToo之类运动的因素的实证研究几乎没有引起学术界的关注。为了解决文献中存在的这一空白，本文分析了11位印度妇女通过深入访谈分享的具体经验，这些印度妇女有意识地决定不参加#MeToo运动。我讨论了我的结果，并考虑了“想象中的平台能力”的理论以及在维权人士参与方面对单个代理机构的塑造。我讨论了社交媒体平台的“想象中的约束”主要是由人们对他们存在媒体平台的社会文化环境的分析所决定的。平台的这些想象的约束导致构成个人的“约束代理”。我认为，虽然我们理论化了社交媒体平台在促进#MeToo之类的标签女权运动中的潜力，