How influential were social media in the Arab uprisings of 2011?
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Lecture.pptxIP2019: Transnational Social Movements
Lecture 9: ICTs; Social Media
Historical perspective
Printing press & Protestant reformation
Steamship & telegraph & C19th TSMOs
Radio & television & revolutions of 1989
Internet communication
World Wide Web
Instant messaging
Virtual private networking
File sharing
Blockchain
“Dark web”
Social media…
Social media
Internet forums
Blogs
Microblogs
Wikis
Webcasts
Social networks
Social bookmarking
Virtual worlds
Role of internet in mobilization (Vegh)
Facilitating offline
Transferral from offline to online
New forms of action
Online Repertoires of Contention (Samuel)
Use in mobilization
Re. companies: e.g. MarketPlace Households
Re. governments: e.g. 2011 uprisings; Umbrella ‘revolution’
Contrast with ‘CNN effect’
Speed
Lack of control
Reliability
Impacts (Davies, 2013)
Before mobilization
During mobilization
Speed
Reach
Volume
Potentially counterproductive (Wikileaks)
Impacts on Frames (Garrett)
Avoidance of media filters
Immediacy / experiential commensurability
Appearance of legitimacy
Credibility problems; misleading information
Information overload
Role in Framing (Harlow)
Diagnostic, prognostic & motivational
Thematic: agency; reflective; values; adversarial
Social media & diffusion (Rane & Salem)
Social media & proximal & transnational diffusion
Social media & diffusion among those who identify with each other
Social media & common framing of goals & tactics
Lack of correlation between social media penetration & social movement mobilization
Lack of correlation between social media penetration & political reform
Impacts on Mobilizing Structures (Garrett)
Participation: reduced costs, promotion of collective identity; creation of community
Economic resources: crowdsourced revenues
Organization: transnationalization; decentralization; inter-organizational co-operation
Impacts on Opportunity Structures (Garrett)
Globalized opportunity structures
Resistance to repression
New potential allies
Social Media Skepticism (Shirky)
‘Slaktivism’ (Gladwell)
Government monitoring & co-optation...
Role in 2011 Uprisings (Farrell)
Demonstrably widespread mobilization
Counterproductive censorship
Short term influence
Long-term role of traditional mobilization structures
Egypt Protesters’ Media Use (Wilson & Dunn)
ICTs & Social Media: Summary
Transformed traditional mobilization
Novel forms of mobilization
Benefits
Challenges
