How Social Media Facilitates Political Protest: Information, Motivation, and Social Networks

Abstract

It is often claimed that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are profoundly shaping political participation, especially when it comes to protest behavior. Whether or not this is the case, the analysis of “Big Data” generated by social media usage offers unprecedented opportunities to observe complex, dynamic effects associated with large‐scale collective action and social movements. In this article, we summarize evidence from studies of protest movements in the United States, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine demonstrating that: (1) Social media platforms facilitate the exchange of information that is vital to the coordination of protest activities, such as news about transportation, turnout, police presence, violence, medical services, and legal support; (2) in addition, social media platforms facilitate the exchange of emotional and motivational contents in support of and opposition to protest activity, including messages emphasizing anger, social identification, group efficacy, and concerns about fairness, justice, and deprivation as well as explicitly ideological themes; and (3) structural characteristics of online social networks, which may differ as a function of political ideology, have important implications for information exposure and the success or failure of organizational efforts. Next, we issue a brief call for future research on a topic that is understudied but fundamental to appreciating the role of social media in facilitating political participation, namely friendship. In closing, we liken the situation confronted by researchers who are harvesting vast quantities of social media data to that of systems biologists in the early days of genome sequencing.

Research on political information and social media: Key points and challenges for the future

“…Social media configure an environment open to a multiplicity of actors that interact with each other. New actors emerge, in many cases detached from the political and communicative elites, capable of influencing the cycle of political information, such as activists or social movements (Jost et al, 2018;Sampedro;Martínez-Avidad, 2018;Casero-Ripollés, 2015). In this context, political influence is being reconfigured in social media.…”

The Role of Political Activity in the Formation of Online Identity Bubbles

“…Our findings complement this theory by showing that the most politically active online users were also the ones who were most likely to be involved in online identity bubbles, to show strong social identification, and to exhibit information bias in social media. Political networks on social media provide mobilization and organization but can also enhance shared worldviews, identities, and emotional states (Jost et al, ; McGarty et al, ). Our results imply that this social dynamic can be a significant factor in the creation of online social bubbles.…”

“…Social media is an essential mobilization tool, as it allows for the organization of targeted groups' political activities but does not require a massive financial investment (Youmans & York, 2012). In addition, social media can be used to exchange emotional or motivational content and can enhance shared identities within political networks (Jost et al, 2018;McGarty et al, 2014).…”

“…Increasing social media use has transformed political participation by providing citizens with better opportunities to participate in political discourse and to actuate new social movements (Bennett, 2012;di Gennaro & Dutton, 2006;Ekman & Amnå, 2012;Jost et al, 2018;McGarty, Thomas, Lala, Smith, & Bliuc, 2014). Social media offers a new social context that provides many users with an increased sense of empowerment by aiding them in expressing their opinions (Bimber, Cunill, Copeland, & Gibson, 2014;van Dijk & Hacker, 2018).…”

Fake News Detector in Online Social Media

“…The "Stay Connected" feature of social media helps the political parties to conduct online campaigns to know about their popularity among the society [4], [5]. Also, people organized the protests using social media, namely Turkey's political protest in 2013 [6] and India's Jallikattu protest in 2017 [7] and witnessed the country's history. Hence, social media is considered to be a boon for this technology era.…”