Social Media Communication

13 Social Media and Social Movement

LEARNING GOALS

This chapter will help you understand:

• What is the role of social media in social movements?
• How are networked publics related to the use of social media?
• What is the relationship between social media and democracy analyzed?
• What are the three perceptions concerning social media’s role in social movements?

KEY CONCEPTS

Social movement Networked publics

Core group Peripheral group

THEORY HIGHLIGHT

Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Overview

Global social movements have spread around the world since the 2010s, such as the Arab Spring (2010–2012), Occupy Wall Street (2011), Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong (2014), #MeToo Movement (2006–2017), and Black Lives Matter (2013–2020). Most of the movements tended to be leaderless, but all used social media to connect protesters, motivate supporters, and mobilize resources. Significant social changes were generated out of the massive social demonstrations across nations. The Arab Spring, for example, was a series of pro-democracy social movements that enveloped several Arabic countries like Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and Bahrain. Not all of the movements could be viewed as successful if the political goals were judged by how much democracy and cultural freedom people had won from their governments. Some uprisings had led to regime changes in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, but few significant changes happened in other countries due to the social movements. However, ...