Online Social Movement
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social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of Group ...
are organised efforts to push for a particular goal through the use of new communications and information technologies, such as the Internet. In many cases, these movements seek to counter the mainstream public, claiming there is a wrong that should be righted.Tufekci, Zeynep. Online social movements have focused on a broad range on social and political issues in countries all around the world. While the first social movements occurred through protests and civil disobedience, the rise of the internet ushered in numerous online social movements, beginning in the late 20th century. Since then, online social movements gained momentum into the early 21st century and are now one of the most prevalent forms of social movement. The organizational structures and strategies behind social movements have changed as a result of the online world.
Online communities An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, online communities may fe ...
on social media build off
social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...
s, enabling the connection of persons worldwide to develop a base and gain awareness of issues. The internet supports the mobilization of a larger group of people within a shorter period of time. The ubiquity of online social movements has resulted in varying attitudes. Both proponents and critics have raised valid points about the potential and the shortcomings of online social movements, which have been increasing evident in the numerous examples around the world.


History

The earliest social movements were minimally related to the internet. For instance,
Charles Tilly Charles Tilly (May 27, 1929 – April 29, 2008) was an American sociologist, political scientist, and historian who wrote on the relationship between politics and society. He was a professor of history, sociology, and social science at the Univ ...
recognizes the first social movements in Britain and the US in the 1750s and 1760s, after the 7 Years War.
John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he f ...
led the "Wilkes and Liberty" movement to achieve legal and parliamentary reform. Across the Atlantic, the Boston merchants and the activists in the
Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...
initiated the opposition to the British that eventually lead to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The mentality behind these was spurred on by sovereignty within British politics through the Reformation and informed John Wilkes and his followers about alternative societal rule. Thus, in 1768, members of the English lower class began to mobilize underneath Wilkes’ movement against the sovereignty of the ruling class. On May 10, 1768, Wilkes’ supporters and the king’s soldiers at St. George’s field began fighting, resulting in about six to eleven protesters dead. This event sparked speculation about where sovereignty lies. The rise of the Wilkes movement marked the beginning of a new phase in British politics where the notion of popular sovereignty became dominant. Wilkes and his followers consistently challenged the leading authority through actions taken outside of parliament and on the basis of contesting laws. They created something that was so new that it laid the groundwork for political struggles to come: social movements. These situations, while different in nature from social movements we experience today, started the idea of mass-gathering to contest an issue. Modern examples of social movements include the Movement of the Unemployed in the 1930s, the Free Speech and Civil Rights Movements in the 1960s, the lower-profile 1990s movements and the many digital movements in the 21st century. Social movements have evolved to a more widespread and integral state than ever before, in part due to social movements presence on social media. The earliest online social movements began right after the Internet revolution. While the Arab Springs are commonly associated with the earliest online movements, in reality, social movements began through email. In 1990, software company Lotus and credit bureau
Equifax Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and TransUnion (together known as the "Big Thr ...
gained access to names, addresses and purchasing behavior of 120 million Americans in CD-ROM format. In response, nearly 30,000 consumers organized through emails and message boards in protest, halting the release of the database by 1991. Since the late 2000s, there has been an increasing use of commercial social media platforms by social movements. According to Lopes, "Social Media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the various online blogs have arguably given a voice to individuals that otherwise would not be heard." Many people have conflicting views on social media and its effectiveness when put to the task of activism. The Pew Research Center found that some 64% of Americans feel that the statement ‘social media help give a voice to underrepresented groups’ describes these sites very or somewhat well. But a larger share, 77%, say social networking sites distract people from issues that are truly important, and 71% agree with the assertion that ‘social media makes people believe they're making a difference even when they really are not really making change.' The debate on whether social media has added or retracted to the function of social movements as compared to historical precedence remains at the forefront of modern discussions on these issues. In 2020, the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
forced social movements to reinvent their protest strategies. Strict social distancing measures prevented traditional physical demonstrations in several countries, such as
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, or limited the number of people that could gather, as in France and Germany. Many movements were forced to campaign online. Moreover, with the concept of people-less protests, first described by Yunus Berndt, a form of political activism at the intersection of online and offline spheres emerged.


Uses of the Internet

The use of the Internet in attempts to change society can be understood through different mechanisms, which have redefined traditional social movements. The Internet can be utilized through emails and social media, as well as online forums and petition platforms, which is unique in the context of traditional social movements.


Improved communication and increased public awareness

The Internet has supported the spread of information about movements through rapid dissemination so that there is greater traction and more individuals are exposed to the cause. The communication costs of the social movement also decline, allowing for cheaper and better communication with audiences. In addition, the Internet serves as a forum where people can openly discuss grievances and inequalities. Improved communication becomes important in creating rational understanding of social injustices and inequalities, which are typically critical to driving social movements.


Quicker and larger-scale mobilization of people

With better communication, the Internet facilitates the development of collective understandings that encourages wider participation in movements. Physical constraints, such as geography and resources, can be overcome through online organizing. Social networks have assembled individuals of different backgrounds to create social movements that are widespread and global. Collective identity can be emphasized through this gathering of geographically disparate people and the diffusion of a common narrative. For instance, Twitter hashtags, Facebook pages and Tumblr blogs have all played roles in organizing protests all around the world, with nearly 100,000 different hashtags related to the movement. There is also potential for cross-movement influence, where the Occupy Movement that begun in the United States enabled the sharing of ideas with the Occupy Gezi protests in Turkey through digital exchange.


Effective coordination

The presence of the Internet supports the coordination of movements and the recruitment of resources. Grievances and public awareness alone are insufficient in driving social movements, but in addition require extensive coordination and resources. The online world also helps improve the different levels of engagement possible, such as sharing opinions and engaging in forums, signing online petitions and participating in decision-making processes. To an extent, movements are able to establish legitimacy through content distributed through the Internet, without relying on mass media or in-person organization.


Efficient resource mobilization

The Internet provides a means to raise funds for campaigns. The Tibet Fund was one of the more prominent online funding raising platforms in support of Tibetan independence. The website provided detailed information for potential donors, as well as clear indications of how the funds will be used. The low cost of access to communicate using the Internet also freed up financial resources for other activities, especially where the campaigns are operating under limited budgets. This strategy can also free up resources to supplement online movements with in person organization, making goals for expansion more tangible.


Examples

Online social movements advance their work primarily through media, traditional or digital. It is easier, less costly as well as less time-consuming to link collective behavior as real-time communication can occur vastly and simultaneously via social media. These movements exist in a range of different locales covering a wide breadth of topics, and the extent of their eventual offline action varies from case to case.


Political

2009 Iranian presidential election protests: Protests against the highly controversial 2009 Iranian presidential election results in support of opposition candidates
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh ( fa, میرحسین موسوی خامنه, Mīr-Hoseyn Mūsavī Khāmené, ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian reformist politician, artist and architect who served as the forty-ninth and last Prime Minister of Ira ...
and
Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and Iranian reform movement, reformist politician leading the National Trust Party (Iran), National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iran ...
, occurred in major cities nationwide from 2009 into early 2010. The protests were titled
Iranian Green Movement The Iranian Green Movement ( fa, جنبش سبز ایران) or Green Wave of Iran ( fa, موج سبز ایران), also referred to as the Persian Awakening or Persian Spring by the western media, refers to a political movement that arose after ...
by its proponents, reflecting Mousavi's campaign theme, and Persian Awakening, Persian Spring or Green Revolution, reflecting the " Persian identity" of Iranians and the so-called "
colour revolution Colour revolution (sometimes coloured revolution) is a term used since around 2004 by worldwide media to describe various anti-regime protest movements and accompanying (attempted or successful) changes of government that took place in pos ...
" theme. Protests began the night of 12 June 2009, following the announcement that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won nearly 63% of the vote, despite several reported irregularities. Egyptian revolution of 2011: The Egyptian revolution of 2011, also known as the January 25 Revolution, started on 25 January 2011 and spread across
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Mubarak's presidency. It consisted of demonstrations, marches, occupations of plazas, non-violent
civil resistance Civil resistance is political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and coercion: i ...
, acts of
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
and strikes. Millions of protesters from a range of
socio-economic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...
and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of
Egyptian President The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egy ...
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...
. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in at least 846 people killed and over 6,000 injured. Protesters retaliated by burning over 90 police stations across the country.
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
: The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low
standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...
, starting with protests in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
. The protests then spread to five other countries:
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, where either the regime was toppled or major uprisings and social violence occurred, including riots, civil wars or insurgencies. Sustained street demonstrations took place in
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
,
Iranian Khuzestan Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...
,
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
,
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
and
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. Minor protests occurred in
Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
,
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, the
Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, and the
Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara The Southern Provinces ( ar, الأقاليم الجنوبية, Al-Aqalim al-Janubiyah, french: Provinces du Sud) or Moroccan Sahara ( ar, الصحراء المغربية, Assahra al-Maghribiya, french: Sahara marocain) are the terms used by th ...
.


Gender, race, and sexuality

#BlackLivesMatter: Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international
activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
movement, originating in the
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
community, that campaigns against violence and
systemic racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healt ...
towards
black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...
. BLM regularly holds
protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
s speaking out against police killings of black people, and broader issues such as
racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...
,
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
, and racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system. In 2013, the movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
after the acquittal of
George Zimmerman George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black boy, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in '' Flori ...
in the shooting death of African-American teen
Trayvon Martin Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic American. Martin had accompa ...
in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans.
#MeToo: The Me Too (or #MeToo) movement, with a large variety of related local or international names, is a movement against
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
and
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual harassment survivor and activist
Tarana Burke Tarana Burke (born September 12, 1973) is an American activist from The Bronx, New York, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade late ...
. Similar to other social justice and empowerment movements based upon breaking silence, the purpose of "Me Too", as initially voiced by Burke as well as those who later adopted the tactic, is to empower women through empathy and strength in numbers, especially young and vulnerable women, by visibly demonstrating how many women have survived sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. Following the exposure of the widespread sexual-abuse allegations against
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
in early October 2017, the movement began to spread virally as a hashtag on social media. The Time's Up movement is in part a supplemental movement to #MeToo focused on taking equitable action and organization against inequality and sexual harassment in professional settings. The movement was created in 2018 and consists of more than 300 prominent women in Hollywood, including
Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...
and
Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series '' Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and ...
, and work with a legal fund to lobby and get protective laws passed. Time's Up is an example of how online movements can become a segway into more goal-oriented, action-forward work. The movement gained momentum in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
following the significant rise in the number of sexual harassment, molestation, and rape cases. However, the rights of some of the witnesses and victims who came forward with their complaints were abused. Seif Bedour is one such student who became the victim of Egypt’s flawed law enforcement after being arrested for accompanying one of his friends to the Cairo police station as a witness in her
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
case. Bedour was arrested in August 2020 and has been held in detention for four months on charges of morality despite not having any connections to the alleged rape case or having been present at the crime scene in 2014. The detention of witnesses in the case has cast shadow over the ‘Me Too’ movement started in the region and passed out a message that social morality is held above the rights of the Egyptian women.


Other movements

#MarchForOurLives: The March for Our Lives (MFOL) was a student-led demonstration in support of legislation to prevent
gun violence in the United States Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually, and was the leading cause of death for children 19 and younger in 2020. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available as of 2021, th ...
. It took place in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and around the world, and was planned by
Never Again MSD Never Again MSD is an American student-led political action committee for gun control that advocates for tighter regulations to prevent gun violence. The organization, also known by the Twitter hashtags #NeverAgain, and #EnoughIsEnough, was fo ...
in collaboration with the
nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
. The event followed the
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at th ...
a month earlier, which was described by several media outlets as a possible tipping point for
gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
legislation. Protesters urged for
universal background check Proposals for universal background checks would require almost all firearms transactions in the United States to be recorded and go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), closing what is sometimes called the priva ...
s on all gun sales, raising the federal age of gun ownership and possession to 21, closing of the
gun show loophole Gun show loophole is a political term in the United States referring to the sale of firearms by private sellers, including those done at gun shows, that do not require the seller to conduct a federal background check of the buyer. This is als ...
, a restoration of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines and
bump stock Bump stocks or bump fire stocks are gun stocks that can be used to assist in bump firing. Bump firing is the act of using the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire ammunition cartridges in rapid succession. The legality of bump stocks in ...
s in the United States. Turnout was estimated to be between 1.2 and 2 million people in the United States, making it one of the largest protests in American history. #MMIW Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women was created over ten years ago by the Sisters in Spirit group and Native Women's Association in Canada, where research began towards the violence against Indigenous women. This campaign has moved into the United States and has become a worldwide movement for Indigenous cultures. A majority of the movement and gatherings are led by those personally impacted by a missing or murdered indigenous woman in their lives. In 2014, Holly Jarret started the social media campaign with the #MMIW hashtag along with #ImNotNext, #NativeLivesMatter, #AmInext in a twitter campaign to bring attention to the Canadian Prime Minister to create an inquiry to MMIW where is was later acknowledged. #EveryChildMatters is a grassroot movement to support and bring awareness to the Indigenous children of Canada and United States who never made it home and for the survivors and families who were impacted by the treatment of their children in the boarding schools. #EveryChildMatters is connected to the hashtag #WearOrangeDay, a campaign for people to wear orange shirts in remembrance of the survivors and those who didn't make it home.


Impacts

The impact of online movements has seen a lot of growth since the introduction of the internet. With the accessible medium of social media, internet activism has reached the forefront of the internet. Through the use of social networking sites such as
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and content-sharing sites as
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, the opportunity for wide-scale, online social participation has increased.


Benefits

Online social movements have been celebrated for their ability to amass large amounts of success. The online world provides the power to organize without any formal organisations, which speeds up the process of mobilization and allows for greater scale in rapid time frames. This can be understood as New Power, which supports informal leadership and radical transparency, conducive for large amounts of participation by people on social media. Previously, the dominant form of old power limited participation in movements and leadership to a small group. Rapid mobilization helps people overcome pluralistic ignorance, where individuals believe that they are the only person with a particular view. Instead, the online networked sphere helps reveal otherwise preferences to each other in order to discover common ground.  The increased visibility of a movement on the internet supports a sense of camaraderie, setting and maintaining a cause, even if it is otherwise decentralized. Social media can overcome pluralistic ignorance, which is the belief that your opinions are not shared by others, when in reality, they tend to be. The online world enables the synchronization of opinions across disparate geographies, creating new norms of behavior and belief through regular repetition and affirmation of messages. In the political sphere, active online groups increase political participation by providing a framework for discussion, leading petitions, and collecting donations in order to further a political agenda. This alignment of values has often results in the potential to organize, such as fund raising in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that raised $100 million in just 30 days. Online movements are able to sustain attention across boundaries, physical and temporal. For instance, during the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, Facebook’s event function allowed for people to organize protests, which would then be acted out upon in real-life. Similarly, the Occupy movement was able to gather an online following around the world through the Tumblr blog, titled “We are the 99%”. The function of being able to post on a shared website supported the gathering of different narratives, unifying people. In fact, online social movements epitomizes the notion of “many yeses, one no”. This motto highlights how the online world brings together diverse voices against something they all feel strongly about by acting as integrating screens since people use these devices to connect with others, rather than to isolate themselves. In many ways, social media has created networks conducive for unification across different identities, supporting intersectional approaches to fighting injustice. People can inform themselves on the most equitable practices and gain insight on how best to accommodate everyone while fighting for a particular issue. For instance, the
Zapatistas Zapatista(s) may refer to: * Liberation Army of the South The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolut ...
attempted to emphasize their inclusivity of the movement, which had begun as somewhat of a peasants revolt. The leader of the movement, Marcos, was famously presented in numerous identities, of different exploited and marginalized minorities who are saying “Enough” to their situation:
“Yes, Marcos is gay. Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a Jew in Germany, a Gypsy in Poland, a Mohawk in Quebec, a pacifist in Bosnia, a single woman on the subway at 10pm, a peasant without land, a gang member in the slums, an unemployed worker, an unhappy student and, of course, a Zapatista in the mountains. Marcos is all the exploited, marginalised, oppressed minorities resisting and saying 'Enough.' He is every minority who is now beginning to speak, and every majority that must shut up and listen. He is every untolerated group searching for a way to speak. Everything that makes power and the good consciences of those in power uncomfortable—this is Marcos.” -Subcommandant Marcos, from Social Justice E-Zine #27
Social media is also able to provide a creative milieu that is conducive for narrative building. Memes, in particular, have proven to be a useful tool when it comes to circulating certain ideas. They enter the public consciousness and are able to pique interest through a dual purpose of entertainment and awareness. In addition, the large numbers of people online allow for intentional overproduction. Amanda D. Lotz noted that this is a key strategy, where multiple shows and commercials are created in order to compete, so that the most effective version can succeed, while the others disappear. In online social movements, hashtag culture functions by having many people copy each other and come up with new permutations, allowing for the most successful version to spread. Social media platforms are harder to censor than real-life organization of movements. Ethan Zuckerman advanced the Cute Cat Theory of Digital Activism, which explains the relative lack of censorship online. Zuckerman posits that the web is used primarily for innocuous purposes, such as connecting with families and friends and posting pictures of cats. While the affordances that social media provides activists nurtures a community that engages in political criticism, these activists are able to hide behind the largely mundane uses of the internet and cause censorship by governments to appear especially draconian. For instance, the Twitter ban in Turkey by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan who intended to “wipe out” the social media platform was met with furious outrage from the population, experts and the global community. Similarly when ex-Tunisian President Ben Ali attempted to ban Facebook in 2010, his move backfired because so many Tunisians used Facebook to connect with family, friends and acquaintances.


Detriments

There are numerous critiques posed against online social movements that populate the discourse. Most frequently, the limited capacity for tangible change is often raised. For social movements to be successful, there need to be network internalities, which are durable networks ideal for organised action. These networks are the result of long-term challenges that are collectively overcome, which supports trust building. This process requires the investment of time and energy in order for members of a social movement to learn how to cooperate to achieve their goals. Zeynep Tufekci introduces the Mount Everest metaphor in her comparison of the
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
’s achievements with the
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
’s relative limited scope of change, especially in Egypt. Zeynep draws a comparison between social media and Sherpas. Previously, climbing Mount Everest was a challenging task. However, with Sherpas, more people were capable of doing so, and this led to a spike in mountaineering tourism. These individuals remained unprepared for the reality of scaling the mountain, resulting in a spike in deaths. Similarly, social media has enabled more social movements to spread and enter the public sphere. However, there has not been long-term training and building of network internalities which is necessary to sustain these movements. The Civil Rights Movement had undergone strenuous planning and organisation, which has resulted in leaders who were able to represent the cause, such as Martin Luther King. In contrast, online social movements tend to be more short-lived. For instance,
Kony 2012 ''Kony 2012'' is a 2012 American short documentary film produced by '' Invisible Children'' creators Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose was to make Ugandan cult leader, war criminal, and ICC fugitive Joseph Kony globally known so as ...
brought attention to child soldiers being forced into Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. However, the small organization that directed the video, Invisible Children, was incapable of managing the sheer volume of attention received. The director
Jason Russell Jason Russell (born October 12, 1978) is an American film and theater director, choreographer, and activist who co-founded Invisible Children, Inc. He is the director of ''Kony 2012'', a short documentary film that went viral in the beginning of ...
thereafter had a major breakdown and the social movement dissipated, which can be owed to lack of strong organization and network internalities. Related to this is the theory of tactical adaptation by
Doug McAdam Doug McAdam (born August 31, 1951) is Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. He is the author or co-author of over a dozen books and over fifty articles, and is widely credited as one of the pioneers of the political process model in socia ...
, which can apply to movements with a lack of strong organizational power and cause opposing forces to easily adapt to tactics employed by social movements. If mobilizing action on social media is a sole or primary tactic of a social movement and no consistent tactical innovation poses a direct threat to government or institutions, the movement may have trouble gaining traction long-term. There is also the concern of a lack of clear leadership in online social movements. This means that there might be a challenge in finding representatives to negotiate within the movement and with adversaries. These individuals might have little in common beyond the initial movement. For instance,
Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...
protesters could not deviate tactically from their initial demand, which was to overthrow the Hosni Mubarak regime. Hence, there was a tactical freeze, where tactics could not be adjusted and new demands were not articulated by the social movement. Even the creator of “We are All Khaled Said”, the main Facebook page of the Egyptian Revolution, Wael Ghonim was in no position to concede anything. Ghonim was neither an elected leader, nor an informal one, which denied him legitimacy to engage in negotiations. Similarly, in the
Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
, there was an attempt to empower all protestors to be leaders of the movement. However, as a “leaderful” movement, there was a lack of ability to identify a clear representative to negotiate since there were too many perspectives. Online social movements, while effective in unifying people, might also amplify the tendency to tribalism. In particular, more people having access to social media might democratize the risk of promoting violence, especially where institutions are not stable and there can be large amounts of distrust and disinformation. For instance, while social media had helped Sri Lanka ease the path to its first democratic elections in 2015 after years of civil war, communal hatreds began to overrun the news feeds, which are the primary portal of news and information for many users. Some critiques, specific to online social media activism, have been raised about the power mechanisms and organisational structure. This transition highlighted asymmetrical relationships between the for-profit aims of social media and the copy-left values that drive many online movements. According to Fenton, "Claims for the extension and re-invention of activism need to be considered in the context of the material social and political world of inequality, injustice and corporate dominance." For example, "in his analysis of the Purple Movement (Popolo Viola) in Italy and its extensive use of Facebook, Coretti (2014) demonstrates that, while the myth of the network as open and inclusive persists, it acts as a disguise for the communication protocols of commercial social networking platforms that may well enable large-scale mobilization but ultimately, through their very functionality, encourage organizational centralization and fragmentation in social movements". The proprietary nature of the design of platforms, such as Facebook pages, possibly fails to provide movements with the necessary instruments in a shared democratic management of their resources. Moreover, the inability to manage Facebook pages and groups according to commonly agreed values promotes vertical power structures within movements, contributing to a controversial management of Facebook pages and to internal divisions that significantly hinder the potential of protest.


Future

Social movements have existed before the Internet, but the nature of social movements has been modified through the Internet. The online world's beneficial impacts are clear, but these impacts are accompanied with detriments. Online movements are able to scale up dramatically and more quickly, but these horizontalist movements come at the expense of weathering risks and responses from the government. In comparing past social movements to social movements today, it is clear that many of them have heavily utilized online social media platforms to advance their agendas. With the help of many open source media platforms, such as Creative Commons and P2P Foundation, the public can easily gain access to the essence of these social movements. The prevalence of these platforms also allows for an easier way to market, while simultaneously reaching a wider range of audience. While many more social media tools are available today and as a result granted faster and easier preparation of a movement, it is up to debate whether this change has been good for the success of current movements. It is essential to continue to monitor this shift in culture in social movements and understand the advantages and drawbacks of having access to social media as a means to advance a movement. With the continued rapid evolution of the internet, the future of online movements is hard to predict. Vanessa DiMauro, a community builder and researcher in decision-making, believes that the biggest trend concerning online communities is the formation of private online communities. While these large networks that we encounter and use on a daily basis have provided us with a productive and collaborative experience, they have also increased to unmanageable sizes. To become a learning environment, these groups need to be much smaller and manageable, which reflects DiMauro's belief. This is where the idea and trend of private online communities could potentially be the future of online communities. The traditional role of actors, such as social media organizations and governments, have also changed with online social movements. In these online communities, social movement organizations have been less necessary for online participation. While these organizations have continued to play a role in offline engagements, social media organizations have begun to find new avenues for their contribution to social change. Similarly, governments have found new ways to respond to online social movements. They have done this by developing new methods to adapt to social media threats, as well as by developing new methods of repression. As governments have evolved, dissidents have continued to adapt with the new technological affordances. In an online space, uncertain times continue to remain for social activists and governments.


See also

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Slacktivism Slacktivism (a portmanteau of '' slacker'' and ''activism'') is the practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or online petitions, characterized as involving very little effort or commitment. Additional fo ...
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Internet activism Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular inf ...
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Accelerated pluralism Accelerated pluralism is a theory coined by Bruce Bimber which claims that "the net is accelerating the process of issue group formation and action". As a method of mobilization, it relies on information communication technologies (ICT), particu ...

Tactical Adaptation


References

{{reflist Social movements Internet activism