Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest
Abstract
A firsthand account and incisive analysis of modern protest, revealing internet-fueled social movements' greatest strengths and frequent challenges. To understand a thwarted Turkish coup, an anti-Wall Street encampment, and a packed Tahrir Square, we must first comprehend the power and the weaknesses of using new technologies to mobilize large numbers of people. An incisive observer, writer, and participant in today's social movements, Zeynep Tufekci explains in this accessible and compelling book the nuanced trajectories of modern protests-how they form, how they operate differently from past protests, and why they have difficulty persisting in their long-term quests for change. Tufekci speaks from direct experience, combining on-the-ground interviews with insightful analysis. She describes how the internet helped the Zapatista uprisings in Mexico, the necessity of remote Twitter users to organize medical supplies during Arab Spring, the refusal to use bullhorns in the Occupy Movement that started in New York, and the empowering effect of tear gas in Istanbul's Gezi Park. These details from life inside social movements complete a moving investigation of authority, technology, and culture-and offer essential insights into the future of governance.
... Methodologies in this frame also explore how particular phenomena, such as the Arab Spring social protests in Egypt and Turkey (Tufekci, 2017), and earthquakes in New Zealand (Markham, 2020), leverage the participatory nature of networked digital media in order to enable broad social change. An important element of case-study research in a networked environment is the inclusion of first-person research methods that join traditional interpretative research techniques of participant observation and qualitative interviews. ...
... Similar to ethnographic approaches, digital case study methodology uses "fieldwork" as a basis for theoretization and insight generation, often integrating a range of places spanning physical and virtual spaces. Tufekci (2017) investigated how activists in Turkey, Egypt, and New York used Twitter as a way to organize social protests, bypassing lengthy processes of institutional capacity-building through decentralized activity. Tufekci's rich scholarship leveraged first-person observation and analysis across multiple sites of protest in order to generate rich insight and new theories about the relationship between social media, social protest, and broader social change. ...
The predominance of western paradigms and a frequent failure to consider and theorize the non-neutrality of schools and technology leaves an ontological and epistemological gap in educational technology studies. Specifically, it leads to thin research on the role of power, the collective, and the intersections with technology that can alter our interaction with the world. The current narrow approach hobbles the imagination of the field, constraining the possibilities for technology and education. We propose three research frames that are relatively new to the field of educational technology. These frames acknowledge the interdisciplinary and socially embedded nature of technology and the systems of power that exist in both schools and technology: Collective Framing, Critical Race Theory (CRT) Framing, and Ecological Framing. We synthesize the possibilities of these approaches for educational technology research, identifying how they can push the field to consider different epistemological, ontological, and axiological approaches. We identify potential areas of research and consider implications for the field of educational technology. While each frame offers its particular theoretical contribution, taken together, all three frames suggest the sociocultural, epistemological, and political limitations of the field known as educational technology. Finally, we return to the initial wonderings of our paper, imagining the possibilities for ed tech research if the field confronted the hegemonic western paradigms embedded within itself.
... Stricter regulation of political speech can be misused to suppress opposition and undermine the democratic process. It is essential to ensure that regulations are politically neutral and applied consistently (Tufekci, 2017). ...
... However, achieving the delicate balance between regulation and preserving freedom of speech is a complex challenge. Excessive regulation can inadvertently infringe on individuals' rights to express their opinions, requiring a cautious approach to crafting and enforcing these regulations (Tufekci, 2017). ...
This discussion explores the multifaceted challenges posed by social media and information warfare in the context of Malaysia. With its diverse population and robust internet penetration, Malaysia has become a fertile ground for the proliferation of social media usage. Popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have emerged as primary means of communication and information sharing among Malaysians. The wide reach and speed of information dissemination on these platforms have made them attractive to various actors, both domestic and foreign, seeking to shape public opinions, influence politics, and create social unrest. The interplay between Malaysia's diverse demographics and its heightened internet penetration underscores the pivotal role of social media in shaping public discourse, political discourse, and societal dynamics. These platforms have not only expedited the exchange of ideas and cultural expressions but have also created opportunities for both constructive dialogue and divisive discord. Moreover, information warfare, driven by political actors, foreign interests, and opportunistic actors, is on the rise in Malaysia. Tactics such as disinformation and fake news, amplification of extremist views, and hacking and cyberattacks are commonly employed to manipulate public opinion, polarize society, and disrupt national unity. The interconnectedness of these actors across borders adds to the complexity of addressing information warfare. However, striking a balance between regulation and freedom of speech remains a challenge, as excessive regulation can infringe on individual rights. Malaysia continues to grapple with these issues as it seeks to protect its democracy and social harmony in the face of emerging challenges. The consequences of information warfare in Malaysia are significant and multifaceted, including eroding trust in institutions, political instability, social unrest, and economic impact. One of the most perilous consequences is the manipulation of sensitive issues, such as those related to race and religion. In response, Malaysia has initiated regulatory measures, media literacy programs, cooperation with social media platforms, and international partnerships. These efforts aim to mitigate the influence of disinformation and false content while upholding freedom of speech. As Malaysia moves forward, it must continue to refine its strategies for combating information warfare, foster media literacy, and engage in international collaborations. These measures are essential for preserving democratic processes, social harmony, and economic stability in the face of an evolving information landscape.
... Influential activists used social media for "setting the scene, and constructing an emotional space within which collective action (could) unfold." (Gerbaudo, 2012: 5) There are now several articulate accounts of the ways in which digital and social media have been used in political protest (see, for example, Bennett & Segerberg, 2012;Tufekci, 2017). And yet, their limitations lie in starting with a focusing on (particular) social media platforms without being open to how the event itself is constructed and mediated by a variety of actors not usually recognised in these debates. ...
... In addition, (1) the consumption of information on social networks enshrines characteristics that differentiate it from what occurs offline and which especially affects the younger age groups (Bode, 2016;Oñate and López-López, 2020), the passive learning process; (2) the different parameters in constructing the agenda, with more news and fewer impressions of it; (3) the models of voluntary or involuntary exposure, with the resulting effects of dissonance and the impulse to seek similar political content in their communities (Weeks et al., 2017); and (4) finally, the awareness of a less reliable media environment when it comes to (fake) political news. However, over time, it became clear that some authoritarian regimes learnt to manage to coexist without these platforms representing a serious threat to their permanence in power (Zeynep, 2018). The rise of disruptive alternatives has become one of the most important challenges for Western democracies (Eatwell and Goodwin, 2018), which corresponds equally to Left and Right options (Judis, 2016). ...
Participating in social networks has become a controversial phenomenon. In this study, we explore the relationship between the type of social network used by citizens of 18 Latin American countries (moderated by age) and satisfaction with democracy, based on the mediation carried out by satisfaction with life and economic self-placement. To do so, we have prepared a moderated mediation analysis with the survey carried out by Latinobarómetro in 2018 and in 2020. The results confirm an indirect effect between the networks included and satisfaction with democracy, mediated by the proposed variables, in a majority of the cases.
... In addition to the development of productive forces and the increase in economic performance, digital technologies expand the reach and degree of inclusion of the political public sphere and, at the same time, its ability to be shaped and monitored (Brinkmann et al. 2022). On the one hand, digitization lowers communication barriers and enables the emergence of online publics that can initiate collective action (Beyer 2014;Tufekci 2017). This is also relevant in work contexts. ...
In this contribution, we argue that critical theories of the public sphere (in Habermas, but also in Negt and Kluge as well as Fraser) leave out the socially central field of labour and labour-political disputes, and that a reactualization and refocusing becomes necessary: We define the dynamics of globalization, commodification and digitalization as sequences of a renewed structural transformation of both social self-understanding and gainful employment. With the help of a multi-level model of labour-political publics and counter-publics, class mobilizations can be examined with a public-theoretical lens and important moments of labour-political disputes can also be reflected on their communicative conditions. This is exemplified by two vignettes.
... According to research by Bond (2012), active participation in online activities like expressing support, sharing, and leaving comments on political content has a significant impact on political outcomes in the current digital environment. Tufekci (2017) asserts that the previously mentioned phenomenon may be observed in the political mobilization exhibited in social movements such as the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street. In these instances, the use of social media played a crucial role in facilitating the coordination and dissemination of information. ...
The main goal of the current study is to ascertain the impact that social media platforms have on electoral strategy, communication tactics, and electoral outcomes in the specific context of the 2023 municipal elections in Tirana, Albania. The purpose of this study is to analyze the official usage data on Facebook and Instagram of Erion Veliaj, the current mayor of Tirana and a candidate associated with the Socialist Party. The temporal scope of the investigation encompasses the period spanning from April 1 to June 1, 2023. The main objective of this study is to investigate the possible impact of widespread use of social networks as a means of political communication on election results, as well as the manner in which this platform influences voter engagement with political candidates. The hypothesis posited in this study suggests that the extensive utilization of social media platforms by political candidates during the municipal elections in Albania in 2023 yielded a favorable effect on public participation in political discussions, hence exerting an influence on the electoral results. The research question under examination are as follows: What were the methods implemented by candidate Erion Veliaj in leveraging social media during the municipal election campaign of 2023? What is the relationship between social media engagement, as measured by quantitative metrics like likes, shares, follower growth rate, and engagement rate, and the electoral success of candidates in the 2023 Municipal Elections in Tirana, Albania? The study used a mixed-methods approach, which combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies, to investigate the correlation between the candidate's patterns of interaction, content tactics across different platforms, and the outcomes of the election. This comprehensive study aims to gain a thorough understanding of the substantial role of social media as a medium for political communication and its positive impact on electoral outcomes. Received: 20 July 2023 / Accepted: 5 October 2023 / Published: 5 November 2023
... Interest groups use social media to supplement their political messaging campaigns and activism. The literature has debated the value of social media to galvanize social movements and secure democratic principles (Tufekci 2017;Bennett and Segerberg 2012;Boulianne et al. 2020), and interest groups consistently view social media as an important advocacy tool. For the last decade, digital communication technologies have lowered the costs and barriers to connecting with the public, and interest Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. ...
Politics and advocacy increasingly take place on social media platforms. Interest groups are actively engaged, using these platforms to shape public issue debates and advance their policy agendas. Yet, less is understood about how interest groups use social media for networked activities and establish affiliations with one another for political purposes. This paper sheds light on how interest groups use social media to connect with other interest groups and contextualize their online networked behavior. Beyond messaging and connecting with the public, interest groups use social media as both an informational and social network. I discuss the ways interest groups create affiliations to enhance their engagement with the platform users, increase their visibility and validity, and cultivate a social and information network that extends beyond their positional camp. Interest groups form affiliations with other groups based on strategic, social, political, and informational decisions, and account for the “hype-orientation” and attention economy at work on social media. Using an original data set of interest group Twitter accounts, I present a networked measure of interest group online behavior using a variety of methods including, assortative measures, centrality measures, and exponential random graph models, to evaluate how interest groups connect on Twitter.
... Indeed, the commodification and monetisation of private lives raises critical questions about power, privilege, appropriation, and resistance in a content-driven marketplace. That is not to say critical and socio-cultural scholarship on influencer cultures is absent; only that much of it is situated outside of the marketing domain -with media and cultural studies pioneering the exploration of such topics (Khamis et al., 2017;Raun, 2018;Tufekci, 2017). Across this scholarship, examinations of concepts such as labour, authenticity, attention and surveillance dialogue with inequalities and complexities across the influencer industry. ...
... The hallowed ground of freedom of expression, a pillar of democracy, has undergone profound transformations in the digital age. As the digital public square expands, scholars like Sunstein (2017) and Tufekci (2017) have examined the echo chambers and algorithms that shape our information consumption. The manipulation of public discourse through social media platforms (Gillespie, 2018) poses serious questions about the quality of our digital democracy. ...
In an age where technology's relentless march shapes the contours of our existence, the intersection of emerging technologies and human rights has emerged as a critical focal point. This paper embarks on a multifaceted exploration of the complex relationship between these two domains, transcending academic boundaries to address a global imperative.
... It must be noted, however, that most of this research was conducted prior to the emergence of Web 2.0, that is, the widespread incorporation of social media into every aspect of life, including activism. Since its advent, social media has become part of the current practice of organizing protests, simplifying some of the tasks that made organizing traditional social movements too costly (Chen 2019;Tüfekçi 2017). However, the repercussions of social media with respect to other vital elements of movements, such as the construction of collective identities, remain an open question. ...
Social movement theorists have highlighted the importance of accounting for the fluidity of collective identities and the ways in which they change over time. Capitalizing on the availability of social media data and the shift from collective to connective action, new methods can be used to model identity change over a medium-to-long time span. We analyze Facebook data to make the case that a complex and longitudinal approach to the study of collective identity is not only possible but also necessary. Our analyses explore the formation and transformation of identity in the context of a local branch of the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) movement in France. By employing a mixed-method design that combines automated topic modeling, content analysis, and dictionary-based linguistic inquiry, we show how collective identities are discussed through complex and conflictual processes that form perpetual identity work.
... ação e popularização dos primeiros blogs. Eles foram uma resposta à crescente acessibilidade da internet e à evolução das tecnologias que permitiram que os indivíduos compartilhassem suas ideias, pensamentos e experiências com um público online. Com a É inegável o papel que as tecnologias de comunicação em rede digital desempenham nesses processos.Tufekci (2017) propõe o conceito de protestos em rede (networked) para pensar a reconfiguração dos movimentos políticos e sociais a partir da incorporação de tecnologias digitais e conectividade. Esses movimentos, apesar de suas origens culturais e políticas que antecedem a web, encontram novos recursos disponíveis a partir da utilização da internet, ...
O presente trabalho analisa os impactos da emergência das redes de comunicação e informação em rede no conflito palestino-israelense. O objetivo é observar o desenvolvimento histórico das estratégias político-comunicativas associadas à utilização da internet. Para tanto, parte-se da revisão bibliográfica para discutir a utilização das redes digitais por palestinos e israelenses com propósitos de conquistar a opinião pública internacional. Inicia-se com a apresentação dos eventos ocorridos na Guerra do Líbano de 2006 e das revoltas populares árabes de 2010, abordando as primeiras perspectivas de utilização estratégica da internet. Na sequência, são abordados os confrontos em Gaza (2008-2014), discutindo as formas contemporâneas do uso da web 2.0 ao longo de eventos conflituosos.
... ação e popularização dos primeiros blogs. Eles foram uma resposta à crescente acessibilidade da internet e à evolução das tecnologias que permitiram que os indivíduos compartilhassem suas ideias, pensamentos e experiências com um público online. Com a É inegável o papel que as tecnologias de comunicação em rede digital desempenham nesses processos.Tufekci (2017) propõe o conceito de protestos em rede (networked) para pensar a reconfiguração dos movimentos políticos e sociais a partir da incorporação de tecnologias digitais e conectividade. Esses movimentos, apesar de suas origens culturais e políticas que antecedem a web, encontram novos recursos disponíveis a partir da utilização da internet, ...
O presente trabalho analisa os impactos da emergência das redes de comunicação e informação em rede no conflito palestino-israelense. O objetivo é observar o desenvolvimento histórico das estratégias político-comunicativas associadas à utilização da internet. Para tanto, parte-se da revisão bibliográfica para discutir a utilização das redes digitais por palestinos e israelenses com propósitos de conquistar a opinião pública internacional. Inicia-se com a apresentação dos eventos ocorridos na Guerra do Líbano de 2006 e das revoltas populares árabes de 2010, abordando as primeiras perspectivas de utilização estratégica da internet. Na sequência, são abordados os confrontos em Gaza (2008-2014), discutindo as formas contemporâneas do uso da web 2.0 ao longo de eventos conflituosos. Palavras-chave: comunicação digital; conflito palestino-israelense; estratégias político-comunicativas; Oriente Médio.
... ebd.). Die Soziologin ZeynepTufekci (2017) hat in ihrer Arbeit über Klickaktivismus argumentiert, dass digitaler Aktivismus und soziale Medien -insbesondere unter jungen Menschen und marginalisierten Gruppen -dazu beigetragen haben, politische Mobilisierung zu erleichtern und zu verbreiten. Mit Klickaktivismus ist es möglich sich schnell und einfach an politischen Kampagnen und Bewegungen zu beteiligen, ohne dass sie sich physisch an Orten versammeln müssen. ...
Das Thema Solidarität hat in den letzten Jahren viel Aufmerksamkeit erfahren. Die Beiträge dieses Sammelbandes greifen in ganz unterschiedlicher Weise auf Material eines dreijährigen Forschungsprojektes zurück, welches sich mit der Frage von Solidarität im Bereich der politischen Interessenvertretung verbandlicher Selbstorganisationen junger Menschen und den Strukturen des Jugendverbandssystems beschäftigt hat. Anhand der Beiträge lässt sich nachvollziehen, auf welche Weise Solidarität und Zugehörigkeit, Teilhabe und Ausschluss sowie Demokratie, Grenzen der Berechtigung und Gleichheit miteinander verbunden sind.
... СОЦИАЛьНАя НАПРяЖЕННОСТь: ФАКТОРЫ И ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ ЕЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИя ЧЕРЕЗ СОЦИАЛьНЫЕ МЕДИА Социальная напряженность -комплексное явление, имеющее очень широкую вариацию определений, анализ которых показывает, что она совмещает в себе как психологические аспекты, присущие отдельным индивидам (связанные с их эмоциональным состоянием и чувствами неудовлетворенности), так и социальные, свойственные группам, сообществам (они связаны с социальным действием, самоорганизацией и направлены на формирование коллективного ответа и изменение сложившейся социально-экономической ситуации) [8][9][10][11][12]. ...
This article discusses the issue of the possibility of analysing and monitoring the phenomenon of social tensions in modern society through the analysis of digital footprints of social media users. Within the framework of the article, key aspects of social tension are studied, modern achievements and current advances in the use of social media for research purposes are considered. An assessment was made of the possibilities of using social media to analyse social tensions, taking into account the current socio-economic conditions. In addition, this paper analyses the approach to assessing the change in the level of social tension in the event of a crisis.
... СОЦИАЛьНАя НАПРяЖЕННОСТь: ФАКТОРЫ И ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ ЕЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИя ЧЕРЕЗ СОЦИАЛьНЫЕ МЕДИА Социальная напряженность -комплексное явление, имеющее очень широкую вариацию определений, анализ которых показывает, что она совмещает в себе как психологические аспекты, присущие отдельным индивидам (связанные с их эмоциональным состоянием и чувствами неудовлетворенности), так и социальные, свойственные группам, сообществам (они связаны с социальным действием, самоорганизацией и направлены на формирование коллективного ответа и изменение сложившейся социально-экономической ситуации) [8][9][10][11][12]. ...
In many authoritarian countries of the world, rulers proclaim that the current regime is a model of liberal democracy. Its most significant flaw, however, is that it does not actually exist. This discrepancy between the supposed democratic leadership and reality is due to the neopatrimonial nature of the current political systems. Neopatrimonialism appears to be a hybrid model in which state structures, laws, and rules formally exist but are overridden by informal politics, networks of patronage, kinship, and tribalism. Rather than being organized according to merit, social functions, or administrative rank, the neopatrimonial regime finds its stability in bonds of loyalty to those at the top of the political hierarchy. Often, decentralisation reforms are initiated to overcome this crisis and stalemate. Their result is not always unambiguous, and the resulting effect corresponds to widely advertised expectations. In this context, this study examines the peculiarities of decentralisation reforms and their results in the countries with neopatrimonial democracy. Special attention is paid to the advantages and disadvantages of delegating part of state powers and authority to the local level, as well as its possibilities in achieving peace and resolving conflicts. The results suggest that, ideally, decentralisation generally contributes to an inclusive world where different groups can access power and are included in governance. In practice, however, this result is not always achieved because of the weak institutionalisation of the party system, the lack of transparency in government, and an underdeveloped civil society. The paper examines in detail the specifics of neopatrimonialism in its theoretical and methodological dimension. In addition, emphasis is placed on the potential of decentralisation to contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts in a country or — given weak social and political institutions, on the contrary, to increase uncertainty and the threat of military confrontation. A positive example of decentralisation in a neo-patrimonial democracy is seen in the Republic of Kazakhstan, where reforms aimed at changing the contour of the political system, namely constitutional changes affecting, among other things, the powers of the president, were introduced in 2022–2023. The successes in the implementation of constitutional reform in the country are outlined, and the key foundations of successful delegation of powers and separation of powers are highlighted. Using Kazakhstan as an example, the experience of democratisation through the prism of political and socio-economic transformations is examined. The conclusions of the article contain the thesis that depending on the totality of circumstances, peculiarities of political culture, the structure of the power apparatus, etc., the process of decentralisation in neopatrimonial regimes can be both effective and weakly expressed, aimed at strengthening the concentration of power by the ruling elite.
... Studies have emphasised how informal migrant solidarity networks are shaped and transformed by digital practices Jumbert 2021) and that solidarity practices and migration cannot be separated from the technodigital actors that enable it (Galis, Jørgensen, and Sandberg 2022). Other studies have emphasised how social movements and activists operate in the digital sphere by looking at visual aesthetics and how digital protests emerge, connect, and challenge authorities (Tufekci 2017;McGarry et al. 2019). Following these debates, this article explores how ordinary citizens use the digital space to challenge ideas of citizenship, borders, and migration control. ...
This article explores how informal, citizen-led solidarity with migrants is practised digitally and discusses how we can concep-tualise such acts. The study draws on digital observations, semi-structured interviews and one eld visit. Citizen humanitarians, who are informants in this study, supported migrants from Afghanistan who had been rejected asylum in Norway. Support included facilitating unauthorised migration, transit, residency within the Schengen area, nancial help, and caregiving. By analysing these acts, the article discusses scholarly debates on citizenship regarding who enjoys the right to stay and access social rights in Europe and humanitarian ideals of 'saving lives' of migrants threatened by deportation. The article show that citizen humanitarians use digital acts to carry out borderwork that were depended on and enabled by weak social ties. These practices fostered communities between citizen humanitarians and enabled them to claim rights for themselves and others. Based on the analysis, I develop the term 'digital citizen humanitarianism', which allows us to be more precise about di erent forms of citizen humanitarianism facilitated by the digital. ARTICLE HISTORY
In the era of mass communication, citizens had a marginal role in terms of their influence in conditioning public debate. The consolidation of social media has introduced new parameters to redefine their influence in terms of digital empowerment. Our objective is to analyze whether Twitter is supporting a redefinition of the influence of citizens in political journalism that questions its traditional borders, making them more blurred and hybrid. We have carried out research based on the methodology of social network analysis with a big data sample of 127.3 million tweets related to the negotiations for the formation of the Government in Spain. The results reveal that journalists and politicians continue to dominate the discussion on Twitter and citizens are the group with the least influence. In addition, we identify the factors that encourage citizens to become connective influencers. Finally, we discuss the future of political journalism considering our findings.
Digital sovereignty: an open debate and three political problems Resumen: El desarrollo tecnológico digital reciente abre un amplio abanico de nuevas posibilidades. Fundamentalmente en manos de las grandes empresas tecnológicas, sin embargo, representa una amenaza para los sistemas democráticos. En este contexto, se ha intensificado el debate en torno a la soberanía digital. Actores de diversos ámbitos reclaman esta soberanía desde perspectivas y con objetivos diferentes. A la luz de este debate, analizo tres problemas políticos a superar para avanzar hacia la soberanía digital. Abstract: Recent digital technological development opens up a wide range of new possibilities. Mainly in the hands of the big technological corporations, though, it represents a threat to democratic systems. In this context, the debate on digital sovereignty has intensified. Actors from several fields call for this sovereignty from different perspectives and with various objectives. In light of this debate, I analyse three political problems to overcome in order to move towards digital sovereignty.
Communication departments of international organizations (IOs) are important intermediaries of global governance who increasingly use social media to reach out to citizens directly. Social media pose new challenges for IO communication such as a highly competitive economy of attention and the fragmentation of the audiences driven by networked curation of content and selective exposure. In this context, communication departments have to make tough choices about what to communicate and how, aggravating inherent tensions between IO communication as comprehensive public information (aimed at institutional transparency)—and partisan political advocacy (aimed at normative change). If IO communication focuses on advocacy it might garner substantial resonance on social media. Such advocacy nevertheless fails to the extent that it fosters the polarized fragmentation of networked communication and undermines the credibility of IO communication as a source of trustworthy information across polarized “echo chambers.” The paper illustrates this argument through a content and social network analysis of Twitter communication on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). Remarkably, instead of facilitating cross-cluster communication (“building bridges”) Twitter handles run by the United Nations Department of Global Communications (UNDGC) seem to have substantially fostered ideological fragmentation (“digging the trench”) by their way of partisan retweeting, mentioning, and (hash)tagging.
Generative artificial intelligence has given us synthetic media that are increasingly easy to create and increasingly hard to distinguish from photographs and videos. Whereas an existing literature has been concerned with how these new media might make a difference for would-be knowers—the viewers of photographs and videos—I advance a thesis about how they will make a difference for would-be communicators—those who embed photos and videos in their speech acts. I claim that the presence of these media in our information environment reduces our ability to show one another things, even as it may increase our resources for telling. And I argue that this has consequences beyond the disruption of knowledge acquisition; showing is a way that we preserve relational equality through superficial asymmetries in political communication, and thereby express respect for our audiences. If synthetic media reduce our options for showing, they then interfere in the way that we manage our relationships in the context of collective political action.
Digital technologies can augment civic participation by facilitating the expression of detailed political preferences. Yet, digital participation efforts often rely on methods optimized for elections involving a few candidates. Here we present data collected in an online experiment where participants built personalized government programmes by combining policies proposed by the candidates of the 2022 French and Brazilian presidential elections. We use this data to explore aggregates complementing those used in social choice theory, finding that a metric of divisiveness, which is uncorrelated with traditional aggregation functions, can identify polarizing proposals. These metrics provide a score for the divisiveness of each proposal that can be estimated in the absence of data on the demographic characteristics of participants and that explains the issues that divide a population. These findings suggest that divisiveness metrics can be useful complements to traditional aggregation functions in direct forms of digital participation.
In the years leading up to March 2011, a period characterized by extensive public protests in Syria, International Civil Society Organisations (ICSOs) collaborated with Syrian civil groups on a range of initiatives. However, this engagement faced stagnation due to a lack of essential information and inadequate communication methods, which also led to a surge in dissatisfaction. The crux of the issue appears to be the coercive suppression of opposing rallies that ultimately escalated into armed conflict, exacerbating forced migrations and amplifying the refugee crisis in Syria and beyond. A critical examination of this period delineates the shortcomings in the coordination among ICSOs, underscoring a pressing need for effective communication strategies to foster global peace. The Syrian populace, marked by diversity and a firm commitment to democratic governance, exhibits notable resilience amidst the prevailing circumstances. Recognizing this, the current research proposes the development of a novel communication strategy harnessing the power of social media platforms to enhance engagement with the Syrian public. This initiative seeks to facilitate bi-directional information sharing and foster active dialogue at various societal levels, underlining the potential of social media in advancing a comprehensive peace plan. The proposed strategy outlines a renewed focus on inclusive communication tactics, encouraging grassroots involvement essential for addressing the deep-seated issues in society. Leveraging sentiment analysis of discourse on social media platforms, it aims to glean crucial insights to steer future strategic directions. The researchers posit that implementing this innovative framework could significantly enhance the role of ICSOs in fostering a cohesive global community, suggesting its broader application across other Arab states facing similar challenges. This study, therefore, advocates for a transformative approach wherein ICSOs leverage informed communication to build a society grounded in mutual understanding and respect, laying the cornerstone for a potential blueprint in advancing global peace through strategic engagements.
The advent of social media has revolutionized the way youth communicate, express themselves, and interact with the world. This study explores the multifaceted impact of social media on young individuals, considering both the positive and negative effects of social media on youths, and provides a solution. A thorough examination of relevant research and existing literature, this study aims to shed light on the influence social media has on various aspects of youth's lives. The positive impact of social media on youth is evident in enhanced communication and connectivity, fostering a sense of community and belonging. Social media platforms provide a wealth of information and educational resources, allowing young people to access diverse perspectives and knowledge. Moreover, it has become a powerful tool for raising social awareness, encouraging activism, and promoting positive causes, empowering the youth to be change-makers in their communities. However, alongside these benefits, social media also presents several negative consequences for youth. Excessive use can lead to mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and feelings of inadequacy, exacerbated by the culture of comparison and unrealistic standards prevalent on these platforms. Cyberbullying and privacy concerns pose serious risks to young individuals, impacting their emotional well-being and safety. This abstract delves into the ways social media affects various aspects of youth's lives, including education, self-expression, identity formation, and career development. It highlights the potential for distraction and the impact on academic performance due to excessive usage. Additionally, the role of social media in shaping body image concerns and influencing consumer behavior among youth is addressed. By examining the role of parents, educational institutions, and society in guiding and managing the use of social media among youth, this abstract emphasizes the importance of promoting responsible digital citizenship.
The concept of whistleblowing is very important in revealing all illegal behaviors and negative actions in businesses. Those who disclose these events are called whistleblowers. Whistleblowing has become an increasingly important concept in recent years. The aim of this study is to determine the negative behaviors experienced in restaurant businesses, and to determine the attitudes and behaviors of employees and managers against these negative actions. In this context, this study used employee platform websites to examine employee feedback. The US-based company has had a platform where users can write reviews of companies and job opportunities since 2008. Employees can express their views and feedback about the organization on this platform. 1.250 restaurant reviews in English with searchable comments have been uploaded to the platform. These restaurants have been evaluated for unethical acts such as low pay and overtime, illegal negligence and policies, psychological violence, harassment and discrimination, workplace safety, mismanagement and theft. According to the results obtained, those working in restaurants are exposed to these whistleblowing categories. Employees mostly complain about poor management and lack of support from managers and therefore use external disclosure channels.
This chapter analyzes the AKP government’s regional policies, domestic power struggles, and priorities that shaped a new logrolled coalition in the lead up to the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. It traces competing strategic cultures by examining historical sources of information to discern if and how they contributed to the foreign policy decisions toward the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean under the shifting priorities of national security. It shows that the interest deficit between Turkey’s rising relative power and its acknowledged role in the system since the 2010s created tensions that the country has tried to bridge by acting more assertively.
The paper demonstrates that social alignment is distinct from value alignment as it is currently understood in the AI safety literature, and argues that social alignment is an important research agenda. Work provides an important example for the argument, since work is a cooperative endeavor, and it is part of the larger manifold of social cooperation. These cooperative aspects of work are individually and socially valuable, and so they must be given a central place when evaluating the impact of AI upon work. Workplace technologies are not simply instruments for achieving productive goals, but ways of mediating interpersonal relations. They are aspects of a cooperative interface i.e. the infrastructure by which we engage cooperative behavior with others. The concept of the cooperative interface suggests two conjectures to foreground in the social alignment agenda, motivated by the experience of algorithmic trading and social robotics: that AI impacts cooperation through its effects on social networks, and through its effects on social norms.
This studies examines the influence of social media on political participation by exploring the stories, perceptions, and behaviors of people. Through thematic evaluation of consciousness organization discussions and interviews, regarding 10 members (5 men and 5 girls), key findings emerge. Firstly, social media serves as a extensive supply of political statistics, allowing people to access diverse perspectives, information articles, and actualtime updates on political occasions. Secondly, social media systems facilitate political discussion and dialogue, allowing individuals to specific their critiques, engage with various viewpoints, and mission their personal ideals. Thirdly, social media performs a crucial function in political mobilization, empowering people to endorse for causes, improve awareness, and arrange campaigns. Additionally, social media complements individuals' feel of political efficacy, fostering their perception in their ability to make a distinction within the political sphere. Lastly, the examine highlights the relationship among social media engagement and offline political participation, with social media frequently serving as a catalyst for people' involvement in political activities. These findings emphasize the capability of social media as a tool for political engagement, information dissemination, and mobilization, however additionally spotlight challenges related to incorrect information. The implications of those findings advise the need for media literacy training, strategic use of social media by using policymakers and political actors, and efforts to sell knowledgeable and inclusive political engagement in the digital age.
El uso de Twitter como espacio la comunicación entre políticos y ciudadanos, es una invaluable fuente de datos sobre la participación activa -engagement- de los usuarios. Al aplicar un enfoque de análisis de texto a una serie de publicaciones entre marzo de 2020 y febrero de 2021, exploramos también la interacción social que surge de las publicaciones de la cuenta presidencial @DrGiammattei y la respuesta directa de los ciudadanos. Los resultados prueban la participación ciudadana, de la que deviene un sinfín de temas de interés sobre el debate social en la vida política del país; entre ellos, el uso de perfiles falsos, la credibilidad del Presidente, la falta de transparencia en la entrega de información oficial, el sistema de justicia involucrado en escándalos políticos y el creciente ataque a la prensa. Nuestro objetivo es ampliar la información de la dinámica de Twitter para exponer y debatir realidades.
Cybernetic Aesthetics draws from cybernetics theory and terminology to interpret the communication structures and reading strategies that modernist text cultivate. In doing so, Heather A. Love shows how cybernetic approaches to communication emerged long before World War II; they flourished in the literature of modernism's most innovative authors. This book engages a range of literary authors, including Ezra Pound, John Dos Passos, Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce, and cybernetics theorists, such as Norbert Wiener, Claude Shannon, Ross Ashby, Silvan Tomkins, Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson, and Mary Catherine Bateson. Through comparative analysis, Love uncovers cybernetics' relevance to modernism and articulates modernism's role in shaping the cultural conditions that produced not merely technological cybernetics, but also the more diffuse notion of cybernetic thinking that still exerts its influence today.
Prison and police abolition has become a major political philosophy in North American discourse following the 2020 George Floyd protests. The philosophy remains divisive, and North American abolitionists seeking to coalition-build, provide resources for vulnerable populations and garner public support continue to experience challenges. We explore current usage of digital tools among abolitionists and the potential of a digital mapping tool to address these challenges. We conduct an interview study with 15 abolitionist organizations to understand activists' perspectives on the value of digital tools for organizing and a content analysis of 25 existing digital tools that convey abolitionist ideas to the public. Our findings together reveal (1) opportunities for digital mapping and HCI to support abolitionist activism and grassroots activism more broadly and (2) the challenges of digitally and spatially representing a movement that is intentionally grassroots, clandestine, and often involves organizers working in disparate locations.
This chapter explores AI and women’s security, touching on different concepts of safety as well as the ways in which AI-related technologies such as recommendation systems and generative AI can make women less safe. It also examines safety-enhancing AI applications to show the opportunities of the technologies when women’s security is at the heart of their design.
Przedmiotem artykułu jest analiza językowa dyskursów protestacyjnych, wywołanych przez sfałszowanie wyborów prezydenckich na Białorusi w sierpniu 2020 r. Protesty 2020 r. stały się przedmiotem niektórych publikacji naukowych, jednak przeważnie uwzględniają one społeczno-kulturowy aspekt tego zjawiska. Systemowego i teoretycznie uzasadnionego badania wymaga natomiast aspekt językowy. Autorzy artykułu skupili się na jednym z najważniejszych elementów tej agendy badawczej – społeczno-symbolicznym i pragmatyczno-komunikacyjnym wykorzystaniu języka białoruskiego w trakcie akcji protestu. Badanie jest oparte na wybranych koncepcjach socjolingwistycznych, a za materiał posłużyło 300 tekstów ulicznych (napisy plakatowe, slogany, hasła, inskrypcje miejskie) oraz teksty elektroniczne (zarchiwizowane posty na stronach internetowych portali społecznościowych i komunikatorów).
The term 'fake news' became a buzzword during Donald Trump's presidency, yet it is a term that means very different things to different people. This pioneering book provides a comprehensive examination of what Americans mean when they talk about fake news in contemporary politics, mass media, and societal discourse, and explores the various factors that contribute to this, such as the power of language, political parties, ideology, media, and socialization. By analysing a range of case studies across war, political corruption, climate change, conspiracy theories, electoral politics, and the Covid-19 pandemic, it demonstrates how fake news is a fundamentally contested phenomenon, and how its meaning varies depending on the person using the term, and the political context. It provides readers with tools to identify, talk about, and resist fake news, and emphasizes a need for education reform with an eye toward promoting critical thinking and information literacy.
Using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, activists have given new impetus to aspirations of ‘leaderful’ organizing. Disavowing the centralization of leadership and rethinking the history of the struggle for civil rights, many have sought to develop and revamp models of decentralized leadership. Digital networking features prominently in these models, but the literature suggests its role is ambiguous: while social media provide affordances for decentralized leadership, they may also induce the centralization of leadership. To examine such leadership dynamics, we adopt a computational approach. Drawing on a dataset of roughly 18 million tweets collected over a 30-month period, we examine two aspects of leadership dynamics: the concentration of leadership (i.e., inequality in terms of centrality within networks) and the consolidation of leadership (i.e., the degree to which central figures retain prominence over time). Engaging with the measurement of network inequality by differentiating temporal aspects of concentration and consolidation, we show that leadership dynamics fluctuate strongly over time. Aside from a select few individuals, there is little consolidation of leadership: new voices can consistently rise to prominence. Beyond providing an examination of online leadership dynamics within the Movement for Black Lives, this paper shows how computational analyses can be adopted in ways that do justice to the dynamic and diverse nature of movements.
HASHTAG AKTİVİZMİ ARAŞTIRMALARIN BİBLİYOMETRİK ANALİZİ ÖZ Tarihsel olarak marjinalize edilen topluluklar ve seslerini duyuramayan bireyler için sosyal medya, önemli bir etkileşim ve farkındalık imkânı sunmaktadır. Sosyal medyanın yaygın kullanımı, hemen her alanda olduğu gibi toplumsal hareketlerin ve aktivizm faaliyetlerinin yeniden şekillenmesinde de önemli rol oynamaktadır. Bu kapsamda ortaya çıkan hashtag aktivizmi, sosyal medya ağlarında hashtaglerin kullanımıyla gerçekleşen bir dijital aktivizm hareketi olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Bu araştırma, uluslararası bir veri tabanı olarak dünya çapında kullanılan Scopus’ta yayınlanmış hashtag aktivizmine yönelik çalışmaların bibliyometrik analiz ile incelenerek, günümüzdeki ve gelecekteki eğilimleri ortayı çıkarmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu kapsamda, 5 Haziran 2023 tarihinde ‘‘hashtag activism’’ terimi kullanılarak Scopus’ta bir inceleme gerçekleştirilmiş ve araştırma başlıklarında bulunması şeklinde sınırlandırılarak toplamda 72 akademik çalışmaya ulaşılmıştır. Hashtag aktivizmine yönelik araştırmalar, VOSviewer yazılımı kullanılarak yazarlar, yayın yılları, anahtar kelimeler, atıflar, ülkeler ve ortak yazarlık gibi farklı çerçevelerde incelenerek tablolaştırılmış ve görselleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, henüz yeni sayılabilecek bir kavram olan hashtag aktivizmine yönelik araştırmaların Scopus veri tabanında 2015 yılı itibarıyla yayınlandıkları, toplamda 72 araştırmanın genellikle ülke bazında gerçekleştirildiği, en çok yayın yapan ve atıf alan ülkenin Amerika Birleşik Devletleri olduğu ve hashtag aktivizminin en çok sosyal medya, feminizm ve Twitter anahtar kelimeleri ile birlikte kullanıldığı gibi sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Hashtag Aktivizmi, Sosyal Medya, Toplumsal Hareketler, Bibliyometrik Analiz, Scopus, VOSviewer
In this Chapter we explore the fundamental differences in structures, goals and dynamics separating digitalised public spaces from private spaces. Five are especially important. Namely: inclusivity, longevity, generality, reliability, and publicity. The first (inclusivity) can be summarised as follows: digital public spaces aim to be inclusive. Consumer tech can be—and often is—exclusive. The second difference is longevity. It describes the aspiration of public regulation to be as durable as possible. Consumer tech instead plans its obsolescence. Third on the list is generality. Democratic spaces are designed by governments to serve the interests of large and undifferentiated communities. Consumer tech aims primarily at targeting individual users. Fourth, virtual democratic spaces differ from consumer tech in terms of reliability. Consumers are always offered the chance to opt out and adopt cheaper or more functional alternatives. However, citizens are usually not offered any alternative to the policy-making tools that are provided by a particular governmental authority. That is, they cannot opt out of one tool and then re-engage via a different, more useful or attractive digital technology. Fifth and finally, technological forms of power are structured on the principle of secrecy. Public powers are instead grounded on the principles of publicity and officiality.KeywordsPolarizationBroadcast modelOne-to-many approachCognitive overloadDigital inequalitySunset clausesLongevity principleProgrammed obsolescenceLegal dynamismDigital representativenessCompulsory digitalityCivicTechNew feudal societyDemocratic dissonanceOnlifeDigital undemocratic
Many protesters under authoritarian rule are "narrow in scope, involving only one or a few neighborhoods, villages, or groups of laid-off workers" and focus on demands that "have to do only with material interests and local grievances" (Lorentzen, 2013, p. 131). These protests typically blame local authorities and express loyalty to the political system. However, in the internet age, pro-democracy advocates often endorse and co-opt these local policy protests for their own ends. Does being endorsed by pro-democracy activists undermine support for these local policy protesters? Building on research suggesting that non-activists often perceive activists as extreme, I theorize that associating with pro-democratic frames can undermine support for local policy pro-testers by making the protesters seem more extreme and their protests less legal. Using an internet survey experiment in Vietnam, I find support for my
There are many products for which the utility that a user derives from consumption of the good increases with the number of other agents consuming the good. There are several possible sources of these positive con- sumption externalities.1 1) The consumption externalities may be generated through a direct physical effect of the number of purchasers on the quality of the product. The utility that a consumer derives from purchasing a telephone, for ex- ample, clearly depends on the number of other households or businesses that have joined the telephone network. These network externalities are present for other communi- cations technologies as well, including Telex, data networks, and over-the-phone facsimilie equipment. 2) There may be indirect effects that give rise to consumption externalities. For example, an agent purchasing a personal computer will be concerned with the number of other agents purchasing similar hardware because the amount and variety of software that will be supplied for use with a given computer will be an increasing function of the number of hardware units that have been sold. This hardware-software paradigm also applies to video games, video players and recorders, and phonograph equipment. 3) Positive consumption externalities arise for a durable good when the quality and availability of postpurchase service for the good depend on the experience and size of the service network, which may in turn vary with the number of units of the good that have been sold. In the automobile market, for example, foreign manufacturers' sales initially were retarded by consumers' awareness of the less experienced and thinner service networks that existed for new or less popular brands. In all of these cases, the utility that a given user derives from the good depends upon the number of other users who are in the same "network" as is he or she. The scope of the network that gives rise to the consumption
Russia, as many contemporary states, takes public diplomacy seriously. Since the inception of its English language TV network Russia Today in 2005 (now ‘RT’), the Russian government has broadened its operations to include Sputnik news websites in several languages and social media activities. Moscow, however, has also been accused of engaging in covert influence activities – behaviour historically referred to as ‘active measures’ in the Soviet KGB lexicon on political warfare. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on how Russia since 2014 has moved towards a preference for active measures towards Sweden, a small country in a geopolitically important European region. We analyse the blurring of boundaries between public diplomacy and active measures; document phenomena such as forgeries, disinformation, military threats and agents of influence and define Russian foreign policy strategy. In summary, we conclude that the overarching goal of Russian policy towards Sweden and the wider Baltic Sea is to preserve the geostrategic status quo, which is identified with a security order minimising NATO presence in the region.
In this chapter, we examine and compare the activity in the two politically focused Facebook groups, “Join the Coffee Party Movement” and “Tea Party Patriots,” from the time period immediately preceding the 2010 mid-term elections through the week following the seating of the newly elected Congress (October 25, 2010–January 12, 2011). We incorporate social network analysis of electronic trace data coupled with a framing analysis of the topics posted by the group administrators (parent posts) to provide an understanding of the agenda setting practices of administrators and subsequent discourse from the participants that occur in these two groups. Through this analysis we identify three interesting findings. First, there are shared topics of discourse that are framed differently in the two groups.
This study explores the framing practices employed by mainstream mass-media outlets in the United States in their coverage of the Global Justice Movement during two major episodes of contention: the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in 1999 and the World Bank/IMF protests in Washington, DC in 2000. A content analysis of prominent and influential newspapers—the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the Boston Globe—and television networks—ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and FOX—rendered five predominant frames: the Violence Frame, the Disruption Frame, the Freak Frame, the Ignorance Frame, and the Amalgam of Grievances Frame. These frames emerge from the interactive relationship between social movements and the mass media, which is bracketed by journalistic norms and values, and results in a dialectic of escalation whereby dissidents feel pressed to radicalize their tactics and rhetoric if they want to gain mass-media attention.