Social network websites as information channels for the US Social Forum

• Autores: Elizabeth Anne Gervais
• Localización: Media, Culture & Society, ISSN-e 1460-3675, Vol. 37, Nº. 4, 2015, págs. 547-565
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In this article, I examine the use of social network website (SNS) as an influential factor for offline protest activities and organizational memberships. The properties of SNSs may help encourage interpersonal interaction, broaden social ties, and provide valuable information about how to become civically and politically involved. I test these hypotheses using data from a survey of attendees fielded at the US Social Forum (USSF) and control for individual factors as well as alternative mobilizing channels. The empirical evidence suggests that attendees who learned of the meeting through SNSs were more likely to engage in offline protest activity and have a broader array of organizational memberships than were those who learned of the USSF through alternative information channels. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for social movement mobilization and persistence.