Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter

Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter

In this article, we explore the potential role of social media in helping movements expand and/or strengthen themselves internally, processes we refer to as scaling up . Drawing on a case study of Black Lives Matter (BLM) that includes both analysis of public social media accounts and interviews wit...

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Main Authors: Marcia Mundt, Karen Ross, Charla M Burnett
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2018-10-01
Series:Social Media + Society
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118807911
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spelling doaj-939326e356324dd29afd2faeeb98061d2020-11-25T03:28:23ZengSAGE PublishingSocial Media + Society2056-30512018-10-01410.1177/2056305118807911Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives MatterMarcia MundtKaren RossCharla M BurnettIn this article, we explore the potential role of social media in helping movements expand and/or strengthen themselves internally, processes we refer to as scaling up . Drawing on a case study of Black Lives Matter (BLM) that includes both analysis of public social media accounts and interviews with BLM groups, we highlight possibilities created by social media for building connections, mobilizing participants and tangible resources, coalition building, and amplifying alternative narratives. We also discuss challenges and risks associated with using social media as a platform for scaling up. Our analysis suggests that while benefits of social media use outweigh its risks, careful management of online media platforms is necessary to mitigate concrete, physical risks that social media can create for activists.https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118807911
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Marcia Mundt
Karen Ross
Charla M Burnett
spellingShingle Marcia Mundt
Karen Ross
Charla M Burnett
Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter
Social Media + Society
author_facet Marcia Mundt
Karen Ross
Charla M Burnett
author_sort Marcia Mundt
title Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter
title_short Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter
title_full Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter
title_fullStr Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter
title_full_unstemmed Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter
title_sort scaling social movements through social media: the case of black lives matter
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Social Media + Society
issn 2056-3051
publishDate 2018-10-01
description In this article, we explore the potential role of social media in helping movements expand and/or strengthen themselves internally, processes we refer to as scaling up . Drawing on a case study of Black Lives Matter (BLM) that includes both analysis of public social media accounts and interviews with BLM groups, we highlight possibilities created by social media for building connections, mobilizing participants and tangible resources, coalition building, and amplifying alternative narratives. We also discuss challenges and risks associated with using social media as a platform for scaling up. Our analysis suggests that while benefits of social media use outweigh its risks, careful management of online media platforms is necessary to mitigate concrete, physical risks that social media can create for activists.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118807911
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AT karenross scalingsocialmovementsthroughsocialmediathecaseofblacklivesmatter
AT charlamburnett scalingsocialmovementsthroughsocialmediathecaseofblacklivesmatter
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