CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Ferrari, Elisabetta |
|---|---|
| Title | (Social) Media for the 99%. Occupy Chicago and alternative media production on social networking sites |
| Summary | In this thesis I investigate the relationship between contemporary social movements and social networking sites. By critically engaging the literature on alternative media, I provide an account of the changes brought about by the web 2.0 and I underline their importance for social movements’ practices. Through a content analysis, I examine the social media accounts of Occupy Chicago during the protests of May, 2012 and identify the most important functions that this social media content performs for the movement; my findings show a very limited importance of content that expresses the identity of the movement, spreads alternative news and criticizes mainstream media, while the preponderance of protest reporting content suggests that activists use social media mainly to inform the public of “what they do”. My analysis thus suggests that theories of alternative media should be rethought to account for the changed nature of Internet communications, the different needs of social movements and their strategic choices. Furthermore, I explore the interaction between the features of social media platforms and the political and organizational choices of Occupy. I argue that there is an incompatibility between the open and decentralized political processes of Occupy and the individual-centric nature of social media and I propose to address such clash by looking at the ways in which technologies can solve the needs of social movements and support their efforts, rather than restricting their possibilities. |
| Supervisor | Popescu, Marina |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/ferrari_elisabetta.pdf |
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