Social Media and the “20 Cents Movement” in Brazil: What Lessons Can Be Learnt from This?

Abstract

The scope of this article is to describe and analyze the “20 Cents Movement” in Brazil that flared up in June 2013, as well as the important role the social network sites played in spreading this unrest nationwide. The Internet and social media context in Brazil is set forth and the brief history of the “20 Cents Movement” is unveiled. The dynamics of these uprisings in Brazil is then examined and interpreted in order to understand how important social media were in fomenting this movement. Lastly, lessons learnt and recommendations for policy-makers are outlined such that they can better understand the consequences and unexpected ripple effects arising from the intense use of social network sites in nations marked by major social, economic, political and digital inequalities.

Keywords:

• social media
• social network sites
• electronic participation
• Brazil

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Luiz Antonio Joia is currently an Associate Professor and Principal of e:lab – Research Laboratory on e-Government and e-Business at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration at Getulio Vargas Foundation, as well as an Adjunct Professor at Rio de Janeiro State University. He was awarded his B.Sc. in Fortification and Construction Engineering at the Military Institute of Engineering, Brazil, and his M.Sc. in Civil Engineering and D.Sc. in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He also holds an M.Sc. in Management Studies from Oxford University. His research interests lie in e-business and e-government, intellectual capital and knowledge management, and information technology for development.

Notes

1. CGI is the Brazilian Internet Management Committee.

2. The methodology of the CGI survey may underestimate real Internet usage, since many users of smartphones might not associate their social media usage with the Internet.

3. IBGE is the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.

4. See http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=561 (retrieved September 28, 2013).

5. See http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mobile-phone-world-population-2014/#ixzz3PeZ5fgEu

6. See http://www.zdnet.com/article/smartphones-represent-76-percent-of-all-phones-in-brazil/ (retrieved January 23, 2015).

7. See http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Brazils-Social-Audience-Keeps-Growing-New-Web-Users-Join/1010003 (retrieved September 27, 2013).

8. See http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2013/3/comScore_Releases_2013_Brazil_Digital_Future_in_Focus_Report (retrieved September 27, 2013).

9. See http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2013/09/12/the-future-of-social-media-forget-about-the-u-s-look-to-brazil/ (retrieved September 27, 2013).

10. Most of the information about the dynamics of this movement was based on Batista (2013), Biderman (2013), Borba, Felizi, and Reys (2014), Franco (2013) and Ruediger et al. (2014), as well as news published in the traditional media and posts made available in the social media, both accessed by the author.

11. “Free Fare Movement” in English. See http://farefreebrazil.blogspot.com.br/ for further information.

12. 1 US$ ∼ R$ 2.7 (circa 2015).

13. In the USA, football is referred to as soccer.

14. See http://farefreebrazil.blogspot.com.br/ (retrieved February 17, 2015).

15. See http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/cidades,pelas-redes-sociais-79-milhoes-de-pessoas-falando-de-um-tema,1043619,0.htm (retrieved October 6, 2013).

16. http://idgnow.uol.com.br/internet/2013/06/19/hashtag-verasqueumfilhoteunaofogealuta-superou-as-demais-durante-protestos/

17. This is a reference to the FIFA Football (Soccer) World Cup that was scheduled to take place in Brazil in June 2014, being associated with high costs and expenses considered superfluous by the digital activists and the Brazilian population in general.

18. See the posts at https://www.facebook.com/passelivresp/timeline from June 2013 onwards, retrieved February 19, 2015.

19. Estimates of figures involved can be retrieved at http://www.revistaforum.com.br/blog/2013/06/mapeamento/, retrieved February 19, 2015.

20. In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character (see Nowak & Rauh, 2005).

21. See examples of mobile phones made affordable to the African population inHosman and Fife (2012).