The mediatization of leadership: grassroots digital facilitators as organic intellectuals, sociometric stars and caretakers^*

* ‘Facilitators’ was the term suggested by two of our interviewees when we asked about their role in the movement.

ABSTRACT

Scholars of both resource mobilization theory and new social movement theory recognize leadership as integral to traditional social movements. Following global protest movements of 2011, some now characterize movements relying on social media as horizontal and leaderless. Whether due to an organizational shift to networks over bureaucracies or due to a change in values, many social movements in the present protest cycle do not designate visible leadership. Does leadership in social media activism indeed disappear or does it take on new forms? This paper undertakes an in-depth analysis of data obtained through interviews, event observations and analysis of media content related to three Canadian cases of civic mobilization of different scale, all of which strategically employed social media. The paper proposes a conceptual framework for understanding the role of these mobilizations’ organizers as organic intellectuals, sociometric stars and caretakers. By looking closely at the three cases through the lenses offered by these concepts, we identify the specific styles that characterize digitally mediatized civic leadership.

KEYWORDS:

• Civic activism
• leadership
• social movements
• mediatization
• social media

Acknowledgement

This research was made possible thanks to an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the project ‘Social Media and Civic Culture: Investigating Emerging Practices of Democratic Participation in Canada.’

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

* ‘Facilitators’ was the term suggested by two of our interviewees when we asked about their role in the movement.

1 See also della Ratta and Valeriani (2012).

2 (i.e. based on what leaders do and how they relate to non-leaders, see Melucci, 1996).

3 Space does not permit us to consider in depth the advantages of the concepts of ‘mediatization’ and ‘mediation’, respectively (see Livingstone, 2009; Couldry, 2008; Ampuja et al., 2014). We see them as interrelated. All social processes are mediated, hence the concept of mediation in its double articulation (Silverstone, 2006) highlights the need to understand the material affordances of the media involved in the production and reception of symbolic content. Mediatization, for its part, is useful in focusing on the social and cultural effects of media change.

4 Names have been changed.

5 This was the chant and slogan of the Refugees Welcome movement nation-wide.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 435-2014-0200].