THE CONTRIBUTION OF WEBSITES AND BLOGS TO THE STUDENTS’ PROTEST COMMUNICATION TACTICS DURING THE 2010 UK UNIVERSITY OCCUPATIONS

Abstract

This paper examines the use of websites and blogs during the 2010 UK anti-cuts protests, where students across the UK occupied more than 35 universities in a symbolic act of opposition to government plans to cut education funding and increase tuition fees. Although social media have largely monopolized the debate on online political activism in recent years, students did not limit their online e-tactics to the use of social media, but used websites and blogs extensively to describe and contextualize their views, demands, protest experiences and actions. This study assesses which of the website features that are usually found in social movement organization (SMO) websites are adopted by websites constructed by loosely organized groups, such as those of the occupying students, and how they differ from SMO websites. The findings show that informational, interactive and mobilizing features were not equally prominent in all occupation websites. Although all standard SMO website features could, to some extent, also be found on the occupying students' websites, the features were emphasized differently. Mobilizing (and some interactive) features played a more prominent role in the occupying students' websites, which tended to lack other customary SMO website functions such as establishing lateral links with other occupation websites. This study discusses the differences in website features and suggests avenues for further research.

Keywords:

• internet
• student protests
• political activism
• online participation
• websites
• online activism

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Jan W. van Deth for reading and commenting on a previous version of this manuscript, and Rebecca Meier for her research assistance.

Notes

It has been argued that this differentiates them from – and gives them significant advantages over – the micro-blogging format of social media (see Java et al. 2007).

As eloquently described by Penny (2011, p. 26), ‘Amid tangled blankets and computer tables, students are sending out press releases, updating the group's Twitter feed and liaising with fellow dissidents about keeping the younger contingent safe on tomorrow's day of direct action against the tuition fees’.

It should be noted here that, despite past efforts to compile a list of the most frequently used repertoires of online mobilization (Vegh 2003; Van Laer & Van Aelst 2010), which sometimes extended street-theater protest action repertoires into the online realm, the speed with which the internet offers new opportunities for internet-based or internet-supported action makes compiling a definitive list impossible. Therefore, this study considers action-mobilizing website functions to be those that broadly ask (or give the opportunity to) visitors to join or support the cause (see also Van Aelst & Walgrave 2004).

The three types of activities unavoidably prompts a question regarding the direction of causality in terms of offline/online participation; that is, whether students' e-tactics preceded offline mobilization, or whether they resulted from offline mobilization that demanded a web presence to support the offline cause. The relationship between online and offline participation has been the subject of a long-lasting debate in the internet literature; it remains to be seen whether the relationship implies a form of causality (Quintelier & Vissers 2008; Boulianne 2009). A definitive answer cannot be given based on the approach (or findings) of this study. Although it is likely that some people mobilized as a result of online calls for action, the widespread and intense reaction that the government's plans for education cuts provoked would have been opposed by students with or without the assistance of internet technology, making the internet a way of effectively complementing the inevitable offline reaction.

As happened, for example, with www.bristoluniresistance.org.uk.

It is worth noting that after the vote passed, most of the occupations ended the next day or up to ten days later. Some of the occupation websites went offline or were completely abandoned, while others kept posting information, albeit less frequently, about the larger Anti-cuts movement.

The text-analysis software harvested all 1,187 occupation blog/website posts that appeared on the Google Reader RSS/Atom feed from 22 November to 22 December. ‘Units’ are defined as all blog/website posts (articles, video, pictures, etc) on the homepages of all occupation websites from 22 November to December 9.

The text-analytic tool offers a ‘validate dataset’ option that compares the codes given to each unit by individual coders (in this case, the graduate students) and provides a percentage of coding agreement between the coders.

See: http://www.ucloccupation.com/ and http://www.defendeducation.co.uk/.

Although the students of all occupations received hundreds of messages of solidarity from both students and members of staff (see below and Appendix 5 for examples), which demonstrated that their cause and demands received widespread acceptance, it should not be assumed that the opinions and requests presented on the occupation websites necessarily represented the views of the entire student body/staff of the occupied universities.

Named after Lord Browne, who chaired the review of higher education funding.

Embedding a forum or a chat is an option that features in all of the website/blog platforms used by the students; their absence marks an obvious choice on the students' part not to use them.

Some acquired and interacted with thousands of followers (based on the number of tweets produced) in just a couple of days (Theocharis 2012).