Mobilizing media: comparing TV and social media effects on protest mobilization

ABSTRACT

The year 2017 saw a cycle of protest ignited by President Trump’s election and subsequent policies. This research seeks to investigate the role of social media and television in raising awareness of protest events and increasing participation in marches and demonstrations. This paper uses data from two surveys conducted in May and June 2017, during the peak of this cycle of protest. We explore the role of social media for protest participation (in general) as well as for awareness and participation in the Women’s March and March for Science. We find that Twitter use offers more consistent effects compared to Facebook in relation to the cycle of protest. In contrast, television use has no impact on awareness and thus, limited potential for mobilization. Social media is distinctive in relation to mobilization, because of social networking features that allow people to learn about specific events, discuss the issues, expose people to invitations to participation, as well as identify members of one’s social network who are also interested in participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• protest
• marches
• television

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Shelley Boulianne is an associate professor in sociology at MacEwan University, Canada. She earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She conducts research on media use and public opinion, as well as civic and political engagement, using meta-analysis techniques, experiments, and surveys.

Karolina Koc-Michalska is a professor at Audencia Business School and associated researcher at CEVIPOF Sciences Po, Paris, France. Her research focuses on the strategies of political actors in the online environment and citizens' political engagement.

Bruce Bimber is a professor in the Department of Political Science and the Center for Information Technology and Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studies political behavior and public opinion in the context of digital media.

ORCID

Shelley Boulianne http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8951-1098

Karolina Koc-Michalska http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5354-5616

Bruce Bimber http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4458-5413

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Audencia Foundation.