From Tragedy to Activism: Publics’ Emotions, Efficacy, and Communicative Action on Twitter in the Case of the 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting

ABSTRACT

Guided by the Anger Activism Model and pain and loss activism literature, this study analyzes online public discussion in a particular case of activism on social media (i.e., the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting). On the basis of the content analysis of 4,611 tweets, this study explored the role of emotions as well as efficacy beliefs in engaging people in online political conversations during pain and loss events. Key insights about the joint effects of emotion and efficacy in activism communication provide communication practitioners and advocacy groups with more informative approaches to strategically communicate with activist publics in the online environment.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.