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The structure of online activism

Lewis, Kevin, Gray, Kurt and Meierhenrich, Jens ORCID: 0000-0002-2165-3268 (2014) The structure of online activism. Sociological Science, 1. pp. 1-9. ISSN 2330-6696

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Identification Number: 10.15195/v1.a1

Abstract

Despite the tremendous amount of attention that has been paid to the internet as a tool for civic engagement, we still have little idea how “active” is the average online activist or how social networks matter in facilitating electronic protest. In this paper, we use complete records on the donation and recruitment activity of 1.2 million members of the Save Darfur “Cause” on Facebook to provide a detailed first look at a massive online social movement. While both donation and recruitment behavior are socially patterned, the vast majority of Cause members recruited no one else into the Cause and contributed no money to it-suggesting that in the case of the Save Darfur campaign, Facebook conjured an illusion of activism rather than facilitating the real thing.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://www.sociologicalscience.com/
Additional Information: © 2014 The Authors, Sociological Science
Divisions: International Relations
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
J Political Science > JZ International relations
Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZA Information resources > ZA4050 Electronic information resources
Date Deposited: 24 Feb 2014 10:50
Last Modified: 02 Oct 2024 22:27
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/55821

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