After the Internet by Ramesh Srinivasan Adam Fish & Adam Fish

Author:Ramesh Srinivasan,Adam Fish & Adam Fish
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Published: 2017-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

The position that online activity correlates with early (or prior) stages of protest is unsurprising, as it makes sense that internet-connected activists would use these media to spread their perspectives, and gather support. Such a position is described in research around “citizen journalism,” namely the use of technology and the blogosphere to facilitate revolutionary conversation during times of political turmoil (Al-Rawi 2014). Seungahn Nah and Deborah Chung (2016), for example, have discussed how citizen journalism can work as a substitute for censored mainstream journalism in such periods of upheaval.

We recognize and respect such work. Indeed, it is unsurprising that online activity may circulate stories from the ground. Yet ending our analysis at this point would fail to consider the experiences of the majority of a population that may be technologically disconnected, as well as the other means by which they may protest or share information.

Revolutions and networks have existed long before Facebook or Twitter, and many have shaped the course of history as we know it. Moreover, the collective action problems of the past were clearly overcome in these cases. Indeed, technological connectivity may work against physical mobilization, particularly when it influences citizens to stay at home or more passively protest by merely remaining online. This is consistent with the position of Navid Hassanpour (2011), who points out that mobile phone and internet use was negatively correlated with physical protest during the Egyptian revolution. Yet when the Mubarak regime made the mistake of shutting down mobile phone and internet connectivity, it may have contributed to the spectacle of January 28, 2011, the largest day of protest.

Like the somewhat optimistic work we have presented, we note the work of several writers who presume that technologies may be incidental or even irrelevant in shaping political activism. For example, Evgeny Morozov (2011) has shared examples that demonstrate how regimes can subvert oppositional activity through using the internet. Consistent with this, Malcolm Gladwell, in his piece “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted” (2012), argues that social media technologies are useful for forming “weak ties,” which assist the spreading of information during revolutions, yet fail to form “strong ties,” which are needed to shape trust and leadership in a political movement.

Other writers, such as Nicholas Carr and Andrew Keen, have also weighed in with their doubts. Carr (2010) has argued that internet activity blocks one's ability to focus, process, and presumably reflect on information, which would seemingly stymie the capacity to protest effectively. Keen (2007), in turn, over-essentializes the internet to assume that it is nothing but a vehicle for narcissism and therefore “anti-social.”

We appreciate the optimistic and skeptical positions taken by these writers. Yet what we believe is missing across these points is a relational analysis of the internet and social media that considers how it is mediated by the values, practices, contexts, and creativity of activists and citizens. What is missing is the consideration of assemblages that bring technologies into conversations with other factors in shaping political activism.

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