Can Social Media Incite Political Mobilization

Abstract

Uprisings depend on whether oppressed people are able to group among existing social networks where people communicate naturally and regularly. Traditionally, social networks were formed around places of worship, universities, schools, workplaces or recreational meeting points. In the digital age, social media play that role of getting people to meet on a daily basis. While the meeting is virtual, it provides the same function. This paper examines scholarly literature which supports and that which challenges the role of social media in political action. The paper presents cases of mobilization movements in various countries in the last decade, concluding from actual experiences, that social media can be a catalyst for political collective action.