scholarly journals The Role of Online Media in Mobilizing Large-Scale Collective Action

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512110338
Author(s):  
Zhuo Chen ◽  
Poong Oh ◽  
Anfan Chen

This study investigates the role of online media in mobilizing large-scale collective action. Adopting the theoretical framework of collective action space, we formulated the organizing process of collective action into a model with two dimensions—hierarchy and closure—and analyzed how they influence mobilization. The model was tested against Twitter data collected during the 2020 Hong Kong protest, including a total of 54,365 tweets posted by 14,706 distinct users between 1 May and 31 May 2020. Social networks analysis metrics— k-coreness and brokerage of individual users in their following networks—were employed to quantify the organizing process of the protest and estimate their effects on message virality. The results showed that messages generated by users who occupied peripheral positions (i.e., lower k-coreness) and by those connecting others within closed communities (i.e., lower brokerage) were more likely to diffuse than those generated by central users or those who bridged different communities. That is, online media facilitate mobilization in a decentralized yet fragmented fashion. This article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical implications of the current findings and suggests the directions for future research on collective action on online media.

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Kitts

Recent research has focused on the role of social networks in facilitating participation in protest and social movement organizations. This paper elaborates three currents of microstructural explanation, based on information, identity, and exchange. In assessing these perspectives, it compares their treatment of multivalence, the tendency for social ties to inhibit as well as promote participation. Considering two dimensions of multivalence—the value of the social tie and the direction of social pressure—this paper discusses problems of measurement and interpretation in network analysis of movement participation. A critical review suggests some directions for future research.


2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1683) ◽  
pp. 20150014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Trumble ◽  
Adrian V. Jaeggi ◽  
Michael Gurven

While many hormones play vital roles in facilitating or reinforcing cooperative behaviour, the neurohormones underlying competitive and cooperative behaviours are largely conserved across all mammals. This raises the question of how endocrine mechanisms have been shaped by selection to produce different levels of cooperation in different species. Multiple components of endocrine physiology—from baseline hormone concentrations, to binding proteins, to the receptor sensitivity and specificity—can evolve independently and be impacted by current socio-ecological conditions or individual status, thus potentially generating a wide range of variation within and between species. Here, we highlight several neurohormones and variation in hormone receptor genes associated with cooperation, focusing on the role of oxytocin and testosterone in contexts ranging from parenting and pair-bonding to reciprocity and territorial defence. While the studies reviewed herein describe the current state of the literature with regard to hormonal modulators of cooperation and collective action, there is still a paucity of research on hormonal mechanisms that help facilitate large-scale collective action. We end by discussing several potential areas for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 678-689
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Goyal

Mark Granovetter has written a deep and wide-ranging book on economy and society entitled Society and Economy: Frameworks and Principles. Economists, in particular, will find his discussion on the role of social networks in understanding the problem of aggregation—from micro foundations to large-scale institutional phenomena—especially relevant. And they will find much to ponder over the ways in which overlapping structures—of networks and institutions—shape human behavior and determine aggregate economic outcomes. The high-level and parsimonious style of this book is distinctive and sets it apart from much of contemporary social science. This style and the apparent unwillingness to engage closely with research developments over the past two decades may, however, mean that the book will have limited influence on ongoing and future research. (JEL D02, D90, Z13)


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric S Mosinger

Why do united rebel fronts emerge in some insurgencies, while in other insurgencies multiple rebel groups mobilize independently to challenge the state, and often, each other? I develop a diffusion model of rebel fragmentation in which participation in rebellion spreads, completely or incompletely, through networks of civilians and dissidents. Using this theoretical framework I hypothesize that two factors jointly determine whether a rebel movement remains unified or fragments: the rebels’ investment in civilian mobilization, and the overall level of civilian grievances. The theory predicts that widely shared grievances motivate the formation of many small dissident groups willing to challenge the regime. Given the difficulty of collective action between disparate opposition actors, an emerging rebel movement will tend towards fragmentation when popular grievances are high. Yet extremely high civilian grievances can also help rebels activate broad, overlapping civilian social networks that serve to bridge together dissident groups. Mass-mobilizing rebel groups, benefiting from the participation of broad civilian networks, are most likely to forge and maintain a unified rebel front. I test this theory alongside several alternatives drawn from cross-national studies of conflict using regression analysis. The quantitative evidence lends considerable credence to the role of rebel constituencies in preventing or fomenting rebel fragmentation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 111-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
YONG-TAE PARK ◽  
CHUL-HYUN KIM ◽  
JI-HYO LEE

In spite of the recent extension of our knowledge on technological innovation, little inquiry has been made of the distinctive characteristics between R&D firms and non-R&D firms, as well as between product-innovative firms and process-innovative firms. To this end, the main objective of this empirical study, grounded on a large-scale innovation survey of Korean manufacturing firms, is to contrast these two types of firms. The results were mixed. Some hypotheses were confirmed while others were discordant with expectation. By and large, R&D firms and product-innovative firms seem to share a similar propensity, whereas non-R&D firms and process-innovative firms are alike in character. However, there were some unexpected findings which merit attention and are worthy of in-depth examination. Although the study is subject to limitations in terms of its research design and data gathering, the results render some important policy implications. Furthermore, comparative analyses between different types of innovations need to be addressed more extensively in future research.


Author(s):  
Sylvaine Castellano ◽  
Insaf Khelladi

New opportunities and challenges are emerging thanks to the growing Internet importance and social media usage. Although practitioners have already recognized the strategic dimension of e-reputation and the power of social media, academic research is still in its infancy when it comes to e-reputation determinants in a social networks context. A study was conducted in the sports setting to explore the impact of social networks on the sportspeople's e-reputation. Whereas the study emphasized (1) the influence of social networks' perception on the sportspeople's e-reputation, and the neutral roles of (2) the motives for following sportspeople online, and (3) the negative content on the Internet, additional insights are formulated on maintaining, restoring and managing e-reputation on social networks. Finally, future research directions are suggested on the role of image to control e-reputation.


2020 ◽  
pp. 318-335
Author(s):  
Herbert Kitschelt ◽  
Philipp Rehm

This chapter examines four fundamental questions relating to political participation. First, it considers different modes of political participation such as social movements, interest groups, and political parties. Second, it analyses the determinants of political participation, focusing in particular on the paradox of collective action. Third, it explains political participation at the macro-level in order to identify which contextual conditions are conducive to participation and the role of economic affluence in political participation. Finally, the chapter discusses political participation at the micro-level. It shows that both formal associations and informal social networks, configured around family and friendship ties, supplement individual capacities to engage in political participation or compensate for weak capacities, so as to boost an individual’s probability to become politically active.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (24) ◽  
pp. 7115
Author(s):  
Amin Muhammad Sadiq ◽  
Huynsik Ahn ◽  
Young Bok Choi

A rapidly increasing growth of social networks and the propensity of users to communicate their physical activities, thoughts, expressions, and viewpoints in text, visual, and audio material have opened up new possibilities and opportunities in sentiment and activity analysis. Although sentiment and activity analysis of text streams has been extensively studied in the literature, it is relatively recent yet challenging to evaluate sentiment and physical activities together from visuals such as photographs and videos. This paper emphasizes human sentiment in a socially crucial field, namely social media disaster/catastrophe analysis, with associated physical activity analysis. We suggest multi-tagging sentiment and associated activity analyzer fused with a a deep human count tracker, a pragmatic technique for multiple object tracking, and count in occluded circumstances with a reduced number of identity switches in disaster-related videos and images. A crowd-sourcing study has been conducted to analyze and annotate human activity and sentiments towards natural disasters and related images in social networks. The crowdsourcing study outcome into a large-scale benchmark dataset with three annotations sets each resolves distinct tasks. The presented analysis and dataset will anchor a baseline for future research in the domain. We believe that the proposed system will contribute to more viable communities by benefiting different stakeholders, such as news broadcasters, emergency relief organizations, and the public in general.


Author(s):  
Herbert Kitschelt ◽  
Philipp Rehm

This chapter examines four fundamental questions relating to political participation. First, it considers different modes of political participation such as social movements, interest groups, and political parties. Second, it analyses the determinants of political participation, focusing in particular on the paradox of collective action. Third, it explains political participation at the macro-level in order to identify which contextual conditions are conducive to participation and the role of economic affluence in political participation. Finally, the chapter discusses political participation at the micro-level. It shows that both formal associations and informal social networks, configured around family and friendship ties, supplement individual capacities to engage in political participation or compensate for weak capacities, so as to boost an individual's probability to become politically active.


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