L'exit comunicatiu dels moviments socials a la xarxa

Resumo

Social Media Activism (SMA) has become a staple of almost every modern-day movement around the world. The appeal of this tool is obvious in its prevalence, and diversity of uses. Social media enables any voice, anywhere to be heard by anyone around the world including those that have the power to implement necessary changes globally. However, the world is still yet to discover how it can be used most effectively and avoid the pitfalls of becoming slacktivism instead of activism. Many users participate in movements because they are trendy as opposed to passion for the changes sought which leads to inconsistency and a decrease in impact. Other users underutilize the tools or incorrectly use them. There are various reasons why movements fail, and most of those reasons stem from the way movement participants use tools for activism. As a result of this, in order to ensure that current and future movements can operate at maximum effectiveness, the most important aspect of movements to be studied is the participants and consistency. This thesis sheds light on how to engage participants as best as possible by analysing the use of Facebook by participants in the Black Lives Matter movement as well as the Catalan Independence Movement, whether the movements have been successful thus far through an analysis of Legal changes, and also through an examination of the consistency of the movements over time. These two movements seem at face value to be incredibly different which is good for coming to an unbiased conclusion, however they have many similarities in that both have had various degrees of success over the years and seek both social and legal changes that will greatly transform their respective societies. The Black Lives Matter movement was created to combat the wrongful killings of Black Men and women in the United States as well as the laws that allow the killers to get away with murder and unfair treatment in general. The Catalan Independence Movement was created to seek independence of the region of Catalunya from Spain. Both movements gained international recognition over the years and consist of members who are extremely passionate about the causes, achieving the transformations they seek, and securing a better future for those affected. By comparing the results of the research for each of these two extremely different movements with extremely different participants in terms of geography, ethnicity, age, etc., and different goals, and then noting the similarities in the results, it is quite clear that the identified patterns in consistency, responses from participants and even the legal ramifications to some extent, show an obvious correlation between what has been effective in the Black Lives Matter movement and in the Catalan Independence Movement. As a result of this, this thesis sheds much needed light on how to utilize Facebook most effectively as a tool for activism particularly through communication, organization and mobilization in Social Movements. That insight will help current and upcoming movements to achieve the social and political transformation they seek and ultimately aid in transforming the world.