SOCIAL MEDIA & PROTESTS

Role of Social Media in Transnational Protests



Abstract

The essay aims to comprehend the transnational aspect in the current wave of protests globally in the European Indignados. Literature on the topic of transnational social protests prospered in the previous decades with explorations of several distinctive types of social movement networking that structured and controlled some social forums meetings and counter summits demonstrations. Recently, great protests around the globe had, among their targeted, policies and national governments. But, they also organised and planned an influential and powerful transnational stance. Stepping forward from a critical evaluation and comparative aspect, the essay stresses emphasis on the transnational processes and mechanisms at work places by focusing on practices and imageries of democracy, and mediation and communication processes.

Role of Social Media in Transnational Protests

Introduction

A recognisable attribute of the latest kind of engagement and attachment of public with the technologies associated with internet and its widespread use in broad ranges of groups and activists in social as well as political protests. The emergence of internet is not just fulfil a role or greatly entertaining and facilitating the participation and mobilisation in usual and conventional kinds of protests, like demonstrations via national streets but, also for providing a more equipped transnational character to such protests by rapidly and effectively diffusing the efforts of mobilisation and communication. The revolution of the movement of Zapatista in the year 1994, initiated as a case in point for the local type of rebellions so that they could have a struggle for greater autonomy and more rights for the indigenous Chiapas' population in the southern Mexican rainforest. This effort quickly gained energy to several rapidly expanding world-wide networks that were purported for linking the rebellion of Zapatista successfully with other distinctive local and international protests against the globalisation that was Neo-liberal in nature. The internet technology was crucial and influential to the worldly diffusion of solidarity and protest.

Even though, the specific and defined contribution and involvement of the Internet is difficult to ascertain, as the above mentioned example shows that the technology of internet has provided some new and innovative tools to the civil society for supporting their claims and protestations. Similarly, the internet supports and facilitates the offline collective actions of conventional types in terms of mobilisation, organisation, and transnationalisation. Not only this, but it also forms new and innovative modes of several offline collective actions.

Discussion

Contemporary social movements emerged and developed with the formation of the nation-state, and for several years, it has been the foremost target for doing any protest. However, social movements have pushed over and over again for a concept of 'straight' democracy, the actors and institutions of the representative democratic system have extensive structured movements' constraints and political opportunities within the boundaries and limitations of institutional politics. In piece of evidence, for the majority of the historical events of the contemporary national state, many political parties and groups were the chief participants in the representation of democracy system, integrating the creation ...