In this article, we explore the potential role of social media in helping movements expand and/or strengthen themselves internally, processes we refer to as scaling up. Drawing on a case study of Black Lives Matter (BLM) that includes both analysis of public social media accounts and interviews with BLM groups, we highlight possibilities created by social media for building connections, mobilizing participants and tangible resources, coalition building, and amplifying alternative narratives. We also discuss challenges and risks associated with using social media as a platform for scaling up. Our analysis suggests that while benefits of social media use outweigh its risks, careful management of online media platforms is necessary to mitigate concrete, physical risks that social media can create for activists.

This article presents the concept of scaling up in relation to the work of peacebuilding and social justice initiatives. We propose a holistic conception of scaling up that emphasizes the need to look at the impact of peacebuilding and nonviolent movements along the processes that those actions involve. Our model proposes broadening scholars' understanding of the success of nonviolent movements not only by analyzing the size or territorial span of the movements but also by discussing societal changes that the very actions of social movement facilitate, regardless of whether the movement fails or succeeds in achieving its goals. In other words, we propose viewing scaling up as a holistic process where change is inevitable. In addition, our model shifts away from thinking about scaling up as a linear or chronological sequence of steps. Instead, the model views scaling up as impact-oriented and as an iterative process of social learning, where actions are shaped by reactions (by the government and/or other actors) to previous moves. We suggest that this model can be used to better understand how grassroots peacebuilding and conflict transformation initiatives can broaden impact.In April 2019, a Sudanese nonviolence movement ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir from power, following months of continuous protest. The movement expanded in size and scope quickly, utilizing tried-andtrue nonviolence approaches to scaling up that have been effective around the world: mobilization of a large and diverse portion of the population, winning support for protesters among key regime pillars, and earning international support for the protesters' demands. These and other scaling-up tactics reinforced the nonviolent discipline of protesters while at the same time dramatically expanding the scope of the movement, leading to al-Bashir's removal and the assumption

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