Influence of the pandemic lockdown on Fridays for Future’s hashtag activism

Abstract

Social movement organizations (SMOs) increasingly rely on Twitter to create new and viral communication spaces alongside newsworthy protest events and communicate their grievance directly to the public. When the COVID-19 pandemic impeded street protests in spring 2020, SMOs had to adapt their strategies to online-only formats. We analyze the German-language Twitter communication of the climate movement Fridays for Future (FFF) before and during the lockdown to explain how SMOs adapted their strategy under online-only conditions. We collected (re-)tweets containing the hashtag #fridaysforfuture ( N = 46,881 tweets, N = 225,562 retweets) and analyzed Twitter activity, use of hashtags, and predominant topics. Results show that although the number of tweets was already steadily declining before, it sharply dropped during the lockdown. Moreover, the use of hashtags changed substantially and tweets focused increasingly on thematic discourses and debates around the legitimacy of FFF, while tweets about protests and calls for mobilization decreased.

Free-Riding for Future: Field Experimental Evidence of Strategic Substitutability in Climate Protest

“…The results from our and related studies are mixed news for the movement, as they suggest that the pre-COVID-19 momentum was close to maximum capacity. There is evidence suggesting that the emotional basis of the movement shows signs of erosion (de Moor et al, 2020), and that the COVID-19-related lockdowns may have harmed the momentum persistently (Haßler et al, 2021). Our results suggest that the climate protest movement also not spills over easily from the youth to the adult population, at least in the German sample we studied.…”

“…Notably, recent evidence suggests that COVID-19 left a footprint in the communication structure by shifting the relative emphasis given to non-functional information(Haßler et al, 2021).24 Evidence from two different protest movements in Spain collected bySabucedo et al (2017) suggests that concerns of justice are important be for protestors. The inter-generational justice component in climate action suggests that this might also important for climate protesters, at least the young cohorts, but direct evidence on this is lacking.…”

The digital spectator activities of Twitter users on the issue of the anti-terrorism bill in the Philippines

“…Similar to this research, the study of Haßler et al (2021) centered on a particular policy, with Twitter as its research locale, and observed how SMOs continued their engagement on Twitter. The work of Haßler et al (2021) also considered the role of hashtags in information dissemination and mobilization. Thus, the claim that the ongoing pandemic affected the activism of SMOs and individuals is only strengthened.…”

“…Meanwhile, the Philippine Independence Day is a national holiday that supposedly celebrates freedom which was perceived as the opposite of the potential threats to human rights which the Anti-Terrorism Bill can potentially engender. Haßler et al (2021) observe that social movement organizations (SMOs) shifted their engagements online when street protests became undoable because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to this research, the study of Haßler et al (2021) centered on a particular policy, with Twitter as its research locale, and observed how SMOs continued their engagement on Twitter.…”

“…Haßler et al (2021) observe that social movement organizations (SMOs) shifted their engagements online when street protests became undoable because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to this research, the study of Haßler et al (2021) centered on a particular policy, with Twitter as its research locale, and observed how SMOs continued their engagement on Twitter. The work of Haßler et al (2021) also considered the role of hashtags in information dissemination and mobilization.…”