#Occupy Wall Street

Abstract

Recent events suggest that social media, also called web 2.0, can support mass social change. Although some critics have lamented how social media are eroding people’s ability to communicate, others have argued that social media may allow individuals to leverage their individual voices against authoritarian leaders. This article seeks to understand the ways in which individuals can use a particular social media platform, the microblog Twitter, to learn about the Occupy Wall Street movement. This article uses a mixed-methods approach, incorporating descriptive statistics, content analysis, and a case study of the author’s learning process to examine the existence of informal learning about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Scholars have proposed that informal learning about a social movement is associated with participation in the movement. This study suggests that Twitter supports multiple opportunities for participation in the Occupy movement—from creating, tagging, and sharing content to reading, watching, and following a hashtag—which may facilitate learners becoming more informed, engaged citizens. To help ground this discussion, an overview of the particular social and technical features of Twitter is provided. Second, several key learning theories that seem particularly synergistic with the affordances outlined and a review of the current state of research on learning within Twitter are described. Third, research questions, methods, and findings are presented, and a discussion that describes the implications for civic engagement in the democratic process is included.

#bully: Uses of Hashtags in Posts About Bullying on Twitter

“…Twitter users can use a keyword to gather instant updates of an event or a conversation, such as the protests in Egypt in 2011 (Pappacharissi & La Fatima Oliveira, 2012) or the Wall Street occupy movement (Gleason, 2013), sometimes faster than the news media can (see for more Twitter event reports). Twitter users cannot only obtain breaking news from elite news affiliates, but also from individuals who are witnessing the event in real time.…”

Reaching the end of the unbeaten path? An analysis ofLonely Planet’sDigital Media “Requiem”

“…The content analysis of tweets has also been employed in other disciplines, including the examination of concussion-related tweets (Sullivan et al, 2012) and the examination of the Occupy Wall Street movement (Gleason, 2013). The content analysis of tweets posted on Twitter has also been employed in previous studies on backpackers (Germann Molz & Paris, 2015;Paris, 2011;Paris & Rubin, 2013) as they provide direct, timely, and concise input from respondents.…”

#BlackLivesMatter: Innovative Black Resistance

“…Today, Twitter and other social media often function as alternative black media spaces and thereby lend themselves to facilitating successful civic participation (Conover et al 2013;Gleason 2013;Halpern and Gibbs 2012;Murthy 2013;Theocharis et al 2015;Varnali and Gorgulu 2015). When major social networking sites are used to gather information, there is frequently a positive impact on individuals' level of engagement in civic and political action, whatever their racial background (Gil de Z uñiga, Jung, and Valenzuela 2012).…”