The Role of Social Media in Political Mobilization

This annotated bibliography documents sources for an essay titled "The Role of Social Media in Political Mobilization." The chosen sources explain how digital technologies shape political processes, mobilize people, and change their perceptions of them.

Entries

Allaste, A.-A., & Saari, K. (2019). Social Media and Participation in Different Socio-political Contexts: Cases of Estonia and Finland. YOUNG, 110330881982887. https://doi.org/10.1177/1103308819828879

This article studies the differences between the influence of social media on politico-social activity in Estonia and Finland while proposing approaches to comparative analysis of related content. It explains how conditions in different countries affect social media usage as a means of civil engagement.

This comparative study is essential for understanding how socio-political realities inform social media use for political processes. It thus provides a richer perspective on cross-national perspectives in digital activism.

Boulianne, S., Lalancette, M., & Ilkiw, D. (2020). "School Strike 4 Climate": Social Media and the International Youth Protest on Climate Change. Media and Communication, 8(2), 208–218. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2768

This research focuses on the use of social media in the 'School Strike 4 Climate' movement and how it was organized and disseminated by young people worldwide. It underlines the impact of the latter in terms of digital technologies on the mobilization of activists.

This article is relevant for analyzing the capabilities of social media in mobilizing youths for global demonstrations, showcasing how digital tools such as social media can be utilized in carrying out climate activism among youths.

Bronnikov, I. A. (2020). Self-organization of Citizens in the Age of Digital Communications. Outlines of Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, Law, 13(2), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.23932/2542-0240-2020-13-2-14

The article evaluates how digital communication, mainly through social media, encourages citizens' self-organization. It examines the trends of technology-facilitated citizens' activities.

This source provides insights into how digital platforms empower citizens to self-organize and mobilize for collective action, relevant for studying grassroots political movements and the democratizing potential of social media.

Matingwina, S. (2018). Social Media Communicative Action and the Interplay with National Security: The Case of Facebook and Political Participation in Zimbabwe. African Journalism Studies, 39(1), 48–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2018.1463276

This study analyses the antecedents of political activity and the dynamism of Facebook concerning communicative action and security issues in Zimbabwe. That reveals the possible challenges of organizing a protest under an authoritarian government.

This source contributes to knowledge about social media's participatory and security effects in political processes and authoritarian regimes, particularly by presenting a platform to analyze activation and regulation.

Ohme, J. (2020). Algorithmic social media use and its relationship to attitude reinforcement and issue-specific political participation – The case of the 2015 European immigration movements. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 18(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2020.1805085

The authors examined how recommendation technologies within social media platforms impact attitude reinforcement and political engagement with application to the European immigration movements of 2015. Thus, they explore the role of personalized content and its influence on the citizens' political actions.

This study offers insights into how social media algorithms can reinforce existing political attitudes and drive issue-specific political participation, which is relevant for analyzing the effects of digital media on public opinion and activism.

Conclusion

The annotated sources showed how social media revolutionizes political mobilization, fostering engagement, activism, and public discourse. From facilitating youth-led climate protests to challenging authoritarian regimes, these studies underscore the profound influence of digital platforms on political dynamics, highlighting their significance in shaping modern political movements and participation.