Street and online activism of the post-2011 movements

Abstract

The importance of the Internet and social networks in the wave of movements at the beginningof the 2010s is fascinating. But can we speak of “Revolutions 2.0” or “Facebook Movements”?Three years after the beginning of the new wave of mobilizations we find that (1)Instead of online activism those movements adopted practices of physically occupying publicand urban spaces. (2) While the Internet is a global virtual space, the use of social networksby activists helped construct national movements. (3) Social networks and the Internet didnot substitute for the press. Alternative media had a greater impact when it interacted withthe mainstream press. These three findings do not minimize the impact of social networks forthe movements. Instead, they invite us to look at the intersection and links between onlineparticipation and action in the public spaces of the streets.