Putting the “Move” in Social Movements: Assessing the Role of Kama Muta in Online Activism

Abstract

Today the structure of social media movements online is moving beyond just a means for communication and into space for growing the movement, developing a brand, and solidifying the network for group action. Thus individual posts on personal profiles and group and event pages are an increasingly important element of participation. Emotions may drive these posts, as well as the responses to them. This study seeks to enter into conversation with previous works in the areas of communication, information studies, sociology, and anthropology that investigate the intersection of social media and activism. However, this study takes a novel approach through the particular focus on individual emotional elements of social media posting, sharing, commenting, and other forms of engagement. Through qualitative and quantitative content analysis of five major activist Facebook groups, this study will examine the prevalence of content expressing or intending to evoke kama muta.