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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts DIGITAL ACTIVISM AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A CASE STUDY OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER GLOBAL NETWORK A Thesis in Communication Arts and Sciences by Breanna N. Mapston 2018 Breanna Mapston Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts August 2018 ii The thesis of Breanna N. Mapston was reviewed and approved* by the following: Mary Stuckey Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Thesis Advisor Anne Demo Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Kirt Wilson Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Director of Graduate Studies of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT This thesis explores the digital activism used by contemporary social movements by examining the Black Lives Matter Global Network (BLM). I explore several components of BLM’s digital ecology, including the organization’s website and social media accounts, to offer a renewed understanding of social movements as they appear in online contexts. I seek to understand how online messages operate rhetorically for social movements. I argue the modern movement needs an online component, although I find digital activism cannot replace the offline protests of the rhetoric of the streets. Ultimately, I offer a qualitative contribution to the study of digital activism which will serve as a prevalent form of communication for social movements now and in the future. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... v Introduction. Digital Activism and Contemporary Social Movements ....................... 1 Digital Activism .................................................................................................... 2 Outline of Study .................................................................................................... 5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 1. A Digital History of the Black Lives Matter Global Network .................. 13 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 13 The Merging of Digital Protest Rhetoric in Online Spaces .................................. 14 The Digital Evolution of Black Lives Matter ....................................................... 25 Conclusion: A Model of Digital Activism ............................................................ 34 Chapter 2. Injustice, Freedom, Inclusion: The Rhetorical Strategies of the @BlkLivesMatter Twitter Account ...................................................................... 43 Researching Twitter .............................................................................................. 44 Analyzing @BlkLivesMatter ................................................................................ 47 #JusticeFor_____:@BlkLivesMatter’s Engagement with State Violence and Beyond ........................................................................................................... 52 #Free_____: The Dual Nature of the Idepgraph <Freedom> Employed by @BlkLivesMatter .......................................................................................... 62 #AllBlackLivesMatter: How @BlkLivesMatter Operationalizes Inclusivity ...... 70 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 76 Chapter 3. Translating Tweets to the Streets: The Relationship between Black Lives Matter’s Digital Presence and “Offline” Activism ..................................... 88 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 88 Social Movements, Social Media, and Mobilization ............................................ 91 Confrontational Rhetoric in the Case of Ferguson ............................................... 102 Conclusion: Toward A Future of Digital Protest Rhetoric ................................... 113 Conclusion. Toward a Future of Social Movement Digital Activism ......................... 123 Building a Movement Network ............................................................................ 124 BLM and the Future of Digital Activism ............................................................. 126 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 131 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A thesis is not merely the product of one’s individualized efforts. I am thus deeply indebted to many for their help and support in the process of this project. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Mary Stuckey, for agreeing to work with me and providing invaluable feedback, encouragement, and guidance. I am grateful for my committee members, Anne Demo and Kirt Wilson, for their suggestions and direction for this project. I am much obliged to Ben Goldman and the Penn State library staff for their help in researching Internet archives. I am appreciative of Suzanne Enck, Kyle Jensen, and Mark Hlavacik for encouraging me to attend graduate school. I would also like to thank the rhetoric faculty and graduate students of the Communication Arts and Sciences department for their various conversations and support over the years. On a more personal note, I would like to thank my parents and Gramma for engaging me in “writing breaks” and conversation, even if they had no clue what my work entailed. I am further appreciative of the friends who helped support a work-life balance—namely Derek Lewis, Tony Irizarry, Kellie Marin, and Kasey Foley—as well as my dog, Rhett, who encouraged time away from the computer. Finally, I am forever and always grateful of my partner, Patrick Corrigan, for his unrelenting support, care, and belief in me. Introduction Digital Activism and Contemporary Social Movements #BlackLivesMatter. #Ferguson. #BringBackOurGirls. #LoveWins. A little over a decade ago these phrases would not make sense to someone seeking social change. Today, however, social media and the protest campaigns that take place online have shifted the way society conceives social issues and activism.1 Digitalization has changed the rhetoric of activism. Social movements are adapting. Protest is taking place in new spaces at staggering speeds. One movement that fully engages in digital activism efforts is the Black Lives Matter Global Network (BLM). BLM began with a single hashtag and has since grown into a multi-national, highly recognizable network with a huge social media presence.2 BLM serves as a prime example of a contemporary social movement engaged in digital activism, which makes it an ideal object of study for this thesis. My project utilizes BLM as a case study to understand how social movements are operating within a largely digitalized society. This project combines work on digital spaces, social media, and the relationship between online and offline protests to articulate an updated model of social movement rhetoric. I do not presume a holistic theory of the contemporary social movement, but seek to offer reconceptualization of social movement efforts as they appear online. I believe this is merely a step in analyzing the modern movement, but it is a necessary one as social movements increasingly utilize the Internet. 2 This introduction offers two important synopses. First, I provide an overview of digital activism in modern social movements and explain why the study of such activism is important to the field of rhetoric. Second, I offer a brief outline of each chapter of this thesis. Each of the three content chapters is focused on different parts of BLM’s online presence, including the organization’s website, social media accounts, and online practices that lead to offline mobilization. The concluding chapter combines each piece to examine the whole of BLM’s online manifestation. The conclusion will also examine how digitalization has changed the rhetoric of activism for contemporary movements while offering some hypotheses about the future of digital activism. Digital Activism Digital activism can be defined as utilizing digital technologies in campaigns for political and social change.3 Digital activism operates in a digital network and is contextualized both by the technology that is used for the activism as well as the socio- political environment in which the activism occurs.4 The term encompasses the quick speed and vast scale of a low-cost “set of digitally networked campaigning activities—or practices” that take place on the Internet.5 Since digital activism occurs online, these practices can reach wide audiences almost instantaneously. This form of activism is often cheaper than traditional activism in multiple ways. For instance, sending an email requires only the cost of human power and Internet access as opposed to the paper, envelopes, stamps, and other materials for letter writing campaigns of the past. Further, the feasibility and interconnectedness of digital activism’s network structure allows social 3 movements to do more with less. In one scholar’s estimation, “when large numbers of citizens are able to more easily connect to one another, to send and receive original content, and to coordinate action, they are able to create effective political movements.”6 Digital activism, therefore,