Asian of Journal Humanity, Art and Literature; Volume 8, No 1/2021 ISSN 2311-8636 (p); 2312-2021 (e) Study of the Role and Impact of SNS in Protests: The Case of Candlelight Vigil of 2016 in South Korea with Data Visualization Using Python Myung Suh Choi1, Seung Ah Choi2, Jacquelyn Ryu3, Yuli Choi4 ISSN: 2311-8636 (Print) 1,2Monta Vista High School, CA, USA ISSN: 2312-2021 (Online) 3Saratoga High School, CA, USA 4Archbishop Mitty High School, CA, USA Licensed: Source of Support: Nil ABSTRACT No Conflict of Interest: Declared This study explores how social media act as a tool to communicate with the government and the world through the research of the role of social media and the processes by which people can be mobilized to engage in protests. Focusing primarily on Facebook and Instagram as Social Networking Sites (SNS), the study uses survey data collected through Typeform online survey (N=100). Findings indicate that the frequency of SNS has been strongly correlated with protest activities. SNS promoted on-site news consumption and political speech, which in turn facilitated protest participation. Despite the prevalence of incidental exposure to news on SNS, the exposure did not give rise to more political action, such as the voicing of political opinions on SNS. Keywords: Social Networking Sites, Candlelight Vigil, South Korea, Data Visualization, Python INTRODUCTION On 10 March 2017, the South Korean Constitutional Court upheld the decision of the country's parliament to sue President Park Geun-hye for a corruption scandal. This unprecedented political crisis was first exposed in October 2016, followed by a series of million-strong demonstrations calling on President Park to step down. These demonstrations led lawmakers to cast their ballots for the first time in Korean history to condemn the president. It is worth remembering here that SNS seems to have played a key role in this whole process. As Kim Seo-joong, professor of journalism at SungKongHoe University, said "Social media have made it possible for people to take to the streets on an unprecedented scale" (Ock, 2017, para.10). However, very little study has been done on particular methods. This study aims to provide a more detailed understanding of this topic by analyzing the involvement of people in the 2016 South Korean candlelight vigils as a case study. i-Proclaim | AJHAL Page 19 Choi et al.: Study of the Role and Impact of SNS in Protests: The Case of Candlelight Vigil of 2016 in South Korea with Data Visualization ………… (19-32) This research broadens the conceptualization of the processing of social media news. Previous studies have concentrated on the framework for the purposeful (or active) consumption of social media news in the political knowledge acquisition process. The foundation for participation in individual demonstrations (e.g., Valenzuela, 2013; Valenzuela et al., 2012). Instead, this research unpacks SNS’s news consumption operation into both purposeful news consumption and unintentional news exposure. Despite proof that individuals exposed to political knowledge on SNS did not study whether and how this form of news exposure could be linked to purposeful news exposure in the context of protest activities. Studying the context of recent candlelight vigils in South Korea discusses Boulianne (2015)'s significant critique of the literature on the influence of SNS on protest participation. In her latest meta-analysis (Boulianne, 2015), she argues that researchers have used composite indices for protest participation by putting together various forms of political participation, including core protest activities (e.g. street protests and marches) and other types of political participation. Political participation would include volunteering for a political party, attending political debates, signing a petition. This makes it difficult to assess the true impact of SNS on key protest events. Composite indices may have been used in part because prior protest movements consisted of events with undefined beginning and stopping points, making it difficult to reliably quantify core protest activities. Instead the candlelight vigils in South Korea consisted of a series of clandestine protests that took place every Saturday for a certain period of time. As a result, the current research will use the number of protests in which the participant participated as the key outcome variable. By doing so, this study will investigate the influence of SNS's news consumption on real protest rather than political engagement. This study also will lead to a deeper understanding of the role of SNS in engaging in protests. This study focuses primarily on the role of Facebook and Instagram, which have been seen as the key forces behind the recent social movements in mobilizing the social movement. A large population to engage voluntarily in the huge candlelight vigils in South Korea. POLITICAL SCANDAL The unprecedented controversy that led to the indictment of the President of South Korea revolves around the President's friendship with his long-time friend Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a South Korean Shamanist cult leader. Even though Ms. Choi did not hold any official government role; she had access to classified government information without security clearance, and had an impact on presidential decision-making. Kim Hyung-Min's hashtag campaign in 2016 brought this issue to the public discourse (Jung, 2016). The suggested hashtag was #WhatAboutChoiSoonSil? SNS users then started posting and disseminating mainstream news stories about the subject through SNS. With this collaborative phase of mass media and SNS, the full picture of the Choi-Park controversy started to emerge. This led to major demonstrations in the form of candlelight vigils. ROLE OF SNS IN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION The majority of research has suggested that SNS helps to promote political engagement. SNS promotes citizens' participation in protest activities as a distinct form of political participation. Traditional mass media tend either to disregard protest events or to marginalize protest movements by using a "protest model”. To overthrow the protest model Page 20 Volume 8, No 1/2021 | AJHAL Asian of Journal Humanity, Art and Literature; Volume 8, No 1/2021 ISSN 2311-8636 (p); 2312-2021 (e) traditionally seen in conventional mass media, demonstrators, including activists, frequently shift to SNS to circumvent the media. Traditional media gatekeepers and to establish and disseminate their own messages (Harlow & Johnson, 2011; Reuter & Szakonyi, 2015). During a period of national protest, this kind of activity often takes place. It is becoming more common in SNS and as a consequence, a large amount of protest-related content circulates in SNS. This creates an increasing chance for users to pick up protest-related information Details and can allow users to express their political views (Eltantawy & Wiest, 2011). In this report, we are focusing on the position of Facebook and Instagram which are overwhelmingly the most popular SNS in South Korea. A recent South Korean survey reveals that approximately 16 million of the 51 million people in the South Korean population are active Facebook users (DMC Media, 2015). In addition, 59.8% of SNS users in South Korea used Facebook and Instagram more often than any other SNS. The emphasis on Facebook and Instagram is therefore fitting for this case study in South Korea. SNS, THE CENTER OF POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE SNS can contribute to protest activity by acting as a political information or news site. Facebook and Instagram users also receive news breaks in real time, which can provoke political debates and encourage participation in protests. SNS users may also access protest- mobilizing information, which is a type of information that is often missing from conventional news media due to principles of neutrality in journalistic practices (Hoffman, 2006). Facebook and Instagram play critical roles as information centers, especially when conventional news media are not trusted. Via outlets such as Facebook and Instagram, the public will easily become aware of the illegality and corruption that may otherwise be hidden in conventional media. Seeing SNS political knowledge is unusual in accessing it on other digital media outlets, such as blogs and social campaign websites. By the way, SNS users are exposed to political knowledge through their social network connections (Pew Research Center, 2014). Online social networks mostly reflect offline social networks, most of which are motivated by non- political factors. In addition, content on SNS is not just political content; an algorithm decides what users see when they visit Facebook, which can be non-political content and political content. Such a media climate raises the possibility that individuals may be willing to do so. By the way, be exposed to political knowledge, as political content is being pushed to users by their social networks. Given that incidental exposure to political information is popular on Facebook and Instagram, restricting the exposure of political information to solely active news consumption does not reflect the current dynamic. As a result, this article unpacks SNS news consumption into both purposeful news consumption and incidental news exposure. Voicing of political views on Facebook and Instagram can convert people from political observers to participants, which can in turn contribute to more political action. We therefore suggest two potential serial mediators on the relationship between the frequency of use of SNS and participation in protests. More precisely, news exposure on SNS, followed by political speech, acts as a mediator in the relationship between the frequency of Facebook and Instagram usage and protest. These hypotheses are broken down into the impact of purposeful news consumption (H1), i-Proclaim | AJHAL Page 21 Choi et al.: Study of the Role and Impact of SNS in Protests: The Case of Candlelight Vigil of 2016 in South Korea with Data Visualization ………… (19-32) accidental news exposure (H2), if use of SNS service will have a static impact on offline political participation (H3).