The Interdependency of online and offline activism: a case study of Fridays For Future-Barcelona in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown

The lockdown imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the resulting surge in the use of digital technologies and social media for activism or social life all represent a unique opportunity to study the relationship between online and offline activism. To do so, we focus on the Barcelo...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Soler-i-Martí, Roger, Ferrer Fons, Mariona, Terren, Ludovic
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/47240
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/47240
http://dx.doi.org/10.31009/hipertext.net.2020.i21.09
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Social movements
Online activism
Offline activism
Social media
Fridays for future
COVID-19
Movimientos sociales
Activismo online
Activismo offline
Redes sociales
Fridays For Future
Descripción
Sumario:The lockdown imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the resulting surge in the use of digital technologies and social media for activism or social life all represent a unique opportunity to study the relationship between online and offline activism. To do so, we focus on the Barcelona branch of Fridays For Future, the recent and global youth climate movement that expanded through social networks and organised several largescale global protests. Based on data from Fridays For Future-Barcelona’s Twitter account, the analysis looks at and compares the level of activity and interactions during normal times and during the lockdown. The results suggest a close and mutually-reinforcing relationship between offline and online activism, with peaks of Twitter activity and interactions usually revolving around offline protest actions. They also show that the lockdown period was characterised by an increase in the number of tweets but a decrease in the number of interactions and thus in the repercussion of the movement on social networks.