The Internet's Role in the Creation of Political Protests – A Few Theoretical Reflections

Abstract: The current vagueness within the literature makes it difficult for empirical social science to adequately assess how the Internet affects (the creation of) political protests. The purpose of this study is, to circumvent this problem, to refine, extend and critically evaluate existing theory within the field. Using the framework laid out by Comunello & Anzera (2012) as a starting point, I have in this essay presented and argued for an inclusive definition of the term political protest in order to unite the literature under a common framework; argued for the distinction between the internet's capabilities as a space to articulate and discuss dissent and a tool to organise dissent to be seen as a more nuanced alternative to the techno-realist contra digital evangelist perspective; extended the concept of weak ties to now also take into account the different level of resources and costs associated with an individual deciding to join a particular political protest, going beyond the dichotomy that political protests organised around weak ties either does or does not lead to high-risk activism.