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Social movements on the internet : Together alone or alone together?

Borrero, Juan D. ; Andrade, Antonio Díaz and Urquhart, Cathy LU (2013) 21st European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2013 In ECIS Proceedings p.1-7
Abstract

Sherry Turkle in her groundbreaking book 'Alone Together' suggests that the Internet gives an illusion of togetherness while contributing to isolation. How might this play out in social movements on the Internet? Can social media bring people together? This research in progress explores the role of social media as a way to facilitate collective political action. It discusses the preliminary findings of a grounded theory analysis of the postings to a Spanish online social movement between July and September 2012. Informed by a sociomaterial perspective, by which the social and the technical interact symmetrically, our analysis shows that there are heterogeneous groups cohabiting in the online environment, and using information technology... (More)

Sherry Turkle in her groundbreaking book 'Alone Together' suggests that the Internet gives an illusion of togetherness while contributing to isolation. How might this play out in social movements on the Internet? Can social media bring people together? This research in progress explores the role of social media as a way to facilitate collective political action. It discusses the preliminary findings of a grounded theory analysis of the postings to a Spanish online social movement between July and September 2012. Informed by a sociomaterial perspective, by which the social and the technical interact symmetrically, our analysis shows that there are heterogeneous groups cohabiting in the online environment, and using information technology as a platform to make their voices heard. The challenge for them remains in gaining space in the political decision-making process that takes place offline. They may indeed have achieved being 'together alone', but there is still difficulty in accessing power structures that would enable them to achieve social change.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Collective action, Grounded theory, Identity project, Online social movements, Sociomateriality
host publication
Proceedings of the 21st European Conference on Information Systems : ECIS 2013 Research in Progress - ECIS 2013 Research in Progress
series title
ECIS Proceedings
pages
1 - 7
publisher
European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)
conference name
21st European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2013
conference location
Utrecht, Netherlands
conference dates
2013-06-05 - 2013-06-08
external identifiers
  • scopus:84905860813
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
a38496e7-0410-4201-8346-bc54e01e38d7
alternative location
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2013_rip/15/
date added to LUP
2023-11-22 15:13:03
date last changed
2023-11-29 10:43:45
@inproceedings{a38496e7-0410-4201-8346-bc54e01e38d7,
  abstract     = {{<p>Sherry Turkle in her groundbreaking book 'Alone Together' suggests that the Internet gives an illusion of togetherness while contributing to isolation. How might this play out in social movements on the Internet? Can social media bring people together? This research in progress explores the role of social media as a way to facilitate collective political action. It discusses the preliminary findings of a grounded theory analysis of the postings to a Spanish online social movement between July and September 2012. Informed by a sociomaterial perspective, by which the social and the technical interact symmetrically, our analysis shows that there are heterogeneous groups cohabiting in the online environment, and using information technology as a platform to make their voices heard. The challenge for them remains in gaining space in the political decision-making process that takes place offline. They may indeed have achieved being 'together alone', but there is still difficulty in accessing power structures that would enable them to achieve social change.</p>}},
  author       = {{Borrero, Juan D. and Andrade, Antonio Díaz and Urquhart, Cathy}},
  booktitle    = {{Proceedings of the 21st European Conference on Information Systems : ECIS 2013 Research in Progress}},
  keywords     = {{Collective action; Grounded theory; Identity project; Online social movements; Sociomateriality}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--7}},
  publisher    = {{European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)}},
  series       = {{ECIS Proceedings}},
  title        = {{Social movements on the internet : Together alone or alone together?}},
  url          = {{https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2013_rip/15/}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}