Political Facebook groups: Micro-activism and the digital front stage

The growth of social networking sites (SNS), like Facebook, has caused many to rethink how we understand political activism and citizen engagement. In 2010, 43% of Internet users reported using social networking sites " several times a day, " a sizeable increase from 2009 where only 34% reported using social networking at the same rate (Pew 2010). Research on digital activism has emphasized the use of websites, listservs, and other forums by formal organizations to raise awareness for their specific causes (McCaughey and Ayers 2003; Van de Donk 2004). Information communication technologies (ICT's) have been regarded as particularly effective tools in mobilizing disparate, resource-poor counter-spheres in collective off-line activity (Van de Donk 2004). In recent years, scholars have moved away from viewing information communication technologies (ICT's) as simply a tool for formal activist organizations. Breindl (2010) argues that on-line digital activism has largely been examined through a classic " social movement paradigm. " She calls for scholarship that looks at how the meaning and structure of activism has been transformed by ICT's. One key way it has been transformed is by allowing for small scale, many-to-many forms of politically oriented communication, what I conceptualize as a new term: microactivism. Examples include the formation of political Facebook groups, re-tweeting of articles of political interest and sharing politically relevant videos on YouTube. These acts reflect micro-level intentions and are not necessarily geared towards mobilization like more traditional forms of digital activism. This microactivism has helped bring about a radical reformulation of the political arena. One major change that emerges from the ease of many-to-many communication brought about by SMS is the reduced incentive to join social movements (Earl and Schussman 2003). These new applications encourage movement entrepreneurs (Garrett 2006) not affiliated with formal social movements but interested in fomenting social change. The ease with which individuals can create content and connect with one another to share content is viewed by others as a harbinger of a more democratic and egalitarian society (Benkler 2006, Jenkins 2007, Shirky 2010). Salter (2005) argues that sites like SNS' provide new radical public spheres that provide additional spaces for voice cultivation and political citizenship formation. More importantly, in his view information technologies help shift political discourse to more informal venues that are less subject to elite control (Dahlberg 2004). Social critics like Morozov (2009) suggest, however, that microactivism might do more harm than good. Morozov (2009) refers …