Abstract

The surge in mass protest movements against authoritarian regimes around the world is raising questions about the reasons, motives and timing of such risky political activity. The hailing of social media as an enabler for contentious political action raises questions regarding the political impact of these new technologies, and how they may play a role in fomenting mass protests. A process-tracing analysis of four major protest movements will serve to examine the structural qualities of social media, and whether their particular use by activists and disgruntled publics is helping to spur mass disobedience and protest activity. The movements in Egypt in 2011, Iran in 2009, Turkey in 2013 and Ukraine in 2013 will serve to infer a broadly generalizable theory about social media’s role in contentious political activity and mass movements.