Anonymous’ Million Mask March and OpKKK: Theoretical Implications of an E-Movement

• In Event: 463 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 20. Technology and Social Movement Mobilizing

Abstract

By analyzing Twitter data related to two campaigns in November 2014 of the Anonymous online movement, the Million Mask March and OpKKK, this paper explores how and why Anonymous used the public social media platform to help organize and communicate information. In doing so, I address a gap in social movement research identified by Earl et al. (2010). Online social movements, or e-movements, are notoriously understudied, which has contributed to disparate findings concerning Internet activism. I argue that online movements like Anonymous are fundamentally different from offline ones and require new theoretical models. While Earl et al.’s study focuses on research using resource mobilization theory, this study attempts to expand upon their notion by exploring a different theoretical model; the social movement life cycle. Based on my data, I find that the e-movement Anonymous does not fit with the existing life cycle model of social movements. As an e-movement, Anonymous possesses internal dynamics and external goals that are unique from offline movements and even from movements engaging in other types of Internet activism. I propose the theory of strategic abeyance to explain the continuous, adaptable, and dynamic nature of the Anonymous online movement.

Author

• Jared Matthew Wright, Purdue University