Recruitment in the 21st Century: Redefining Activism and Engaging Youth

• In Event: 2483 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01. Digital and Online Movements

Abstract

Social media has changed the way social movements operate in the 21st century. In some ways, this has changed the nature of activism itself. Now that the internet has allowed for the development of new ways of get involved access to activism has shifted. One such shift has been the methods of recruiting young people to social movements. Some organizations have begun using fandom to reach out to millennials across social media platforms and help them to get involved in activism. This project examines the successes and failures of organizations who create a social movement around a fan community. I use qualitative interviews with fan activists and movement leadership to demonstrate the effectiveness of using fandom to bring young people into activism. In doing so I have developed a typology to refocus and redefine fan activism and show the benefits of using fan identity to engage participants. The typology shows the importance of identifying new methods of recruitment and engagement in the 21st century and highlights the involvement of millennials in social justice projects.

Author

• Jamie Puglin, State University of New York-Stony Brook