Framing the Fight: Revolutionary Feelings in Virtual Communities

Author

James Reilly, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Political Science

Advisor

Jillian Schwedler

Subject Categories

Communication | Communication Technology and New Media | Comparative Politics | Interpersonal and Small Group Communication | Mass Communication | Social Influence and Political Communication | Social Media

Keywords

Social Media, Emotions, Social Movements, Egypt, Arab Spring, Media Ecology

Abstract

This study considers how social media impacts emotional processing, and ultimately social movement development. Through a multidisciplinary lens, I explore how social media fits within larger media ecologies, particularly during times of social upheaval and collective action. Grounded in an examination of organizational efforts in advance of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, I look at how communication patterns create common emotional cues that help form the movement. Considering framing, emotional habitus, and subjective agency within digital spaces, I demonstrate how social media has emerged as an articulating space for social movements to develop and plan before drawing wider, offline populations to their cause. In further analyses, I suggest a wider examination of newer technologies within digital communication, and how they may shape collective feeling and action.

Recommended Citation

Reilly, James, "Framing the Fight: Revolutionary Feelings in Virtual Communities" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5775