“Digital activism” is most often nonviolent and tends to work best when social media is combined with street-level organization, new research shows.
Effective digital activism, like that seen during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, employs a number of social media tools, says Philip Howard professor of communication, information, and international studies at the University of Washington. Tweeting alone is not as successful—and no single tool has a clear relationship with campaign success.
“This is the largest investigation of digital activism ever undertaken,” says Howard, “We looked at just under 2,000 cases over a 20-year period, with a very focused look at the last two years.”
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