ABSTRACT
Social media offers opportunities to citizens all over the world to come together and share information and ideas, potentially providing long-term tools that can strengthen civil society and the public sphere. Prominent social movements in the last few years have illustrated highly sophisticated methods of collective action without formal channels of communication to support their political and social objectives. The use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snap, Tumblr, blogs, and photo sharing sites illustrates the flexibility of information communication technology platforms in supporting collective action. This chapter illustrates the role social media plays in new social movements and collective action through movement formation, movement organization, and movement sustainability examining Black Lives Matter and Me Too.
