ABSTRACT
Introduction The significance of social media within Korean society has been widely discussed, yet there is more to examine concerning its function in a global context. For instance, much of the discourse relating to Korean activism suggests that the state played a central role in demarcating the transnationality of online practices. In so doing, non-state actors are viewed as operating solely via state-centric Internet policies. However, it has also been noted that, to a certain extent, these policies were ultimately unsuccessful due to the transnationality of social media users’ “traversality,” in effect, their everyday online practices as a spatiotemporal experience. Therefore, while the state’s intervention had a substantial impact on the development of Korean social media culture, the relationship between social media and activism can best be understood by undertaking a more comprehensive evaluation. This chapter addresses the significance of Korean online users’ practices and develops a framework to better understand such practices within the context of social media.
