ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the engagement with social media by social movement organizations (SMOs) and individuals are often seen as motivated by contrasting goals and values. Thus, Segerberg and Bennett criticize scholars' tendency to confront social media with an obsolete framework of contentious politics. Social media and social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook were extensively used during uprisings against authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Iran by the Occupy movement but also in protests scarcely covered by European and American mass media. Sceptics of social media's role in mobilization worry about the reliability and representativeness of sources, and are concerned about the public's ability to deal with excessive information. Scholars have highlighted that social media are frequently used to mobilize online as well as offline, and explored the relation between the two. Social media are fundamental for UK Uncut's short-term and long-term strategies.
