Twitter and tear gas

No cover — Zeynep Tufekci: Twitter and tear gas (2017, Yale University Press)

326 pages

English language

Published March 19, 2017 by Yale University Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-300-21512-0
OCLC Number:: 961312425

(1 review)

A firsthand account and incisive analysis of modern protest, revealing internet-fueled social movements' greatest strengths and frequent challenges. To understand a thwarted Turkish coup, an anti-Wall Street encampment, and a packed Tahrir Square, we must first comprehend the power and the weaknesses of using new technologies to mobilize large numbers of people. Tufekci explains the nuanced trajectories of modern protests--how they form, how they operate differently from past protests, and why they have difficulty persisting in their long-term quests for change. Tufekci speaks from direct experience, combining on-the-ground interviews with insightful analysis. She describes how the internet helped the Zapatista uprisings in Mexico, the necessity of remote Twitter users to organize medical supplies during Arab Spring, the refusal to use bullhorns in the Occupy Movement that started in New York, and the empowering effect of tear gas in Istanbul's Gezi Park. These details from life inside social movements complete a …

A firsthand account and incisive analysis of modern protest, revealing internet-fueled social movements' greatest strengths and frequent challenges. To understand a thwarted Turkish coup, an anti-Wall Street encampment, and a packed Tahrir Square, we must first comprehend the power and the weaknesses of using new technologies to mobilize large numbers of people. Tufekci explains the nuanced trajectories of modern protests--how they form, how they operate differently from past protests, and why they have difficulty persisting in their long-term quests for change. Tufekci speaks from direct experience, combining on-the-ground interviews with insightful analysis. She describes how the internet helped the Zapatista uprisings in Mexico, the necessity of remote Twitter users to organize medical supplies during Arab Spring, the refusal to use bullhorns in the Occupy Movement that started in New York, and the empowering effect of tear gas in Istanbul's Gezi Park. These details from life inside social movements complete a moving investigation of authority, technology, and culture--and offer essential insights into the future of governance.

4 editions

Aaron reviewed Twitter and tear gas by Zeynep Tufekci

5 stars

Tufekci gives a comprehensive and clear-eyed overview of the role in social media in organized protest all over the world in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. She recognizes the new vistas that social media has opened up, but also outlines the challenges that it creates. Notably, protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street were capable of bringing large numbers of people to the streets, but unable to translate that into concrete political action. As with most books on technological topics, events have moved quickly after the books publication: it is hard to imagine Twitter and Reddit occupying the same place of prominence today that they did when Tufekci wrote the book in 2017. Nevertheless, the broader lessons are applicable, making this a worthwhile read.

Subjects

Social media
Protest movements
Political aspects
Online social networks
Social movements