Abu-Ayyash, S 2013, ‘Examining Social Movements Messages Through Social Media Sites’, paper presented at the Media Monitoring in the Digital Age Symposium, Galway, 23-24 May

1. Media Monitoring in the Digital Age Symposium
Thursday 23 & Friday 24 May 2013
Examining Social Movements Messages
Through Social Media Sites
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

2. Social Movements & Networking through Social Media
Manuel Castells
- (Networked Social Movements)
offers connectivity, sharing and
‘feeling togetherness’
- (Autonomous Networks) “By engaging in
the production of mass media messages, and by
developing autonomous networks of horizontal
communication, citizens of the Information Age
become able to invent new programs for their
lives with the materials of their
suffering, fears, dreams and hopes” (Castells
2012, p.9)
- Effective tools for:
mobilising, organising, and deciding
- Maintain communication channels
among movement members
Jan Van Dijk
- (Information) Knowledge Networks:
exchange of information
- (Change) ICTs are threat to traditional
totalitarian political systems that
control flow of information
- (Mobilisation) Powerful tools for
mobilising
- (Counter Information Campaigns)
Used by totalitarian regimes to
distribute their message
- “Social Media in themselves will not
cause democratic revolutions”. (Dijk
2012, p. 136)
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

3. Egypt: #25Jan
1) We are all Khaled Said page on Facebook
- Before the Revolution: Information about mistreatment of citizens in
police stations; place for expressing outrage; calls for on ground activities
-After the Start of Occupy Tahrir Square: the page along with other similar
pages provided information, hourly updates from Tharir Square; encouraged
followers to support the protesters
2) YouTube: Activist Asma Mamhouz call for protesting
-Criticising the brutality of the police; asking people to support her and
her colleagues in their aim of expressing their demands; calling for political
accountability of the regime
-Political message, mixed with emotions
-A clear aim: calling for a change, a revolution like Tunisia
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

4. Palestine Solidarity Movement in Ireland
The work of the solidarity groups could be classified under two levels:
1) On-going campaigns that focus on
- Raising awareness of the Palestinian cause (online websites, social
media, on ground activities, stalls)
- Organising visits to Palestine
- Supporting the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions against
Israel) campaign
- Lobbying media, politicians and decision makers in favour of the
Palestinian people rights
2) Responding to major incidents occur in Palestine (such as recent
attack on Gaza, Palestinian prisoners hunger strike)
- Organising demonstrations and protests
- Contacting local media and MPs
- Galvanising online campaigns through social media sites
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

5. Study Case
Question:
Examining political discourse of the pro-Palestine in Ireland during the Palestinians
prisoners in Israeli jails hunger strike between January and April 2013:
- Facebook pages content
- Nature of content (news, call of on-ground activity, lobbying decision makers)
- Similarities and differences of used terms, messages and content
- Number of posts related to on-ground /offline activities
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

6. Data Collection
• Data were extracted from the selected groups’ Facebook pages using Nvivo
software
• Material posted only by the group admins were analysed , excluding other
content posted by group members/pages fans
• Studied groups are local, national and university based groups, and non-active
groups online were excluded form the analysis
• Content classified into categories: violation of prisoners rights (human rights);
illegality of their imprisonment ; onground activities and call for solidarity
activities; or sharing news about the hunger strikers
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

7. Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC): HQ in Dublin, has branches in most
Irish cities; active in organising protests, cultural activities, lobbying and BDS
campaigns. Around 4200 members on FB page
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

8. Act for Palestine: Dublin based groups active in organising constant protests in
the city.4300 members on FB page.
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

9. Sadaka - the Ireland Palestine Alliance: The Dublin based organisation focuses on
lobbying politicians and NGOs; active in issuing fact finding reports. 1200
members on FB page.
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

10. Cork Palestina Solidarity Campaign: the Cork branch of the IPSC. Around 1400
members on FB page.
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

11. Limerick IPSC (Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign). Limerick branch of
IPSC; has 425 members on FB page.
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

12. Derry/Irish Friends of Palestine: Most active group in Northern Ireland;
constantly updating it s Facebook page content with materials related to its on-
ground activities. Around 6 thousand members on FB page.
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

13. Priorities
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Prisoners
News
Human
Rights
Violations
On-ground
Activities
Online
Action
Media
Advocacy
Illegal
Detention
IPSC HQ
IPSC Cork
Sadaka
Limerick IPSC
Act for Palestine

14. Prisoners News
• Using mainly Palestinian news sources
•Focusing on illegality of detaining political activists; right of prisoners to use
hunger strike as a protesting method
•Shows the human side of the cause (suffering of political prisoners and hunger
strikers)
•Reports from human rights institutions
•Publishing of local, regional and international solidarity activities
•Using images and cartoons
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

15. On-ground Activities
-Groups use facebook as channel of communicating with their members
-Activates are organised on both local and national
-Protesters call for end of imprisoning Palestinian, supporting the hunger strikers
rights, while ending the Israeli occupation is usually the main message
-Main events are usually organising demonstrations in major cities
-Link the cause with the Irish context (the Irish hungers strikers experience)
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

16. Conclusion
- Facebook used as news platforms to spread the news about the cause
-Used as tool for announcing past and future local activities
-Raising awareness by focusing on the illegal and human sides (suffering, prisoners families
news, health conditions)
-Link it with local dimensions and context
-Similar groups do not necessarily coordinate their efforts (different level of online
activity, and priorities are always not the same)
-Less dedication to media advocacy and decision makers lobbying
Media Monitoring in the Digital Age

17. Thank You

Shadi Abu-Ayyash
Huston School of Film & Digital Media,
NUI Galway
shadi.abu-ayyash@nuigalway.ie
http://actdigital.wordpress.com/
@shadi3000