Soziale Bewegungen im Netz

Ein Abgleich der Forschung von 2012 mit der heutigen Sozialen Bewegung "Fridays for Future"

Abstract

In 2012 researchers came up with somewhat enthusiastic forecasts of how the internet would be used for communication by social movements. Based upon the social movement Fridays for Future, this article compares to what extent the research forecasts from 2012 meet the reality of Fridays for Future today. Therefore, the expec­ted advantages of the internet for social movements will be illustrated. The research forecasts will be classified in three categories – the first one to be examined will be the internal and external interconnectedness of Fridays for Future. The forecasts concer­ning synergy of offline and online activities were mostly fulfilled here. Fridays for Future also nearly met the forecasts regarding the mixture of offline and online actions, inter­connection of topics and external connection with other organisations. The second cate­gory – the movements decentralization fostered by the internet – will be examined on three levels: the local, national and international level. It turned out that the internet beca­me even more important as a communication platform the more decentralized the level was. The third category concerns the forecasts regarding possible dehierarchification of organizational structures through the internet. The same conditions for all users, which are fundamental for dehierarchification, only existed partially here. Equal accessibility as well as external representation are influenced by inherent preferences of the media. Even though Fridays for Future tries to establish power structures legitimized by elec­tions, parallel power structures still occur on online platforms. The conclusion states that with relatively small discrepancies two out of three forecasts from 2012 meet the reali­ty of Fridays for Future today.