In Twitter and Tear Gas, Zeynep Tufekci explores the profound ways social media and internet technologies have reshaped how protests and collective action arise, unfold, and are countered in the 21st century. She frames the internet as a new kind of public sphere that enables rapid mobilization and broad participation without the lengthy planning structures of historical movements, highlighting cases from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street to illustrate both the power and fragility of digitally networked protest. Tufekci introduces concepts such as capacity and signal to explain how movements’ ability to disrupt, persuade, or transform depends not only on visibility but on deeper organizational strength—something networked protests often lack. She also documents how governments and platforms respond with censorship, manipulation, and tactical pressure, underscoring that while digital tools democratize mobilization, they also reshape the trajectories and sustainability of modern activism.
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