Individuals and groups are prone to constructing narratives for their lives. To view events as episodes in an overarching story brings insight and structure to social units. This is certainly true of social movements, and in particular digital social movements, in which narratives are routinely, collectively constructed and contested, and serve as documentation and representation of the cause – both internally and within the larger internet culture and society.
Studies have shown that narratives serve several key purposes within social movements. Narratives about identity lead to greater solidarity among participants and narratives about the movement itself create a sense of shared history and purpose. Both can engender community and the kinds of common collective rituals so critical to the persistence and eventual success of a movement.
This study focuses on how narratives are strategically used to promote or frame aspects of digital social movements. Specifically, it considers how narratives that fundamentally shape digital social movements are not those that the movements create but rather those that the movements resist and even actively fight against. The study analyzes two very different digital movements — the Occupy Movement and the “Swan Queen” fan movement – in which participants struggle to negotiate and place themselves within larger meta-narratives; the “American Dream” and the television show “Once Upon a Time,” respectively.
Qualitative analyses of interviews with participants and postings created to further the movement indicate that participants’ emotional connections to these meta-narratives inspire and shape movements’ grievances, tactics and repertoires, resulting in similar narrative mobilization strategies. In both cases, participants frame their life experiences through meta-narratives by describing events that openly contradict the conventional trajectory that the meta-narratives promote. Using both the meta-narratives and personal narratives as tactical devices has aided digital movements in promoting the cause and amassing a visible collectivity of participants.
About the presentersVictoria Marie Gonzalez
Victoria Gonzalez is a Sociology PhD Candidate attending Rutgers University. She received her MA from Boston College and her BA from Vassar College.
Mary Chayko
Dr. Mary Chayko is a sociologist, social media researcher, and professor at Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information (SC&I). Her research is on the impact of digital technology and social media on relationships, community, society, and self. She directs the Gender and Media minor and the Digital Communication, Information, and Media minor at SC&I, and is the author of Superconnected: The Internet, Digital Media, and Techno-Social Life (Sage), Third Edition.