David Karpf
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190266127
- eISBN:
- 9780190266165
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190266127.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics, Democratization
Some of the most remarkable impacts of digital media on political activism lie not in the new types of speech it provides to disorganized masses, but in the new types of listening it fosters among ...
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Some of the most remarkable impacts of digital media on political activism lie not in the new types of speech it provides to disorganized masses, but in the new types of listening it fosters among organized pressure groups. Beneath the easily visible waves of e-petitions, “likes,” hashtags, and viral videos lie a powerful undercurrent of activated public opinion. In this book, David Karpf offers a rich, detailed assessment of how political organizations carefully monitor this online activity and use it to develop new tactics and strategies that help them succeed in the evolving hybrid media system. Karpf discusses the power and potential of this new “analytic activism,” exploring the organizational logics and media logics that determine how digital inputs shape the choices that political campaigners make. He provides the first careful analysis of how organizations like Change.org and Upworthy.com influence the types of political narratives that dominate our Facebook newsfeeds and Twitter timelines. He investigates how MoveOn.org and its “netroots” peers use analytics to listen more effectively to their members and supporters. He also identifies two boundaries of analytic activism—the analytics floor and analytics frontier—which define the scope of this new style of organized citizen engagement. The book concludes by examining the limitations of analytic activism, raising a cautionary flag about the ways that putting too much faith in digital listening can lead to a weakening of civil society as a whole.Less
Some of the most remarkable impacts of digital media on political activism lie not in the new types of speech it provides to disorganized masses, but in the new types of listening it fosters among organized pressure groups. Beneath the easily visible waves of e-petitions, “likes,” hashtags, and viral videos lie a powerful undercurrent of activated public opinion. In this book, David Karpf offers a rich, detailed assessment of how political organizations carefully monitor this online activity and use it to develop new tactics and strategies that help them succeed in the evolving hybrid media system. Karpf discusses the power and potential of this new “analytic activism,” exploring the organizational logics and media logics that determine how digital inputs shape the choices that political campaigners make. He provides the first careful analysis of how organizations like Change.org and Upworthy.com influence the types of political narratives that dominate our Facebook newsfeeds and Twitter timelines. He investigates how MoveOn.org and its “netroots” peers use analytics to listen more effectively to their members and supporters. He also identifies two boundaries of analytic activism—the analytics floor and analytics frontier—which define the scope of this new style of organized citizen engagement. The book concludes by examining the limitations of analytic activism, raising a cautionary flag about the ways that putting too much faith in digital listening can lead to a weakening of civil society as a whole.
David Karpf
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190266127
- eISBN:
- 9780190266165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190266127.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics, Democratization
Chapter 3 explores the digital petition industry. It assesses the various ways that online petitions act as powerful media objects within the hybrid media system and discusses the differing ...
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Chapter 3 explores the digital petition industry. It assesses the various ways that online petitions act as powerful media objects within the hybrid media system and discusses the differing organizational logics of the three largest US-based petition platforms—Change.org, MoveOn.org, and the White House’s We the People petition website. The chapter draws on a unique comparative dataset composed of the top 10 featured petitions at Change.org and MoveOn Petitions over a six-month time period. It uses this dataset to highlight how analytics, driven by divergent missions, visions, and business models, can lead two open petition sites to emphasize entirely different types of political opportunities.Less
Chapter 3 explores the digital petition industry. It assesses the various ways that online petitions act as powerful media objects within the hybrid media system and discusses the differing organizational logics of the three largest US-based petition platforms—Change.org, MoveOn.org, and the White House’s We the People petition website. The chapter draws on a unique comparative dataset composed of the top 10 featured petitions at Change.org and MoveOn Petitions over a six-month time period. It uses this dataset to highlight how analytics, driven by divergent missions, visions, and business models, can lead two open petition sites to emphasize entirely different types of political opportunities.
