The future of protests may lie with how well they can be organised online in the public sphere. Tufecki explains that the public sphere in the modern era can prove to be critical in current social movements, as it is central to communication which is crucial to organising collective and coordinated action. This article will be looking at Gretha Thunberg, #FridaysForFuture, and how an individual form of protest can quickly blossom into a widely known viral campaign which can be backed through the simplicity of sitting at a desk.
Greta has become a cult hero for many around the world following her powerful speeches and affective online movements. But it is the way in which she has utilised social media and the public sphere that has projected her to becoming the spearhead for change against a global crisis. Greta has become so popular on social media, to the point where UK media regulator Ofcom identified what it called ‘The Greta Effect’, whereby British children in 2019 were more likely to utilise social media for activist purposes in the previous year. Displaying how her online skills has unified a demographic, and through this is fighting for change against senior politicians in her bid to fight the climate crisis. This furthers Durkheim’s concept of the ‘collective effervescence’, which Liebst describes as the “affective arousal of an assembled crowd creates the potential for both social conformity and group-based agency.” Although in this instance the collective agency is displayed online to show solidarity and is transferred to the streets via organisation online.
The effectiveness of the online campaigning transferred onto the streets, and within just over a year Greta and her fans had co-organised a week long protest with over 6 million people contributing, one organiser stated “People power is more powerful than the people in power. It was the biggest ever climate mobilisation, and it’s only the beginning. The momentum is on our side and we are not going anywhere.” The power of organization online is undoubtable, but a political movement is still defined by feet on the street.
Greta is perhaps most well known on Twitter, which is commonly known as being a site encouraging freedom of speech, and promoting activism. This is because users of similar minds tend to find each other through common interests. Twitter users do not associate with each other randomly, they follow and retweet each other in patterns that often reveal a shared identity or political affiliation. The hashtags #Climatechange, #FridaysForFuture, and #ClimateStrike is often associated with and considered important tools for Greta’s movement. However, in the current climate in the middle of a global pandemic, the use of hashtags to promote the movement have never been so important.
The protest usually organized online, had to remain online to respect social distancing policies. As a result, Greta encouraged a #DigitalStrike, in which she encouraged followers to post a photo of themselves striking with a sign and use the hashtag #ClimateStrikeOnline. She further stated “We’ll have to find new ways to create public awareness & advocate for change that don’t involve too big crowds.” Further displaying that in a time where social movements on the streets are limited, the advancements online to promote them are of equal importance.
