Black Networks Matter
The Role of Interracial Contact and Social Media in the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests

Interracial friendships, social media, and non-activist outsiders were pivotal to the growth of the 2020 BLM protests.

Matthew David Simonson (Author), Ray Block Jr (Author), James N. Druckman (Author), Katherine Ognyanova (Author), David M. J. Lazer (Author)

9781009475709, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 February 2024

94 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.6 cm, 0.274 kg

Scholars have long recognized that interpersonal networks play a role in mobilizing social movements. Yet, many questions remain. This Element addresses these questions by theorizing about three dimensions of ties: emotionally strong or weak, movement insider or outsider, and ingroup or cross-cleavage. The survey data on the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests show that weak and cross-cleavage ties among outsiders enabled the movement to evolve from a small provocation into a massive national mobilization. In particular, the authors find that Black people mobilized one another through social media and spurred their non-Black friends to protest by sharing their personal encounters with racism. These results depart from the established literature regarding the civil rights movement that emphasizes strong, movement-internal, and racially homogenous ties. The networks that mobilize appear to have changed in the social media era. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

1. Modern social movements
2. The ties that mobilize
3. Measuring mobilization
4. Tie strength and mobilization mechanisms
5. Movement insiders and outsiders
6. Beyond the contact hypothesis: mobilizing allies
7. Conclusion: where do we go from here?
References.

Subject Areas: Sociology [JHB]