Hope, Motivation, and Mobilization: The role of social media activists in fueling the October 2019 Lebanese revolution

Abstract

This thesis examines how social media activists used the social media platform, Instagram, to engage with the public and mobilize protests. The study analyzes the use of social media in terms of texts, images, and videos in relation to the wider ideological framework of the revolution. The study showcases how the overlapping themes used by social media activists on Instagram relate to the modes of address to mobilize the protests.

The thesis relies on a qualitative textual analysis of three Instagram accounts that entice the public to mobilize.

The findings reveal how the way in which social media activists enticed the public to mobilize through Instagram is constructed according to collective thoughts featured via images and texts. Furthermore, the repetitive themes and modes of address overlap in all the Instagram accounts, abiding by the same ideological framework that entice the public to mobilize.