From incubation, engagement, to decline : the role of social media in Hong Kong's Umbrella movement

Abstract

In 2014, Hong Kong witnessed the rise of a significant social movement, known as the Umbrella Movement. Like other social protests in recent times, social media is assumed to have played a major role in the Umbrella Movement’s inception and development. This thesis critically examines that assumption by analyzing which forms of social media were most frequently used in the movement and demonstrates how the role of different social media varied through the different stages of the movement — from incubation and engagement, to decline. By adopting a qualitative approach, with the use of semi-structured interviews with ten protestors, we argue that social media harnessed the growth of the movement effectively by mobilizing resources and modifying the formation of protest organizations during the incubation and engagement stages; at the same time, however, social media also contributed to the rapid decline of the movement, which failed to sustain the participation of individuals. Online interaction via social media, unlike physical participation in a social movement, could not foster the necessary trust and solidarity among participants. This thesis highlights the limitations of social media, which failed to sustain and even arguably facilitated participants’ disengagement from Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement.