Networked collective action in the 2014 Hong Kong Occupy Movement: analysing a Facebook sharing network

Abstract

Using a “big data” approach, this study aims to demonstrate and analyse the way in which the formation of an online network, i.e. posts sharing between Facebook pages, help construct a countervailing power during the course of the Hong Kong Occupy Movement (or called “Umbrella Movement”), which protested against the electoral reform framework imposed by the Standing Committee, China’s National People’s Congress in relation to the implementation of universal suffrage for the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election. The result indicates an empowerment of emerging civil society in the venue of policy debate, whereas there was a disintegration between institutional political forces and the civil society. This may not be conductive to an institutionalized policy formation involving a variety of stakeholders amid the controversy.