Twitter & Tear Gas Theory Essay

In the novel, Twitter and Teargas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest by

Zeynep Tufekci she exposes the reality of social movements and change in the new digital era.

Using various original theories, she illustrates the effect of Twitter and other social platforms on

social movements. Tufekci aims to emphasize the effect digital technology has over social

movements in the 20th century by using firsthand accounts to tell the story from a protestor

perspective. She also uses established social theorist to support her own created theories on

social movement and technology. There are many social theorists used by Tufekci to support her

theories such as Karl Marx and Amartya Sen. Marx and Sens theoretical principles are used

throughout the novel and assisted Tufekci shape her own theoretical analysis of social theory.

Karl Marx is referenced in the chapter Movement Cultures. Tufekci uses his theory of the

commodity fetishism which focuses on social control of the economy. Essentially Marx is

stating that social relations are hidden through the exchange of currency. Tufekci uses this

reference to further explain motives behind the Occupy Wall Street movement, the spirit of the

movement was to encourage the thought that people can and should interact with one another

and exchange ideas in a relationship not mediated by money. (Tufekci 91) She further describes

that people stand for the Occupy Wall Street movement because it focuses on the value of a

person outside a monetary value. Occupy was a movement to fight the 1% of society, or in

Marxist terms, the bourgeoisie, who historically, has played a most revolutionary part. (Lemert

35) when it comes to sparking a fire for social change. The lower and middle class wanted to

stand up to the 1% of U.S. society and show that they are more than just laborers. Digital

technology and social platforms helped organize the occupy movement and the coverage from

mainstream media assisted protesters in getting their message out to the world.
 Amartya Sens capacity theory is addressed in the chapter, Signaling Power & Signaling

to Power. Tufekci describes Sens capacity theory which encourages scholars to focus less on

easily measurable outcomes that dont reflect the efforts humans make to for example get a

higher education. Tufekci uses this theory in terms of a social movement, encouraging people to

look at what the protest represents instead of incomes or outcomes of the protest. I had begun to

think of social movements abilities in terms of capacitieslike the muscles one develops

while exercising but could be used for other purposes like carrying groceries or walking long

distancesand their repertoire of pro-test, like marches, rallies, and occupations as signals of

those capacities. These signals of underlying capacities often derived their power from being

threats or promises of what else their participants could doif (Tufekci xi) Tufekci uses a

biological theory and Sens theory to create her own theory in terms of social media and social

movements.

Tufekci uses a variety of sources, data, and evidence to support her main points. These

include anecdotes about her grandmother and other people she has interviewed during her

research. She also speaks about events that are apart of recent history that showcase her theories

and perspective on social media. An example of this is when she researches Tahrir Square and

says that Facebook made it easy as a click to invite people to join a revolution. Tufekci also uses

facts to back up her main points throughout Part One of this book. For example, during the Gezi

protest she illuminates the difference between CNN International and their live stream of the

protest, in comparison to CNN Turkey who was showing on a documentary of penguins. This

shows the censorship of media due to the fact media outlets are controlled by prominent wealthy

figures. The novel shows a biased work of social theory, because she uses a lot of personal

anecdotes which could potentially interfere with her ability to step away from the subject using
sociological imagination to come up with an unbiased theory. Although she has bias social

theories because of her proximity to the subject she is well traveled and well educated on social

movements and the use of technology to succeed in political and social change.
 References

Lemert, Charles C. Social Theory: The multicultural, global, and classic readings. Sixth ed.

Boulder: Westview Press, 2017.

Tufekci, Zeynep. "Part I: Making a Movement." In Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and

Fragility of Networked Protest, 3-277. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2017.