Collective Action, Memories of 1989, and Social Media

Abstract

How does social media facilitate deliberation and collective remembering of past revolutions amid protests in democratizing contexts? To explore this question, I performed a qualitative and quantitative analysis of a unique archive of tweets posted during Moldova’s Twitter Revolution in 2009. The research revealed that Twitter enabled users living in Moldova and Romania to connect online, share information, and chat about the meanings of revolution, civil society activism, and resistance to state oppression, all while providing updates to Western media and warning the public about human rights abuses. Also, the research uncovered that the #pman audiences from Moldova and Romania framed the protest differently. Whereas the Moldovans regarded it as a demonstration against election fraud, the Romanian twitterers framed the events as an anti-communist uprising analogous to the 1989 Revolution, which they mythologized to extract useful strategies for action communicated to the Moldovan activists. Moreover, twitterers from both countries engaged in a transborder conversation about unionism and national identity. Despite Twitter’s documented positive impact on political engagement and Western media reporting, it simultaneously contributed to misinformation through the circulation of rumors, conspiracy theories, and calls for violence.