Journal article
Whatever happened to Kony2012? Understanding a global Internet phenomenon as an emergent social identity
European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol.45(3), pp.256-367
2015
Abstract
Kony2012 was a viral Internet video that attracted unprecedented online interest in promoting a campaign to arrest the leader of an African militant group. The current research considers the social psychological bases of social media-based collective action. In three cross-sectional surveys (N=304) collected before, on, and after the key action date of 20 April 2012, we consider the nature (opinion based or global) and function (emergent or transforming) of social identity in modern forms of social action. Multigroup structural equation modelling showed that Kony2012 action was best captured by an emergent opinion-based social identity. Moreover, the same factors that predicted Kony2012 action generally also predicted engagement in new repertoires of protest (involving the use of social media) and an observable traditional socio-political action (signing a letter to a government minister). The results suggest that there is no sharp dividing line between traditional and new forms of collective action and that both may be understood as valid expressions of collective selfhood.
Details
- Title
- Whatever happened to Kony2012? Understanding a global Internet phenomenon as an emergent social identity
- Authors/Creators
- E.F. Thomas (Author/Creator)C. McGarty (Author/Creator)G. Lala (Author/Creator)A. Stuart (Author/Creator)L.J. Hall (Author/Creator)A. Goddard (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol.45(3), pp.256-367
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Identifiers
- 991005544157607891
- Copyright
- © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Psychology and Exercise Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Note
- Online 19 March 2015
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Citation topics
- 6 Social Sciences
- 6.73 Social Psychology
- 6.73.447 Racial Identity
- Web Of Science research areas
- Psychology, Social
- ESI research areas
- Psychiatry/Psychology