| Social Media have been utilized by social activists as mediums to produce revolutionary change in todays digitized society. As the internet has become a hubcap for democracy and free speech, the means of revolutionizing has become easier, cheaper, and more readily available for ordinary citizens signaling a shift into what I call the Social Media Screen. However, while marginalized individuals now have greater access to express their grievances, so do individuals who oppose radical change to existing political, social, and economic institutions. I analyze #BlackLivesMatter and the internet blockage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in order to highlight what I refer to as rhetorical demobilization strategies deployed by oppositional resistance to undercut the efficacy of social movements. |
