'Facebook Helped Me Do It': Understanding the EuroMaidan Protester 'Tool-Kit'

• Published in: Studies in ethnicity and nationalism Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 170 - 184
• Main Author: Onuch, Olga
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-04-2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Data collection; Demonstrations & protests; Facebook; Focus groups; Human rights; Interviews; Linguistics; National identity; Social media; Social networks; Ukraine
• ISSN: 1473-8481; 1754-9469
• DOI: 10.1111/sena.12129

This article examines the role of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and, specifically, social media in the EuroMaidan mobilization process. Based on extensive data collection (surveys, interviews, focus groups, and digital archival research), this article argues that, while social media was not the only mechanism behind the mobilization of millions of Ukrainians, it was an important part of the larger ‘tool‐kit’ drawn upon by protesters. Specifically, ICTs allowed activists to facilitate connectivity, coordinate the mobilization process, speed up the flow of information, and create opportunities for grassroots self‐organization by ‘ordinary’ citizens who participated in the protests. Furthermore, the virtual nature of these tools made it possible for a wide range of Ukrainians to cross socio‐economic, regional, and even linguistic boundaries to consolidate a ‘new’ collective civic identity. The article also highlights that these new protest ‘tools’ had a de‐mobilizing effect: while the protest claims were not centred around Ukrainian language or nationality in 2014, but rather on civic identity and the protection of human rights, social media provided radical voices with an efficient vehicle to shape the terms of public discourse. The speed at which social media was used made it possible to spread misinformation, confuse protesters and international observers alike, and even hinder the very aims of the protesters.