Social media obstacles in grassroots civic mobilizations

This paper maps some of the different obstacles and barriers activists face when using social media for engagement purposes. The data used here are part of a larger collaborative project entitled: “Social Media and Canadian Civic Culture: Comparing Emerging Practices of Grassroots Activism.” This project involves a comparative case study of several grassroots mobilizations utilizing social media. The article utilizes data from three localized cases across Canada. These cases confirm what others have found; organizers realized significant obstacles stemming from opponents, allies, and the technology being used. In addition to obstacles from the technology and others, this research also finds significant personal obstacles in using social media for grassroots collective action and concludes with recommendations for overcoming the obstacles typical of grassroots civic mobilizations relying on social media.

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