A party within a party posing as a movement? Momentum as a movement faction

Bibliographic Data

ID12972147
AuthorsJames Dennis (0000-0002-5638-0407, VSN International (United Kingdom), corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume17
Issue2
Pages97-113
Publication date2019-12-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Information Technology & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1933-169X • E-ISSN: 1933-1681
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19331681.2019.1702608
OpenAlexW2996538625
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited29

This article examines how the UK political organization Momentum uses social media within its campaigning. Drawing on a mixed-method research design, combining interviews with activists in Portsmouth and discourse analysis of content posted on Facebook and Twitter, this article tests whether the leadership provides meaningful influence for members. At the national level, there is little evidence of Momentum fulfilling its “people-powered” vision. Instead, supporters are instructed to undertake tasks at the direction of the leadership. However, this is not a straightforward case of controlled interactivity. The local group in Portsmouth is semi-autonomous, providing member-driven advocacy that is coordinated through a Facebook Group. By using social media to underpin different organizational norms and campaigning tactics at different spatial levels, Momentum represents a “movement faction”

Aesthetics · Art · Business · Interactivity · Media studies · Momentum (technical analysis · Movement (music · Multimedia · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Social movement · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Social Media and Politics