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ETD Abstract Container

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New Directions in Networked Activism and Online Social Movement Mobilization: The Case of Anonymous and Project Chanology

Underwood, Patrick C.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1244228183

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Sociology (Arts and Sciences).
The present study explores the structural aspects of online communities and the potential of online communications technologies for social movement mobilization. This is accomplished through an examination of the online collective known as Anonymous and this group's social movement activism targeted against the Church of Scientology. The research is primarily concerned with answering questions of how the social structural contexts of Anonymous as an online community influenced the growth and development of Project Chanology, how Anonymous is able to establish insider status and group boundaries without access to traditional markers of identity, and what, if any, form of leadership developed within Chanology. To answer these questions, a hybrid methodology consisting of a qualitative case study and network analysis is developed. Results indicate that Project Chanology was a highly fluid movement possessing an informal, cell based leadership structure and that Anonymous was able to achieve stable boundaries by leveraging mastery over the group's esoteric culture as a marker of insider status.
Howard T. Welser, PhD (Committee Chair)
Robert Shelly, PhD (Committee Member)
Michelle Brown, PhD (Committee Member)
244 p.
Sociology
Online Activism; Social Network Analysis; Social Movements; Online Community; Identity

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Underwood, P. C. (2009). New Directions in Networked Activism and Online Social Movement Mobilization: The Case of Anonymous and Project Chanology [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1244228183

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Underwood, Patrick. New Directions in Networked Activism and Online Social Movement Mobilization: The Case of Anonymous and Project Chanology. 2009. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1244228183.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Underwood, Patrick. "New Directions in Networked Activism and Online Social Movement Mobilization: The Case of Anonymous and Project Chanology." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1244228183

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1244228183
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.