Two key constituencies for social movements are also early adopters: activists and journalists

movements, among other things, are attempts to intervene in the public sphere through collective, coordinated action. A social movement is both a type of (counter)public itself and a claim made to a public that a wrong should be righted or a change should be made.13 Regardless of whether movements are attempt-ing to change people’s minds, a set of policies, or even a government, they strive to reach and intervene in public life, which is centered on the public sphere of their time.

Digital connectivity reshapes how movements connect, organize, and evolve during their lifespan.

My goal in this book was above all to develop theories and to present a conceptual analysis of what digital technologies mean for how social move-ments, power and society interact, rather than provide a complete empirical descriptive account of any one movement.