Activism in the Era of Social Media: Platform Activism and Affordances the Case of @GGreenpeaceBr (WITHDRAWN)

Abstract

As social media platforms become more prevalent in our societies, it is critical to examine what they afford for activism. Hence, we ask, do social media platforms provide new spaces for activism for SMOs? To address this gap, we examined how one SMO, Greenpeace Brazil, translates its actions on social media platform Twitter. Thus, we investigate how @GreenpeaceBR affords GPBR’s practices. Adopting a Critical Realist approach to technologies, we argue organizations exert agency and influence society while choosing how to use such technologies within their activities. We argue that such affordability characterizes activism in the era of social media platforms. We contribute to organization studies of social media literature firstly by advancing the understanding of how a particular organization reconfigures its practices and organizing into Twitter. Secondly, we identify Twitter's main affordances for SMOs and activism. Thirdly, while doing so, we reconfigure the idea of activism in the era of social media, further elaborating the concept of platform activism.