METOO AS A TECHNOLOGY FOR INFLUENCING POLITICS

Abstract

Social media offer new opportunities for civil society participation in political process. There are many examples of people gathering around an idea in online space and then coming together from online to offline. In this article, the authors traced the algorithms of such transition using examples of #JeSuisCharlie, #MeToo, and I/We Golunov movements, and attempted to identify a common mechanism of creating the technology for influencing politics. Why do some of the movements that originate on the Internet fade away and others become so popular that they go into offline space and cause mass street processions and rallies? Why, the #IamNotAfraidToSay movement, which appeared a year before #MeToo, did not gain such popularity, even though it raised the same problem, why is it that I/WE do not work on such a large scale when applied to other events? (e.g., I/WE Shies or I/WE Sisters Khachaturyan). The author’s aim was to understand what tools civil society should use to draw the attention of the authorities to the problem. All three cases evolved according to a similar scenario, and they use method of attachment via the pronoun «me» or «I», which unites people around a resonant case. The article highlights and analyzes the factors that allow the movement to grow in scale and reach the international level by seeking a response (changes in legislation, court proceedings, public authorities’ reaction). In this paper, cases of the United States, France, and Russia were chosen to analyze the significance of the national context.