Social media and social movements: Facebook and an online Guatemalan justice movement that moved offline

Abstract

In May of 2009, a posthumous video surfaced in which prominent lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg blamed Guatemalan president Alvaro Colom for murdering him. The accusations prompted the creation of numerous Facebook pages calling for Colom’s resignation, and for justice for Rosenberg. Using interviews and a content analysis of Facebook comments from the two most-active Facebook groups, this study found that the social network site was used to mobilize an online movement that moved offline. Users’ protest-related and motivational comments, in addition to their use of links and other interactive elements of Facebook, helped organize massive protests demanding justice and an end to violence.