Social Media Strategies of Right-Wing Movements - The Radicalization of Pegida

This paper investigates how right-wing movements strategically utilize social media for communication with supporters. We argue that movements seek to maximize user activity on social media platforms for increasing on-site mobilization. To examine what factors affect social media activity and how right-wing movements strategically adjust their content, we analyze the German right-wing movement Pegida, which uses Facebook for spreading its anti-Islam agenda and promoting events in the Internet. Data from Pegida's Facebook page are combined with news reports over a period of 18 months to measure activity on Facebook and in the public sphere simultaneously. Results of quantitative text and time series analysis show that the quantity of posts by Pegida does not increase activities of Facebook users, but it is the quality and topic of posts that matter. Furthermore, findings suggest a strong connection between Facebook activities and Pegida's salience in the public sphere. In times of decreasing public attention, the movement changes its social media strategy based on exogenous shocks and resorts to increasingly radical mobilization methods.