Building an Electronic Repertoire of Contention

This short paper examines the way in which the electronic repertoire of contention for online social movements is being built, and the means by which it will continue to evolve. Drawing on the work of Tilly and Tarrow, a number of possible explanations are examined for innovation within the online activist space, and for the diffusion of that innovation. Analysis suggests that several of the current approaches to understanding repertoire innovation are useful in describing the developing online repertoire. A hybrid model is proposed, integrating several of these approaches to provide a holistic description of electronic repertoire innovation and diffusion.