Digital media activities and mode of participation in a protest campaign: a study of the Umbrella Movement

Although digital media are widely recognized as a predictor of protest participation and a platform for the coordination of connective actions, few studies have examined how digital media activities systematically relate to protesters’ mode of participation in protest campaigns. This study aims at filling the research gap through analyzing the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. It identifies time spent in the occupied areas, participation leadership, and forms of actions undertaken as three aspects of a protester's mode of participation that can indicate a protester's degree of involvement in the movement. Analysis of a protester onsite survey shows that the protesters were active in four types of digital media activities: online expression, online debates, online explanatory activities, and mobile communication. Digital media activities are generally positively related to degree of involvement, but the four types of activities are also related to the three aspects of mode of participation differently. The findings illustrate how digital media activities are integrated into individualized mode of participation in contemporary connective actions.