Project Director

Strickler, Jeremy

Department Examiner

Groh, Rita; Freeman, Jessica

Department

Dept. of Political Science, Public Administration and Nonprofit Management

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

As we move forward into a digitalized age of communication, social media becomes increasingly powerful with each passing day. Digital forms of interaction foster an active political discourse and influence the behavior of both the public and government officials. The freedom to deliver public statements at will has been effectively utilized by individuals, local activists, and representatives of the legislative branch to interact in discourse concerning current events, therefore furthering the mobilization of social media to shape the American public policy stage as a whole. As a result of the accessibility of the internet, social media has become the most effective way for individual citizens to communicate directly with their representatives. Due to their prominence and accessibility, these virtual platforms have become integral to communication and political engagement in the United States, specifically among those concerned with social change. My research answers the question of how the Black Lives Matter movement has been categorized into major themes through online discourse with regard to who begins narratives, how they spread, and what they become through the use of Twitter. A critical discourse analysis of such findings reveals the nature of online political discourse, how the use of social media impacts the setting of the American political agenda, and what the future of further digitalized political engagement may look like.

Degree

B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Date

5-2022

Subject

Black lives matter movement; Political participation; Social media and society

Keyword

twitter; black lives matter; social movements; political engagement; george floyd; political participation

Discipline

American Politics

Document Type

Theses

Extent

i, 60 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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