Exploring Social Media Use and Protest Participation in Latin America

Abstract

Recent global events, exemplified by the Arab Spring uprisings, have popularized the assumption that social media use is intrinsically connected to contemporary protest behavior. Latin America is a region with a longstanding tradition of protest behavior. This research project seeks to elucidate the relationship between social media use and protest behavior in eight contiguous Latin American countries from Mexico to Colombia using the Latin American Public Opinion Project 2012 survey data. Resource mobilization theory anchors our understanding of how social media use informs protest participation. The results indicate a strong relationship between social media use and protest participation.