Digital resource abundance: How social media shapes success and failure of online mobilisation

Abstract

This article explores how and why some online protests manage to gain digital resource abundance, that is, mobilising large numbers of people and attracting wide interest and support in a short space of time. The study focuses on the case of the Swedish Petrol Uprising 2.0 which after a few months managed to mobilise 630,000 members on Facebook. The article expands established theories on online mobilisation by stressing the structural elements of social media platforms and the shaping of online mobilisations through three types of factors: resources, discourses and social positions. By combining contemporary social media research with classic stage theory, we discern the significance of each factor in the three-stage mobilisation process, leading towards digital resource abundance. The article shows that digital resource abundance serves both as a blessing and a burden for online organisers. Paradoxically, social media platforms serve as a fertile ground for bringing ‘the many’ together yet also force successful groups to stay in a stage of constant mobilising.