This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Fisher, D. R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Rumoring Theory and the Internet

A Framework for Analyzing the Grass Roots

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Internet is the newest medium of communication used by movement activists. As such, it has advantages and disadvantages. This article uses a rumoring framework to explain how the Internet works to diffuse information. Using the framework presented, the author discusses how social movement organizations working at the grassroots level are using the new technology to further their causes. In addition, the author looks at the implications of grassroots organizations' use of the Internet in the future by analyzing the growth of this new medium of communication. This article concludes that although the Internet is quickly growing and becoming more accessible to users around the world, several dimensions of the technology are political. The degree to which the Internet will influence social movements depends on the extent and ways that it is used by grassroots organizations in the next 7 years.

Key Words: World Wide Web • Internet • rumoring theory • communication • technology • political behavior • social movements • grassroots organizations

Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, 158-168 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/089443939801600204


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. K. Garrett and P. N. Edwards Revolutionary Secrets: Technology's Role in the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement Social Science Computer Review, February 1, 2007; 25(1): 13 - 26. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Earl Pursuing Social Change Online: The Use of Four Protest Tactics on the Internet Social Science Computer Review, August 1, 2006; 24(3): 362 - 377. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Lynch Capital punishment as moral imperative: Pro-death-penalty discourse on the Internet Punishment Society, April 1, 2002; 4(2): 213 - 236. [Abstract] [PDF]