Environmental issues are increasingly discussed through social media applications. Consequently, researchers are beginning to question whether social media could represent a green virtual sphere: a virtual public space to discuss environmental issues not governed by a single authority in which anyone can access; however, limited empirical research has been conducted to date. In response, this study combines text analysis, social network analysis, and semi-structured interviews to determine whether discussions regarding the Alberta oil sands and the Northern Gateway Pipeline on Twitter – a micro-blogging site – reflect the characteristics of a green virtual sphere. It was found that Twitter is used to disseminate information, access news, and engage in debate, but there are limitations: not everyone has access to Twitter, the government may monitor online activity, and discussions appear to be dominated by environmentalists and environmental organizations. Twitter use on these issues only partially reflects the characteristics of a green virtual sphere.

In this thesis, I examine definitions of fan activism in context of the assumption that Millennials are not politically active and that all online political engagement is superficial. I argue that the perception of political apathy is partially due to the fact that some of the most enthusiastic and intensive political work done by this generation is simply not picked up by conventional means. Some of this ‘hidden’ work is being accomplished by way of radical fanworks. Specifically, I examine Harry Potter fanworks and the ways in which they place marginalized identities at center stage, as well as the misogyny and homophobia that underlie the stigmatization and belittlement of fanworks. While many validate fan activism only when it engages with traditional political problems via traditional political means, I advocate for the validation of the cultural politics work done by fandom—of the purposefully transgressive narratives individuals create in defiance of typical cultural stories. To dismiss fandom is to dismiss a critical element of youth culture, and to dismiss the cultural politics of fandom in favor of traditional civic and political engagement by fandoms is to ignore the more radical positions being explored online.

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Media is belittling millennials for the current overall decrease in civic engagement. They are criticized for their apparent lack of responsibility, political knowledge and reluctance to get involved in current affairs, and social media and the Internet have been regarded as contributing to this civic decline. Millennials choose more liquid forms of organizing, as they have uprooted from pre-established and stable collective identities. There is a change in generations and their activities, and millennials’ use of social media for both political and civic engagement is a growing research field now. Hence this thesis aims to determine how civic engagement has been redefined by new media and generational shifts. The Internet has been proven to entice citizens to thoroughly engage in politics, providing a framework for broad social participation, which is inherently democratic, becoming a potent tool for civic and political participation, a crucial motivation for the core constituency of movements. According to the theoretical and empirical material, with the emergence of new media, new concepts, such as online activism, have been materialized or old ones, such as simple protests, have simply shifted and adapted to current times. There is not a discontinuity but rather a redefinition of civic engagement. The findings of the current study are significant in this sense, as they support the theoretical concept of the reinvigoration of civic life through generational shifts and the rise of new media.

Abuses and sexual misconduct have been present in the aid sector for decades. In 2013, a UN investigation declared sexual exploitation and abuse the most significant risk to UN peacekeeping missions. Nevertheless, the culture of impunity and hypocrisy still prevails in the aid sector. A recent report supports that one in three UN workers has been sexually harassed over the last two years. In the momentum of the #MeToo movement and of timely disclosures of various cases of sexual abuses and harassment in the international aid sector, people soon started to use the hashtag #AidToo on social media to highlight the prevalence of sexual harassment and misconduct within the industry. This study examines the major trends and the findings of an analysis conducted on the use of the hashtag #AidToo on Twitter over a ten-month period. As of the creation of the hashtag at the end of November 2017 and until the end of September 2018, over 13,000 tweets have used #AidToo in their content. Aid workers, journalists, NGOs, as well as news media compose the primary contributors of #AidToo tweets. Although limited to the political sphere and of limited reach, the movement has been sustainable and constant over its first year. Survivors and whistleblowers are the first to acknowledge that #AidToo has created a new safe space for discussion and has incited additional victims to speak up and share their experience. Aid organisations are now under constant scrunity, along with their values, integrity, and funding. However, the online campaign has mainly been a Northern conversation, and one can wonder if the use of the hashtag on Twitter failed to include the Global South and to give a voice to the actual victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. The #AidToo campaign represents a real and welcomed opportunity as a wake-up call for the aid sector, although it is too soon to observe the long-lasting impacts.

Due to the participatory nature of social media platforms, users contribute to the narratives built around online action for social change and shape the discourse on societal topics through their participation. At the same time as social media has become a space for societal activism and participation facilitating connective action of individuals, social media platforms are ultimately, for most, owned by private companies. This makes them products of the attention economy, where the attention of consumers has been quantified and commodified and where different players compete for such attention. The current research presents an analysis of content related to online advocacy to inform on the effects of a social media platform on social change and the use of a platform by citizens. More specifically, the research focuses on collective identity building through visual self-representation and how the commercial structures of the platform and the participation of users affect the representation of women in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement on Instagram. Methodologically the research was performed through a quali-quantitative exploration of publications associated to the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, using cultural analytics and content analysis. The research concludes that while the complexity of technological and human variables in online societal participation makes the research on representations of women challenging because of the various actors and forces at play affecting it directly or indirectly, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter is largely used for collective identity building that can contribute to empowering marginalized groups on social media. This type of finding nevertheless emphasizes the memetic characteristic of the hashtag rather than a tool for direct social activism.

Millennials are the world's digital natives and its largest generation. A general perception of this generation is that they lack engagement in social-political issues. This study explores how Millennials are engaging in social media activism and whether online activism is driving offline activism behaviors. A quantitative survey of 306 participants was conducted to learn more about the gratifications Millennials obtain through social media and whether associations exist between their online and offline activism behaviors. The results showed that Millennials engage in online activism behaviors to a greater extent than offline activism behaviors. Millennials primarily gratify intrinsic needs for interaction and belonging by engaging in social media activism behaviors. So-called “slacktivism” behaviors were most common among Millennials engaging in online activism. Similarly, online activism behaviors that require greater investment from Millennials were a good predictor of activism behaviors that occur offline. Results also demonstrate that, at an individual identification level, Millennials self-perceptions as activists predicted engagement in both online and offline activism.

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Internet has become the most efficient method in information dissemination, collaboration and interaction connecting diversity of people, places, ideas and cultures all around the world. With new communication and information technology, Internet has become a pragmatic way for NGOs to share their interests worldwide. Although NGOs have been utilizing the internet, the power of internet-activism is underestimated. Thus, this paper studies Internet-activism as the new method for NGOs to work in terms of territorial disputes. It specifically studies South Korea and Japan’s territorial disputes over Dokdo and Sea of Japan/East Sea that have been causing heated contention over a long time. It studies NGO’s different methods in raising awareness of this issue through a Korean cyber organization called VANK, Voluntary Agency Network of Korea. The purpose of this study is to prove that Internet-activism is an efficient and powerful method for NGOs.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse female political participation in the 2011 revolution in Egypt with the help of a radical feminism theoretical framework, which effectively ensures that the female participation is analysed from an intersectional point of view. The research will be conducted as a desk study. In order to do this, the research will specifically look at the means of mobilisations used by female protesters, as well as examine the reasons why women chose to join the protests throughout Egypt between January 25 and February 11, 2011. Furthermore, the strategies used to overcome challenges and obstacles in and after the revolution will be analysed. The main result of this research is that women to a large extent used and benefited from ‘online activism’ on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube both in the lead-up to and during the revolution. The research will show that women gained legitimacy during the protests by not pushing for a gender-specific agenda, but instead joined the protest under the common battle-cry of ‘bread, freedom, and dignity’ as well as taking up traditionally female roles during the protests. Moreover, the thesis will argue that the wide spread practice of female genital mutilation as well as the staggeringly high prevalence of sexual harassment and gender-based violence are severe hindrances for women to access the public sphere, and will show how the post-revolutionary government in Egypt effectively worsened the socio-political climate for women.