The wave of mass protests in the Middle East and North Africa highlighted the crucial role of information communication technologies in mobilization and political change. Debate among scholars revolved around the Internet’s potential for toppling authoritarian regimes. However, rather than seeing the Arab Spring as a direct result of social media, this study examines how the online and offline media strategies converged, interacted, or prevailed within the various socioeconomic and political contexts. It looks at the purposes and functions of each medium, with a discussion of the dialectical relationship between them. Drawing on interviews and fieldwork in Morocco, as well as a critical examination of the movement’s communications, this study contributes to the debate about the role of social media and the Arab Spring. It analyzes an Arab Spring movement that did not call for regime change, investigates relationships between the activists’ use of online and offline media, and examines the multiple forms of communication flows in meaning making and nation building within dominant and non-dominant Moroccan publics. Finally, the study explores how the February 20th movement’s communication approaches functioned within the historical, cultural, and sociopolitical context of Morocco in the present day. The findings show that the activists generally relied on the online social platforms to respond to state allegations against the movement, counter hegemonic practices of the state, and to mobilize followers both locally and internationally. While the online environment helped set the agenda for political discussion, it was also, unable, on its own, to mobilize the Moroccan people to the streets. Online platforms simply could not substitute for traditional offline communication, with the result that the activists had to utilize both online and offline communication channels. Dismissing the notion that a homogenous Moroccan communication strategy prevailed in the February 20th movement, the demographic and political contexts in specific cities played a major role in the choice of communication platforms or messages. The study found the activists relied on offline communication strategies, with a particular focus on aesthetic practices to mobilize the subaltern publics. Through implentation of various cultural and linguistic practices, the movement worked to reformulate the traditional concepts of nation and state, create a shared history of oppression and resistance, and envision a new era of participatory politics.

Vilka erfarenheter har enskilda medlemmar av den svenska separatistiska facebookgruppen Heja Livet? Ur ett feministiskt perspektiv har vi genomfört kvalitativa personliga intervjuer vilket gav ett resultat som visar att gruppen bidrar med något betydelsefullt. Det personliga är politiskt och genom att ta del av andras berättelser kan enskilda kvinnor få ett högre feministiskt medvetande som kan bidra till feministiska handlingar. Det visar sig också att gruppen kan fungera som ett stöd i olika frågor för enskilda kvinnor i deras vardag. Vi presenterar ett teoretiskt resultat, omdefinierar innebörden av ett högre feministisk medvetande och argumenterar för att Heja Livet kan ses som en medvetenhetshöjande grupp. Faktumet att de flesta av våra intervjupersoner inte delar med sig av sina erfarenheter i facebookgruppen hotar dock konstruktionen av Heja Livet som en subalternativ offentlighet som utmanar dominerande offentligheter. Den vita medelklass cis-kvinnan är idealet i gruppen och det bristande intersektionella perspektivet gör att vi kritiserar Heja Livet som ett ett lyckat feministiskt projekt. / What experiences do individual members have of the Swedish separatist Facebook group Heja Livet? We have conducted qualitative personal interviews from a feminist perspective and have come to the conclusion that the group is contributing with something meaningful. The personal is political and by reading other women’s stories, individual women can achieve a higher feminist consciousness which can contribute to feminist actions. Another finding is that the group can also function as a support in different matters for individual women in their everyday lives. We are presenting a theoretical result, we redefine the meaning of a higher feminist consciousness and argue that Heja Livet can be seen as a consciousness raising group. The fact that most of the interviewed did not share their own experiences in Heja Livet, threatens the construction of the group as a subaltern counterpublic that challenges dominant publics. The white middle class cis-woman is the norm in Heja Livet and we criticize it for not being a successful feminist project because of the lack of an intersectional perspective.