Social Networking as a Motivator for Social Gathering: Social Networking, Activism, Protesting, and Law Enforcement Collaboration

By Dr. Henrietta A. Abbey

In the United States, many activists use social media platforms to interact with protesters to organize demonstrations and protests rapidly. Some politically motivated social gatherings organized online are without the knowledge of government or law enforcement personnel. The gatherings can become violent and result in chaos. In 2016, five offic

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Jun 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781648959080

Dr. Henrietta A. Abbey

Dr. Henrietta Abbey is an alumnus of Walden University. She graduated in 2021. This book is a research study conducted at the Ph.D level that netted feasible and produced rich data which can be replicated in other states. She also received a master's degree in Philosophy from Walden University. Her carrier background of 21 years in the police department paved the way for her to explore issues concerning networking, activism, demonstration, and law enforcement collaboration. She also acquired a master's degree in Labor Studies which contributed to her writing this book. Upon thorough investigation, Dr. Abbey discovered that issues regarding riots can be resolved through education, special training, policy making, and realistic facts.

Book preview

List of Tables

Manual Framework of Survey Information on all Sixteen Participants

Manual Framework of demographic Information of all Sixteen Participants

Creation of Themes

Manual Demographic Responses of Participants’ Means of Communication

Demographic Framework of Participants’ utilization of Social Media

Manual Components of Protesters’ Interview Questions

Manual Characteristics of Activists’ Interview Questions

List Of Figures

NVivo Word Picture

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

Introduction

Humankind is noted for embracing advances in technology. Since the evolution of human existence, inventors have developed machinery when humans saw the need to use them for sustenance or the meeting of various needs (Fiedeler, 2011; Vaesen & Houkes, 2017; Xu, 2017). Since the hunting and gathering era, inventors have expanded the human ability to grow crops using machinery (Ford, 2017). Due to human quest to produce more efficient goods or food, humans developed machines for work in place of manual labor (Ford, 2017). Advances in agricultural innovation were followed by developments in transportation that allowed the more efficient transport of people and goods. The invention of locomotives, planes, trains, and cars, led to an increased need for long-distance communication. Humans later invented technologies like the telephone, telegraph, and radio. Again, needs shifted, and humans required technology capable of collating information. The computer is an example of technology created by scientists to respond to such needs. World War II produced radical milestones in technology (Ishida, 1995). For instance, the Apple computer and IBM surfaced in the 1960s utilizing technologies developed for the war (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). As human beings became increasingly reliant upon computers, technological invention advanced to expedite the making of new software, which led to the radical expansion of the kinds of things that machines could be used to do. According to Boyd and Ellison (2007), social networking sites were created in 1997 after Americans experienced the use of pagers and beepers as forms of interaction. Eventually, developments in communication technology led to related developments in personal computing, which created a wide variety of social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, and so forth. Today, people from across the political and social spectrum use these platforms to organize real-world gatherings, conduct business, participate in education, and entertain themselves.

The history of American riots dates back to the 18th century when the American constitution originated in response to issues that were pressing the formative nation (Earliest Protest, 2017). While many American riots have occurred in response to seemingly apolitical things like success in professional sports, mass protests arising from reactions to perceived injustices involving racial oppression, the deployment of the military, crises of sovereignty, and disparities in education, housing, and health services have continued to, throughout the country’s history, become riots and produce violence. A demonstration is a tradition in America that is commonly referred to as a necessary evil, vital to bringing about change in institutions or cultures that do or do not serve its citizens.

New York is particularly marked by a history of massive protests and ensuing riots. In 1863, the NYC Draft Riot took place from July 13 to July 16 (Hauptman, 2003). The First NYC Orange Riot occurred in 1870 (Emmons, 1995). Next, in 1901, there were the famous NY Race Riots (YouTube, n.d.). In 1935, there was the Harlem Riot on March 19 and 20 (Wang, 2008). In the 21st century, New York experienced the Occupy Wall Street Riot, which lasted for months with several individuals arrested. On March 11th of 2013, in Brooklyn, protesters responding to the death of Kimani Gray, who was shot by an officer, from the New York City Police Department (NYPD), led to a riot (Shapiro, Weiss, & Colvin, 2013). There have been many other instances when a police officer shot a civilian which has led to massive protests and riots across the United States (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). These riots grew out of demonstrations that were organized quickly via online communication (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). One example is the BLM movement. The rate at which some of these protests escalate into violence requires a research study to find answers and to avoid continuous replication across the states.

This study stems from a 2016 incident that happened in Dallas Texas regarding BLM protests in which five officers were killed while several other people, including law enforcement agents, were wounded (Karimi, Schoichet & Ellis, 2016). Micah Xavier Johnson, the sniper, was 25 years of age and had a Facebook account on which he supported the Black Panther Party group that advocates violence against white and Jewish people especially (Karimi et al., 2016). Johnson is one example of the millions of individuals that use social media with many preferences to groups well known and unknown. Some of these groups constitute gangs and terrorists.

Because social networking is ubiquitous, it is cumbersome to track all criminal activities without strict legislation to monitor social networking platforms. Activities that might be prevented by overseeing social media include cyber theft, security threats, digital inequality, terrorism, internet hacking, unauthorized internet use, internet addiction, psychological effects, online bullying, and crimes such as harassment, aggravated harassment, computer fraud, and potential misuse of the web.

In the United States, law enforcement agents play significant roles in society as civil servants. Law enforcement personnel include detectives, police officers, federal bureau investigation (FBI) agents, investigators, special agents, cadets, auxiliary staff, sheriffs, marshals, state troopers, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, inspectors, and police commissioners. Law enforcement agents exercise authority when necessary (Berg, 2012). Some citizens consider law enforcement officers to be heroes, role models, and leaders. The operations of law enforcement and policymaking fall under the discipline of Public Policy and Administration, specifically the field of Public Management and Leadership, because the subjects include civil servants who implement policies within an official government framework (Berg, 2012). These entities support adherence to law and rules of safety in society; therefore, any issue regarding public safety is under their jurisdiction (Berg, 2012). Law enforcement officers often consider social networking to be a good thing; however, it can sometimes be a motivator for social gatherings that bring about anarchy. This requires law enforcement personnel to investigate and to act. Whenever there is a public demonstration of protest, police officers are deployed to the area for safety and precautionary reasons. Police officers enforce the laws of the nation.

Grint, Goethals, Sorenson, and Burns (2004) claimed that leadership is made up not of arrays of separate elements – people, ideas, machines, animals, chemicals – but rather of hybrids composed of networks of associations (p. 6). Grint et al. (2004) stated that an individual could identify a leader by their uniform, credentials, resources, artifact supports, technological devices, and environmental domains. Without these elements, they are in reality – naked leaders (Grint et al., 2004, p. 6). Grint et al. cited Hitler as a leader who was recognized as a powerful force through networks of songs, ideas, flags, oil, guns, and uniforms (i.e., symbols) that contributed to his fame. Law enforcement agents are recognized for their heroic acts and apparatus used in enforcing law and order.

According to Grint et al. (2004), leadership attributes apply to authoritative figures. Law enforcement officers execute the law and are easily recognizable due to their uniforms, guns, batons, badges, and authoritative demeanors. They also use specific vehicles. All these symbols command respect from the public. Grint et al. did not argue for positive or negative elements of authoritative figures. For example, Hitler was a leader with a negative influence even though he was powerful. Grint et al. noted that authority comes with network artifacts; however, it does not stop with artifact impressions. With all these attributes of leadership, do leaders make positive or negative impacts? Are police officers positively influencing New York City? Would police officers rather have peaceful demonstrations than protest escalations leading to violence and destruction? Some of the forces that officers apply during arrests at protests are deemed negative influences by the public. Most of the time, officers do not act aggressively during protests unless there are riots. The results of the present study reveal some of these issues and possible solutions that mirror Public Policy and Administration standards.

The purpose of this study is to add to knowledge and experience in the discipline of Public Policy and Administration regarding how New York City protesters react to online communication before and during demonstrations. The research focuses on how various social media platforms have influenced society to the extent that some individuals and organizations have seized upon that opportunity to recruit followers instantly. Not only do social media platforms allow organizations to attract followers, but these platforms also lack oversight that could prevent the dissemination of potentially false or inflammatory information. Additionally, the perceived intimacy among like-minded individuals on social media platforms leads to radicalization and certain behaviors that require resolution. Through quality interviews, the results may encourage law enforcement authorities and legislatures to help remedy the situation before it goes further to destroy the nation. Organizations and individuals may change the way they send messages to their followers while educating their followers on how to react peacefully during the social gathering in ways that might prevent death, violence, or the irrelevant arrest of protesters and subsequent litigation.

Chapter 1 entails the introduction to the study, revealing its context and clarifying the problem to which it is responding, while ultimately establishing its purpose, guiding research questions, and the theoretical framework. Additionally, this chapter defines concepts crucial to the study as well as explicitly stating the research assumptions, scope, delimitation, and biases. Finally, the chapter focuses on the limitation and significance of the study.

Background

In the Information Age, social media platforms provide some of the fastest means of interpersonal interaction for individuals, including organizational and institutional personnel. Social media has transformed for better or worse, the dissemination of news and information. Political actors including governments, terrorists, and activists have utilized developments in online communication to continuously communicate with the populace, often enticing the general public to participate in social gatherings through mobilization efforts in that, the viral nature of information dissemination on such platforms, are not limited to officially sanctioned messaging. Sometimes these wildcat riots lead to the death of law enforcement officers, protesters, property damages, and the obstruction of government agencies. According to Chan (2016), previous research has proven that there is a relationship between social networking and political activities although such studies did not take into account technological diversity and policing. Goode, Krishnan, Roan, and Ramakrishnan (2015) confirmed that online interaction could lead to disruptive riots. Likewise, Tremayne (2014) explained that during Occupy Wall Street, activists recruited and mobilized insurgents via Twitter. Therefore, there is a correlation between developments in social media and increased incidences of protest and potential violence. Also, social networking channels include different social media platforms that attract the populace, organizations, and institutions. Meanwhile, there are not enough studies on social media, protesting, and the police in the field of Public Policy and Administration or on law enforcement leadership.

Problem Statement

Violent protests can quickly be organized online, without the knowledge of government or law enforcement personnel (Zavala & Kurtz, 2016; Zhang et al., 2015). Online incitement to protest has led to the obstruction of government activities, costly lawsuits, rioting, property damages, outbreaks of anarchy among the populace, and even death (Karimi et al., 2016; Park & Lah, 2017; Shoichet & Stapleton, 2014). Many of these online protests are politically motivated. Lohmann (1994) described political demonstrations as informational cascades that served to inform others by making public some of the previously hidden information (p. 44) about a social issue. Some of the messages communicated by online activists convey an urgent call to remedy social ills even if violence must be used to do so (Goode et al., 2015; Tarrow, 1998; Zhang et al., 2015).

A possible cause of violence stems from the fact that the speed of online communication allows activists to organize unofficial protest actions without proper permits. Law enforcement officials are often unprepared to enforce order during these impromptu gatherings. Literature reviewed for this study indicated that researchers had investigated this problem by considering protesters in the context of politics, ethnicity, and youth, but none of the studies reviewed looked at factors including gender, socio-economic status, education, Public Policy and Administration, and Public Management and Leadership basics (Cabalin, 2014; Chan, 2016; Condeza, Bachmann, & Mujica, 2014; Liljeblad, 2017; Rubenzer, 2016). This study contributed to research in the discipline of Public Policy and Administration literature by providing policymakers with data to develop and improve political strategies for monitoring activist activities.

Rational

Newcomer and Brass (2015) explained that it is vital for a leader to perform evaluations and conduct data analysis to understand the progress or regression of an organization and solve organizational problems. To help organizations gain profits, data analysis (e.g., surveys and other research) may help leaders plan effective strategies to generate profit and financial stability. As leaders with inconsistent popularity (e.g., public response to police officers involved in shootings of minorities), it is necessary that they research the influence of social media on demonstrations and other events that may lead to violence in the 21st century. For example, during and after the presidential election of 2016, some of the U.S. populace protested Trump winning the election in destructive ways. Often, the slightest mishap prompts activists to encourage civil disobedience. The primary source of communication is social networking. Hence, there is a need for government legislators and policymakers to examine these violent actions and exert authority to enforce order, respect, and safety in communities and neighborhoods.

Government involvement requires working with the public sector; it is part of Public Policy and Administration. It is very disheartening that police officers work to protect civilians only to be killed or wounded due to social gatherings that result in retaliation. Police officers have children and families. The premature death of an officer means a family’s source of income is cut off. Such families may or may not rely on government assistance and family hardship may become another social problem. The killing and wounding of law enforcement agents must stop. Two wrongs do not make a right. The retaliation will not stop until researchers delve into the core of the issues to resolve mishaps that lead to violence. Through data analysis, this study highlights opportunities to resolve negative interactions that prompt civil disobedience resulting in death, destruction, and property damage.

Newcomer and Brass’ (2015) findings regarding evaluation and data analysis are helpful to police departments. Supervisors usually evaluate subordinates; however, they lack adequate data analysis of social media, protesting, and police efforts. In regards to crime rates and domestic violence issues, the New York Police Department conducts data analysis of complaints and reports to help combat crime soaring high (NYPD, n.d.). Police departments need data analysis to measure the performance of the way officers handle demonstrations and how their actions affect crime rates. Researchers may prove that social media, protesting, and police performance affect crime rates. These issues call for another study in the field of Public Policy and Administration.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the role of social media in political activism in New York City. Most research on the influence of social media has been limited to Facebook, Twitter, and Email (Cabalin, 2014; Tremayne, 2014; Wang, Madnick, Li, Alstott, & Velu, 2015). This study responds to a gap in the research: activists are using several types of social media as an alternative to traditional media sources to construct platforms encouraging social dissent that they can control (Chan, 2016). This study is a broader inquiry of the problem that considers the influence of a full range of social media activities, specifically cost-effectiveness, outcomes, and new models of social protest. Public policymakers are interested in social