THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE POLITICAL PROTEST: THE CASE OF SHAHBAGH MOVEMENT

In the twenty first century, the social media as a powerful tool has connected people from every walk of life around the world. This medium is no longer just used for communicating with friends and family rather it is creating a bridge among people living in the farthest corners of the globe. This study examines the influence of social media in terms galvanizing public support to organize a political protest that took place in Shahbagh, Bangladesh. While a plethora of literature have studied the massive impacts of the movement in the wider society but the role of social media in triggering the protest is largely missing. By applying the strength of weak-ties theory propounded by Granovetter, this paper argues that the popular social media platform like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube played a key role in terms of building the micro?macro bridges among the public that ultimately fostered social mobilization and hence, collective action for social movement.