Premium
Affordances of social media in collective action: the case of Free Lunch for Children in China
Author(s) -
Zheng Yingqin,
Yu Ai
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
information systems journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.635
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2575
pISSN - 1350-1917
DOI - 10.1111/isj.12096
Subject(s) - affordance , social media , microblogging , action (physics) , collective action , china , sociology , perspective (graphical) , public relations , psychology , political science , computer science , world wide web , cognitive psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , politics , law , artificial intelligence
This paper studies the socialised affordances of social media in the processes of collective action, exploring the role of technology in the under‐researched area of civil society. We examine the case of Free Lunch for Children (FL4C), a charitable programme in China based on the microblogging platform, Weibo. Adopting the perspective of affordances‐for‐practice, we draw upon the collective action model to better understand the sociomaterial practices and social processes involving social media, and seek to address the ‘when’ and ‘how’ questions of affordances. The study generates theoretical and practical implications for understanding the role of social media in social transformation.