DE GRUYTER MOUTON Communications 2018; aop

Ricardo Campos*, José Alberto Simões and Inês Pereira

Digital media, youth practices
and representations of recent activism
in Portugal
https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2018-0009

Abstract: In recent years we have witnessed in several countries the rise of new
and unexpected forms of collective mobilization and activism. The main goal
of this article is to discuss the role played by digital devices and online plat-
forms in how activism is currently being represented and practiced by young
people. Our reflection is empirically grounded on a recent exploratory research
project carried out in Portugal. This project, using an array of qualitative
methods (ethnographic observation, in-depth interviews, etc.), had as its main
purpose to explore young people’s digital activism. In this article we will dis-
cuss this project’s findings, analyzing not only the uses of digital media within
a set of activist practices, but also the social representations built around this
issue by different social actors participating in several activist groups.
Keywords: Social movements, activism, digital media, internet, youth, Portugal

1 Introduction: A new cycle of protest

in Portugal
In recent years we have witnessed the emergence of new forms of collective
mobilization and activism across different geographical contexts. Among the
innovative aspects we find the use of digital equipment and media as crucial

Funding acknowledgement: This work was supported by national funds through FCT/MEC
with project grant EXPL/IVC-COM/2191/2013 and grant SFRH/BPD/99671/2014. CICS.NOVA –
NOVA FCSH is also supported by national funds through FCT/MEC (UID/SOC/04647/2013).

*Corresponding author: Ricardo Campos, CICS.Nova, NOVA FCSH, Universidade Nova de

Lisboa, Portugal, E-mail: [email protected]
José Alberto Simões, CICS.Nova, NOVA FCSH, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal,
E-mail: [email protected]
Inês Pereira, ISCTE-IUL, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal,
E-mail: [email protected]

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2 Ricardo Campos et al. DE GRUYTER MOUTON

resources for political and civic mobilization. The dynamics created on the in-
ternet thus seem to be increasingly headed for the streets, fostering distinct
forms of public participation. Conversely, what occurs on the streets also tends
to be absorbed by digital networks in a communication circuit which is hybrid
and complex in nature (Castells, 2012; Dahlgren, 2013; Milan, 2013; Penney and
Dadas, 2014). These are practices in which young people have played a promi-
nent, though not exclusive, role as the visible face of widespread discontent, as
evidenced by the recent public demonstrations in Portugal and other European
countries and the rest of the world (Tejerina, Perrugoría, Benski, and Langman,
2013).
The 2012 bailout of Portugal and the intervention of the International Mone-
tary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commis-
sion (EC), which became known as the “Troika”, gave rise to various protests,
leading to the creation of new platforms and activist groups as well as the
mobilization of individuals ordinarily unaffiliated with any political groups or
organizations, or any activities of a political nature (Baumgarten, 2013). This
was a new protest cycle, in which social movements and emerging platforms
were created outside the direct influence of political parties and trade unions,
even if some of their members had (or still have) a history of involvement
with political and civic organizations (Accornero and Pinto, 2015; Baumgarten,
2016).
The “Geração à Rasca” (“Desperate Generation”) protest, which took place
before the Troika’s intervention on March 12, 2011, is a good example of these
dynamics, since it was convoked by a group of friends on Facebook, and for
the first time the power and impact of digital media as a trigger for a number
of events became visible. This demonstration is considered one of the most
prominent in Portuguese society in recent years. It was spearheaded by young
people whose main cause was bound with anti-austerity demands (Estanque,
Costa, and Soeiro, 2013). However, the present essay is not focused strictly on
the anti-austerity movements.
Furthermore, unlike what has been the predominant trend in the latest
literature on digital activism (Fernandez-Planells, Figueras-Maz, and Feixa,
2014; Juris, 2012; Micó and Casero-Ripollés, 2014; Milan, 2015; Penney and
Dadas, 2014; Postill, 2014; Theocharis, Lowe, and García-Albacete, 2015; Treré,
Jeppesen, and Mattoni, 2017), the focus of this article is not just on the protest
and mobilization that emerges in the more troubled political times, but rather
on day-to-day activism. In other words, activism that is characterized by a set
of practices of a logistic and organizational nature, as well as by several initia-
tives of a political and civic participation. Subsequently, we propose an analysis
that takes into consideration a broadened taxonomy of the ‘activist work’, as
is described by the activists.

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DE GRUYTER MOUTON Recent activism in Portugal 3

Our analysis is based on an exploratory research project on forms of activ-

ism and public participation of young people in Portugal (2014–15).1 Methodo-
logically, a qualitative approach was adopted, articulating offline research (in-
depth interviews, observation of events and documental collection) and online
research (observation and analysis of digital platforms). The present analysis
is based essentially on 36 in-depth interviews conducted with young activists
of different profiles, following a ‘snowball’ sampling strategy (see ‘Methods’).
Our chief initial question was: Is digital equipment changing traditional forms
of activism in Portugal? And if so, what are the features of this digital activ-
ism – what forms does it assume? Attempting to answer this basic question
gave rise to a host of other subsidiary questions: What are the existing uses
and ‘representations’ of digital media within the sphere of activism? What is
the relationship between digital (online) activist practices and other traditional
(offline) forms of activism? Despite our specific focus on the Portuguese con-
text, we believe that the questions it raises and some of the conclusions that
we have drawn can contribute to the current theoretical debate around the
impact of digital media on political participation, establishing a parallel with
other empirical terrains recently studied.

2 Youth, digital media and political participation

Studies dealing with young people’s political involvement have been reformu-
lating their premises over the past few years, mostly by broadening the defini-
tion of political, public participation and the public sphere (Dahlgren, 2009).
In doing so, the traditional portrait of youth disaffection has been replaced by
an alternative view of displacement (Loader, 2007), according to which political
participation has not disappeared, but has been transferred to other forms and
channels of expression. In contrast with the political and civic apathy that
apparently characterizes contemporary youth, we should stress the importance
of non-conventional forms of public participation, through non-institutional
channels or which is not usually connected with traditional political activity
(Dahlgren, 2007; Dahlgren and Olsson 2007a, 2007b; Loader, 2007; Olsson and
Dahlgren, 2010). In this context, digital media, especially the internet, may
function as a crucial resource, a vehicle of expression and activism (Lievrouw,
2011; Postill, 2012, 2014) for different socially relevant issues (not necessarily

1 “Networked youth activism: Digital media, social movements and participatory culture
among young activists”.

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4 Ricardo Campos et al. DE GRUYTER MOUTON

coincidental with the political agenda), and also as a way of mobilizing similar
preoccupations, organized as networks (Castells, 2009), through sharing specif-
ic relevant problems and concerns (Loader, 2007; Van de Donk, Loader, Nixon,
and Rucht, 2004). According to Loader, Vromen, and Xenos (2014, p. 143), we
are looking at a “networked young citizen”, with the following profile:

Networking young citizens are far less likely to become members of political or civic
organizations such as parties or trades unions; they are more likely to participate in
horizontal or non-hierarchical networks; they are more project orientated; they reflexively
engage in lifestyle politics; they are not dutiful but self-actualizing; their historical refer-
ence points are less likely to be those of modern welfare capitalism but rather global
information networked capitalism and their social relations are increasingly enacted
through a social media networked environment.

The above profile suggests a shift towards a new paradigm in young people’s
political and civic engagement, notably in the way information and knowledge
is obtained and shared (Bennett, Wells, and Freelon, 2011; Dahlgren and
Olsson, 2007b). Different authors have pointed out the prominent role of digital
technologies and networks in young people’s activist practices, namely as tools
for social and political struggles, for NGOs, new social political and cultural
associations, informal groups for social justice, and ecologist and solidarity
groups, etc. (Banaji and Buckingham, 2013; Dahlgren, 2013; Feixa, Saura, and
Costa, 2002). The above examples correspond to distinct forms of mobilization,
connected to multiple pleas and different modes of organization, which have
been termed the “new, new social movements” (Feixa, Pereira, and Juris, 2009).
Prominent youth participation in such movements constitutes a crucial dimen-
sion for understanding young people’s engagement in the public sphere, espe-
cially if we consider these movements’ ability to integrate participation at
different levels – locally/globally; collectively/individually; “virtually”/“in the
streets” (Feixa and Nofre, 2013).
The importance of the digital in collective mobilization is not entirely new;
it has been highlighted since the events that followed the neo-Zapatista upris-
ing in the mid-90s (Rovira, 2009), and was fully consolidated during the first
decade of the millennium with the movement against the war in Iraq and the
alter-globalization movement (Feixa et al., 2002; Juris, 2008; Sommier, 2003).
More recent protests, linked to the financial and economic crisis in Europe and
the rest of the world, and also associated with democratic demands in the
Maghreb countries (especially in Tunisia and Egypt), have further emphasized
the potential of digital technologies for mobilization, giving them a role that is
not merely supplementary but which is truly alternative to political and civic
intervention (Feixa and Nofre, 2013; Fernandez-Planells, Figueras-Maz, and
Feixa, 2014; Penney and Dadas, 2014; Postill, 2014; Theocharis, Lowe, and

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DE GRUYTER MOUTON Recent activism in Portugal 5

García-Albacete, 2015; Treré, Jeppesen, and Mattoni, 2017; Van Laer and Van
Aelst, 2010). The decentralized and interactive nature of these tools, associated
with the potential to generate and disseminate information and to promote
interaction and networks around common interests, proved crucial in the pro-
tests that emerged in 2011 and continued over the following years. In a sense,
contemporary spaces of protest cannot be conceived but as hybrid spaces, lo-
cated within the multiple connections that are established between the internet
and the streets (Castells, 2012).
After reviewing the literature that has been addressing the relation between
digital media, the internet and ways of political participation and activism, we
can consider three levels of articulation.
On a first level, we find uses related to the disclosure and dissemination of
information addressed to the general public and not only to activists. This use
does not require particularly sophisticated technical skills, and focuses fore-
most on the propagation of messages on websites, blogs or Facebook pages
which can be shared with a potentially interested general audience. In this
case, virtual space acts as a showcase that enables the explanation of argu-
ments, projects and causes, and the relaying of information and knowledge.
This dissemination can occur at an extremely fast pace. The construction of
certain “global causes”, which originate from a specific context but have ex-
tended support networks throughout the world, has been one of the most inter-
esting consequences mentioned in the literature (Della Porta and Mosca, 2005;
Juris, 2008). Examples of this are the internet presence of the MST – Brazilian
Landless Workers Movement (Sáez, 2004) or the EZLN – Ejército Zapatista de
Liberación Nacional, considered the first informational guerrilla, with a wide
range of supporters and followers alike worldwide (Castells, 1998; Rovira,
2009). Also included in this category are initiatives that do not originate in
specific groups, but are conveyed by alternative news broadcast projects, par-
ticularly through the action of organizations that collect and/or filter informa-
tion, making it available in compiled form in portals, websites or mailing lists,
as is notably the case of Indymedia (Atton, 2004; Juris, 2004).
Secondly, we find a whole set of practices involved in building networks
and collective organization (Calle, 2005). The accelerated flow of information,
achieved synchronously by means of new information technology, allows for
concerted collective action on several levels. Besides information or ideological
debates, various websites also convey specific repertoires of action and modus
operandi for carrying out different actions that can be modularly transposed
and adapted so as to be reused elsewhere in the world. From the alternative
performances and aesthetics typified in demonstrations, a world of activities is
disseminated in virtual space and can be adapted and reproduced in the most

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6 Ricardo Campos et al. DE GRUYTER MOUTON

varied contexts. In view of this, some authors (Gerbaudo and Treré, 2015; Milan,
2015) have emphasized the relevance of these circuits and of social media in
the construction of “collective identities”, insofar as they enable an accelerated
and efficient collective identification with certain slogans, images or ideas dis-
seminated via the internet, such as emblems or common causes. More specifi-
cally, in the case of young people the internet has been “understood as a re-
source to their alternative political identities” (Dahlgren and Olsson, 2007b,
p. 74), in contrast to how traditional media are seen, as part of their political
engagement (Dahlgren and Olsson, 2007a).
Finally, there is a more transgressive and technologically sophisticated
level of protest action repertoire taking place in virtual space itself, whether
consisting of the reproduction of common offline tactics or the finding of forms
of conflict specific to virtual space. Cyberspace emerges, in this sense, as an
arena for protest action. Among the most common action repertoires, we can
highlight some that reproduce common offline tactics, such as the proliferation
of online petitions or virtual demonstrations. We also find action repertoires
that require greater technical expertise and tend to have a higher degree of
disruption: leaks and disclosure of private information; dissemination of cir-
cumvention techniques such as website mirroring, which makes it possible to
get around censorship; mail bombing (consecutively sent e-mails that can have
the effect of blocking electronic mailboxes); web sit-ins and DDOS or denial of
service attacks (bombarding certain websites with so many requests that they
literally stop working, or at least become much slower due to excessive traffic)
or defacing (changing the home page of a particular website by replacing the
original content with a provocative message) (Cibergolem, 2005; Padilla, 2012;
Van Laer and Van Aelst, 2010). It is in this context that the concept of Hacktiv-
ism can be included. Decentralized collectives and initiatives such as Anony-
mous have been prolific in this type of action, although it is not yet widespread
(Stryker, 2011).
Unlike international literature on the subject, which is abundant and has
been increasing, there are not any empirically-based studies dealing with digi-
tal activism in Portugal. Such shortage of data becomes even more blatant
when we consider the more recent political context (nationally and internation-
ally), during which digital activism assumed a relevance that cannot be ig-
nored. This gap in the literature has in some way justified the exploratory na-
ture of the study, with epistemological repercussions, especially in choosing a
qualitative methodology quite open to new issues and sufficiently flexible to
allow for new lines of research (see “Methods”).

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DE GRUYTER MOUTON Recent activism in Portugal 7

3 Methods
Our analysis is based on an exploratory research project. Fieldwork was con-
ducted between March and November 2014, following a qualitative approach
based on a mixed method strategy. As an exploratory project, we chose to fol-
low an inclusive strategy that sought to cover various types of activism centered
on different causes (political, ecological, social, etc.). This seemed to be the
best option, considering the almost total inexistence of empirical studies that
might provide us with a basis for identifying different trends or practices in
digital activism in Portugal. In this way, we have privileged a conceptual con-
struction and theoretical discussion, which have been simultaneously articulat-
ed with the empirical data gathered.
Besides witnessing and following up on various events (demonstrations,
meetings, venues) and online observation, we have also conducted 36 in-depth
interviews with young activists. Given their in-depth nature, interviewees were
granted a certain amount of latitude to frame their discourse around the topics
or episodes that they personally deemed more significant. Nevertheless, a
schedule for the interviews was drafted with consideration given to two major
themes. The first of these concerned ‘activist practices’ (initiation in the field,
activist record, description of the movement, etc.), while the second had to do
with the ‘digital uses’ (engagement with digital tools, types of platforms used,
tasks performed, etc.). The sampling method relied on a ‘snowball’ strategy,
which allowed us to reach young people engaged in diverse activist causes.
Exploratory information obtained online and presence at particular events were
both of utmost importance in identifying our interviewees. The criteria for selec-
tion of the interviewees included the nature of engagement with activist practi-
ces (leaders of groups but also lesser-known participants), the area of the activ-
ist practices (ecology, LGBT, anti-austerity, etc.) and age (we interviewed young
people and young adults between the ages of 20 and 35).2 The interviews were
put through a process of qualitative content analysis in two large blocks that
corresponded to the two major themes of the interview. The first topic con-
cerned ‘activist history and political participation’, in the attempt to understand
the individual positioning and different social actors’ involvement in Portu-
guese activism. The second topic dealt with ‘practices and representations with-
in digital activism’ as a way to understand how the digital is used in the various
tasks involved in activist work, as well as to gauge the different opinions on
these dynamics.

2 With two exceptions of interviewees in their early forties, corresponding to the groups’
leaders or activists involved for quite a long time in particular groups.

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4 Digital activism in Portugal:

The internet and digital media as tools
4.1 Activist work: Between the offline and the online
In our analysis we approached the internet and the digital devices as ‘tools’ or
resources at the service of social movements and political participation, used
to promote internet-supported action repertoires (Van Laer and Van Aelst,
2010). From the interviews that were conducted, it becomes clear that the use
of the internet and different digital tools in activist work is a fairly natural
occurrence, a situation arising from the fact that digital technologies are nowa-
days fully assimilated in everyday life. This confirms a “normalization” affect
already identified by other studies (Banaji and Buckingham, 2013). As such,
and despite a few cases where some resistance is found, the fact is that digital
tools are likely to be incorporated in the sphere of activism just as they are
included in other spheres of social life (at work, in social relationships, in
leisure, etc.).3 At the same time that there is an adaptation of certain practices
and formats of ‘making’ activism to increasingly familiar ways of using media
and certain digital platforms, these features are also applied to ‘old activist
formulas’. In any case, we are faced with an obvious transformation in the
ways activism is thought out and executed, thereby changing the practices
of social movements that exist within the national context, particularly those
that have come about since 2011 and have taken advantage of the new digital
resources to achieve mobilization, mainly in what concerns communication
processes (both internal and external), the strengthening of network ties, the
coordination and organization of protests, and collective action in general
(Baumgarten, 2016; Campos, Pereira, and Simões, 2016).
From interviewees’ discourses we found that the implementation of digital
tools (technologies, digital platforms and the internet) in activist work is direct-
ly associated with different dimensions and procedures of this work. Conse-
quently, it was deemed important to create a taxonomy of what we have defined

3 The pervasiveness of these specific uses can be explained by the very evolution of internet
penetration in the country, throughout various layers of the population. According to the data
provided by Obercom (2015), internet access by Portuguese families has increased in the last
decade: In 2002, only 15 % of families had internet access in their homes, while in 2014 that
number had increased to 65 %. However, these numbers show significant asymmetries in
terms of region, education level and age. In what concerns the latter asymmetry, the young
population has the greatest internet access, which suggests clear generational differences:
99.4 % at the ages 16–24, versus 23.1 % at the ages 65–74 and 41.9 % at the ages 55–64.

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DE GRUYTER MOUTON Recent activism in Portugal 9

Table 1: Dimensions of activist work.

Dimensions Description

D.1 – Debate and Activities of an internal nature (intended primarily for activists belong-
reflection ing to a particular group) which seek to promote sharing and reflection
on the causes they defend or which they are directly associated with.

D.2 – Organization Backstage work involved in organizing events or in developing certain

and logistics initiatives of variable dimensions.

D.3 – Mobilization Actions that aim to encourage participation and adherence to the
cause of a certain movement/group, mobilizing not only its supporters
but also those who are unaware of it or not particularly sensitive to it.

D.4 – Collective communication campaigns aimed at disseminating a variety

Communication of messages and at reaching different audiences ranging from the
cause’s supporters to an undefined audience.

D.5 – Recruitment Actions aimed at seeking out new people for the cause.

D.6 – Propaganda Processes involved in ideological communication and in creating

and public a public image for the collective.
representation
of the collective

D.7 – Social Processes of creation, perpetuation and consolidation of networks,

networks both individually and collectively, with national or international actors.

D.8 – Public events Public events organized by the collective or where it or someone on its
behalf participates, targeting a number of its strategic aims (protest,
publicizing the cause, etc.).

as ‘dimensions of activist work’. In order to develop this taxonomy we relied

primarily on descriptions made by activists. These dimensions are obviously
interconnected, and in many cases overlap. However, from an analytical point
of view it makes sense to differentiate between them, in that it allows us to
more clearly assess the role assigned to the various digital media in contempo-
rary activism. All these dimensions refer to various levels of conventional activ-
ist work as it is traditionally seen and described by the various actors. In this
sense, we could regard them as ‘pre-digital practices’. This does not invalidate
the fact that they are currently designed and implemented while taking into
account the existing new tools, which matches the results that we have found
in other studies (Milan, 2013; Penney and Dadas, 2014). We would highlight
eight dimensions (Table 1).
In this paper, for each of the dimensions mentioned, we took special notice
of the communicational processes involved, striving to understand how the

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relations between offline and online communication circuits were established.

As can be expected, digital resources are preferred in procedures involving
long-distance communication and interaction, in which case they have a num-
ber of advantages. Thus, we can glimpse, in a simplified way, the existence of
two communication circuits; an ‘internal’ one involving members or supporters
of the collective, and an ‘external’ one involving undifferentiated individuals
with no affiliation to the movement. Certain digital tools (e-mail, Facebook,
etc.) are used for internal communication. The following excerpts are illustra-
tive in terms of “debate and mobilization” (D.1), “organization and logistics”
(D.2) associated with certain “public events” (D.8), and boosting/maintaining
“social networks” (D.7):

I think nowadays it’s very easy for people to have a civic intervention like that because
they don’t need to travel physically to the associations’ headquarters in order to do this
work, they can communicate virtually. (D.1, Activist, “Bichas Cobardes”)

We have organized demonstrations without once meeting, and have brought in people
who didn’t know us, because to reach people Facebook often suffices. We write the
manifestos, write some letters, take some pictures, have the event on Facebook, invite
people, make it interesting and we justify it because it’s interesting and people show up.
(D.2/D.8, Activist, “Bichas Cobardes”)

We create Facebook events for everything, and whenever something is happening, it will
be on Facebook. Everything that’s about to go down, I know I’ll find an invitation for (it)
on my computer (…) I use it a lot for that, and also there are always going to be so many
likes, and so many shares, and then these will link to the feeds of so many other people.
(D.7, activist, “Precários Inflexíveis”)

Other tools (blogs, websites, Facebook, etc.) aim at wide-ranging processes,

being used for purposes of “communication” (D.4), “propaganda and public
representation” (D.6), “recruitment” (D.5) or “mobilization” (D.3) of citizens:

I think it’s essential. I think this is totally structural for us. Ah ... In other words, a good
deal of our trademark, our intervention capacity, derives from our very obligation to
communicate with people every day about what’s happening and about our specific is-
sues, both things. (D.4/D.6, Activist, “Precários Inflexíveis”)

Both social networks and the internet as computer-mediated communication are ultimate-
ly essential in the dissemination of information (…) the ability to reach people, but they
are also the offset in a society where people are increasingly isolated, where there are no
town squares any more, or spaces where people can have human interaction (…) it’s daily
computer-assisted interaction, which is a contradiction in terms. (D.3/D.5, Activist, “Que
se Lixe a Troika”; “Attac Portugal”)

We find that digital tools participate differently in each of these activist practi-
ces, and that the importance and centrality they occupy keep changing. In

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DE GRUYTER MOUTON Recent activism in Portugal 11

other words, there are activities/stages of activist work in which it is essential

to use certain tools and digital circuits, as they (a) facilitate the processes/work
or (b) ensure greater efficiency and better results (higher probability of suc-
cess). Therefore, we can say that there has been an integration of these new
resources in what previously were instituted procedures and forms of action,
but this integration is carried out by taking into account an assessment of the
benefits and disadvantages that such integration entails. This assessment is
generally thought out in light of the connections between the online and offline
practices involved in ‘making’ activism, although we consider that in most
cases this duality can be questioned since it does not reflect a true separation
of dimensions that tend to be strongly interrelated and dependent. So the inter-
net and digital media are complementary to more conventional or ‘pre-digital’
practices of ‘making’ activism, as can be seen from the following excerpt:

I always see the internet as a complement, as an instrument for streamlining some proc-
esses for dissemination, mobilization, but always an instrument that is complementary
to all the others. That is, formerly you knew that there was a checklist, so to speak: You
needed to make a sash, a poster, you needed to make a flyer and now on the checklist
you need to create an event on Facebook, it is necessary, that is, it is more a complement,
it doesn’t replace other practices. (Activist, “Mayday”)

The variety of platforms/tools that are used is extensive, but a few stand out
in the respondents’ discourse. The most frequently mentioned is Facebook. The
preponderance of Facebook is basically due to two factors. Firstly, it is a wide-
spread platform, which is central to the daily life not only of activists, but also
of those belonging to its social media networks. In other words, it is not used
because it is particularly qualified for activist action but because: (a) It is famil-
iar, (b) it is widespread, and (c) it has a huge capacity for the expansion/
multiplication of information. Secondly, this is a multi-purpose tool with varied
capabilities, which enables it to perform several of the abovementioned func-
tions. From a strategic point of view, it is therefore quite useful, responding to
what seems to be most prized by respondents: the ratio between the economy
of means/processes and the impact/success of results. Facebook seems to be
associated with a new communication paradigm in which traditional offline
processes lose some importance4, to the extent that digital options make it
possible to achieve significant results with a more economical use of resources.
We therefore speak of new communication realities that are taken into account

4 We are thinking of relatively common processes of those movements’ communication strate-

gies, such as the handing out of leaflets, the putting up of posters, etc., which have become
less efficient (much more tiresome and less far-reaching).

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12 Ricardo Campos et al. DE GRUYTER MOUTON

not only by activist groups, but also by more traditional political actors, who
are becoming more hybrid in their repertoires, mixing “old” and “new” media
(Chadwick, 2013).

Even collectives always have a communication group. We always form a communication

group that makes decisions regarding Facebook; for example, they decide on the frequen-
cy of Facebook posts, i.e., at noon this text will be released, in the evening, when there’s
more traffic, we’ll post the video we did with JP Simões’ statement, the next morning we
post some more people who signed. (Activist, “RDA69”)

Actually, there are many collectives at the moment in the LGBT movement that perhaps
wouldn’t exist if Facebook didn’t exist. Maybe it’s a bit controversial to put it like this,
but collectives like the ActiBistas, for instance, operate mainly through their Facebook
page, such as with articles about bisexual visibility, with mini-interventions at that level.
These very small collectives with no means (…) it wouldn’t be possible for them to exist
if they didn’t have this medium there, close at hand, that they could use as they liked
(Activist, “Colectivo ActiBistas”)

Thus, we find that from a practical standpoint, digital media provide an array
of solutions and facilitate activist work. We could say that activist practices
easily incorporate the internet and its different digital platforms. Nevertheless,
we were equally interested in exploring the representations surrounding this
object – a topic which we will develop in the next paragraph – an issue less
explored in existing studies predominantly focused on practices and the instru-
mental uses of ICTs.

4.2 Activism 2.0: Opportunities, challenges and resistances

We have found that digital tools and the internet are generally welcomed by
activists, not least because, as these resources are incorporated into the day-
to-day lives of individuals, there is a certain ‘naturalization’ in their application
to specific activist militancy practices. However, not everything can be consid-
ered positive in this area. We could summarize the representations of the digital
by speaking of opportunities, challenges and resistances that it generates.
There is an essentially utilitarian view of these resources that points to the
opportunities that they open up to us; not only to new forms of activism but
also to improving/enhancing existing activist practices. We had the opportunity
to observe in greater detail some of these aspects, namely regarding the facilita-
tion of communication processes, interaction, mobilization, recruitment, etc.
Indeed, we were able to subsume all such situations under one general attrib-
ute – increasing the practice of activism for non-institutional social actors. Digi-
tal media enable the creation of parallel information circuits, with ‘empower-

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DE GRUYTER MOUTON Recent activism in Portugal 13

ment’ for those who do not have a great capacity for expression in the public
arena (Milan, 2013). This is particularly important for small groups that defend
minority causes (for example: polyamory, queer, etc.). Through their strong
presence in the digital public sphere, they can influence the political agenda
and become vehicles of “counter-information”, questioning “hegemonic think-
ing” or “dominant narratives” (Dahlgren, 2013):

The internet has challenged a certain dominance of speech (…) formerly to take informa-
tion to many people who needed a well-oiled party machine or a newspaper and today
you don’t have this. (…) On Facebook you can see just that; many people have been
politicized in these last three years and widely through the internet. (Activist, “RDA69”)

Mainstream media are generally presented by those interviewed as being par-

tial, ideologically motivated/conditioned or controlled by companies, making
it difficult for minority and disruptive causes to find a space in that universe.
Therefore, for most activists, digital media can fulfill an emancipatory, demo-
cratic and participatory function, something which can be used strategically by
activist collectives. This does not rule out a ‘dark side’. There is no ‘naive view’
of the emancipatory and democratic power of the digital media, since almost
everybody expressed doubts concerning digital media, highlighting some of the
less positive effects caused by their use. If there is great potential to be exploit-
ed from the use of digital media, they also pose a number of challenges. One
of the aspects our respondents most emphasized concerns the balance between
traditional and ‘virtual’ ways of being a militant and carrying out activism.
Activism requires commitment and physical effort, as well as presence and the
ability to mobilize for events. While the digital, on the one hand, amplifies the
field of activism (mobilizing more people, allowing for greater participation,
etc.), on the other hand, it also runs the risk of distorting activist militancy
and weakening it. Indeed, one of the challenges is precisely to overcome the
effortlessness of what many interviewees have defined as “click/like activism”
or “couch activism”, which is viewed as an indulgent practice that has little to
do with serious activist activity. This gap between the online and offline dimen-
sions is considered dangerous, since social change and the objectives of differ-
ent activist groups can only be achieved through offline events, where citizens
can share and mobilize. The street is still the symbolic reference space for
activism.

The internet is very useful to facilitate access, superficial commitment, that’s what it is
for many people. But in order to have a stronger commitment it’s not (…) and often
provides many people with an excuse for not participating physically. I remember Face-
book events where everyone was very committed to going and so on and then, when you
get there, there’s no one (…) and in that sense I think it can be deceiving on one side,

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14 Ricardo Campos et al. DE GRUYTER MOUTON

even if it is very good for spreading information. I think that, mainly, it is to spread
information. (Activist, “Precários Inflexíveis”)

Another major challenge, somehow linked to the first, has to do with not over-
valuing the online to the detriment of street action. Despite being important,
social networks – particularly Facebook – are understood by many as a type of
‘bubble’, since they exist within a ‘closed-circuit’ that favors certain networks
(friends, activists, etc.). This issue is important, insofar as we may consider
there to be two types of target ‘audiences’ for activist messages. Firstly, there
is the more restricted public, made up of ‘activists, sympathizers and militants
for causes’ and people connected online, for whom Facebook, e-mails, blogs,
etc., work well. Secondly, there is ‘the rest of society’ – the non-differentiated
public, particularly the info-excluded – who are more difficult to reach, per-
suade and mobilize, and who are not reached by information disclosed through
restricted activist networks5. The challenge is therefore to use digital media and
traditional/mainstream media strategically, in order to get the message across
to the widest possible number of people.

Each one of us ends up living in a bubble and we, on Facebook and on social networks
in general, end up living completely submerged, we create an alternative reality sur-
rounded by people who share our interests. Bursting other people’s bubbles is very hard
if people are not in the mood, it’s not because they see you on Facebook that they will
be interested, unless a hyper viral video shows up. (Activist, “No hate ninjas”)

Another major challenge is to manage and filter a large quantity of information

in the increasingly complex media ecosystem. During the interviews this issue
was frequently linked to the multiplication of digital platforms, a situation
which leads to a certain “saturation of inputs” or to an “excess (and fragmenta-
tion) of information”. Facebook and other digital platforms foster a culture
of constant renewal, transience and multiplication of information. Information
inputs abound, and sometimes do not allow for a denser/more detailed consid-
eration of information, particularly in terms of corroborating the truth and relia-
bility of contents. This is a frequent concern:

But, that’s it, that’s another disadvantage on the internet, it’s volatile and could be hege-
monic, and the next moment it’s not; what’s viral and what’s not. An insignificant thing
turns into something completely viral, a really important thing expressed using the wrong
words or the wrong image (…) And, on the other hand, the constant creation of spotlights
that at some point make people a bit … They are resistant or stop reacting, such is the
velocity at which we reproduce information (…) it also makes people insensitive. (Activist,
“Precários Inflexíveis”)

5 In this case the mainstream media function best.

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Finally, another challenge is to create ways of using the digital that work on the
margins of the control and surveillance systems of the more powerful actors,
particularly the state and large corporations. This derives from the recognition
of digital media’s ambivalence: If there is an emancipatory and democratic
character involving empowerment through these tools, these technologies also
seem to enable the development of enhanced means of monitoring citizens and
their actions. Thus, many resort to specific tools that sabotage the recording
and monitoring by certain entities.

Suddenly, that came up as something new and the encryption, for example, we had a
colleague who was a hacker, really paranoid about encrypted communication and he …,
there was this TV show, there was a series of seminars and workshops about how to
protect yourself on the computer, (against) surveillance – right. As a matter of fact, I
didn’t participate, but there were others about live streaming, about how to document,
to implement skills, right? (…) There was a need to react, let’s say, to the hegemony of
information control, which corporations and governments have. And so, the only way is
to create a backup, let’s say of activism, of people who master information and communi-
cations systems and those technologies without being controlled, so quickly controlled.
(Activist, “Que se Lixe a Troika”)

5 Conclusion
Nowadays the importance of the internet and other digital technologies in a
wide range of everyday practices is indisputable. Among them we can include
the area of public intervention. In a sense, it is impossible to think of current
forms of political and civic mobilization without thinking of the use of various
digital tools. The present study aimed to answer a general question: Have digi-
tal tools altered traditional forms of activism in Portugal? And if so, what are
the features of this digital activism – what forms does it assume?
The data from our study seem to confirm the existence of a new activist
profile, noticeable in the case of young people, with similar characteristics to
the ones described by Loader, Vromen and Xenos (2014). In this sense, our
research confirms the literature on this subject: A gradual integration of digital
media in contemporary forms of political participation and activism, particular-
ly in the case of young people, reveals that the Portuguese case matches the
characterizations of other contexts (Banaji and Buckingham, 2013; Feixa and
Nofre, 2013). For activists, the connection between physical space and digital
networks is a natural phenomenon, underlining the idea – already pointed
out – of the hybridity of these new forms of protest and civic action. Never-
theless, since this is the first study of this matter in Portugal, these are pioneer

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16 Ricardo Campos et al. DE GRUYTER MOUTON

results which reveal some particularities that, in some cases, are contrary to
what has been observed concerning the recent situation of digital activism in
Southern Europe6.
One of the most relevant and innovative aspects of our research comes
from highlighting the dimension of representations, which is something that
has not been sufficiently dealt with in most of the research that focuses mainly
on the practices/uses of media7. Taking advantage of the qualitative nature of
this study, we have explored images and opinions around digital activism and
the importance of the internet for civic and political participation, thus produc-
ing new data that may be useful for future comparative research.
As far as the uses of digital media and the internet are concerned, we found
that different platforms and digital media are used for their strategic potential
in performing specific functions. However, it also became clear that in order to
reflect on the uses of digital media for activism we must consider the intercon-
nection between certain ‘pre-digital’ (offline) and digital actions.
We also found that digital tools participate differently in each of the dimen-
sions that make up what we have designated as ‘activist work’ – ranging from
the dissemination of information for mobilization and recruitment to logistics,
propaganda, and the setting up of networks and events –, with the importance
and central aspect varying in each of these tasks. In a certain sense, we can
say that specific activities or stages of activist work clearly benefit from digital
tools and circuits, while others may more easily distance themselves from such
tools. In this sense, digital media allow the creation of new practices that make
‘old formulas’ somewhat obsolete or less effective. As an example, we may
highlight the role of platforms such as Facebook for the mobilization of mili-
tants, and the broadcasting of information or propaganda, which have become
much more useful than billboards or fliers, both of which have far greater
economic and logistic costs for smaller groups.
Besides the ‘uses’ we also questioned the social ‘representations’ around
the different digital media and platforms, revealing how they are critically ap-
propriated. As such, despite the ‘naturalization’ of the use of digital tools, a
certain critical understanding regarding their use is equally present, which re-
sults both from the circumstances around various uses as well as their actual

6 Such as the low usage of Twitter compared to what is reported by other researchers for the
Spanish or Greek contexts, for instance (Fernandez-Planells, Figueras-Maz, and Feixa, 2014;
Micó and Casero-Ripollés, 2014; Theocharis, Lowe, and García-Albacete, 2015), which may be
explained by the low penetration Twitter has had in the Portuguese case.
7 In this sense, we are approaching the “media imaginaries” that have recently been
addressed by Treré, Jeppesen, and Mattoni (2017) in the case of the protests triggered by the
anti-austerity movement in Southern Europe.

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DE GRUYTER MOUTON Recent activism in Portugal 17

evaluation. Indeed, if, on the one hand, these tools appear to show emancipato-
ry and participative potential when fulfilling what is meant to be their suppos-
edly democratic vocation, they will raise doubts and resistance, on the other
hand, which is derived from the fact that they distance themselves from reality,
both because they generate a kind of ‘parallel world’ of easy and inconsequen-
tial participation (the so-called ‘couch activism’ being the best example), and
because they foster an overload of information whose relevance becomes diffi-
cult to sieve through.
In sum, the answer to our initial question has two different interpretations.
On the one hand, there have been obvious transformations, which even if not
altering the activities in themselves, have modified their impact as a result of
being part of digitally-mediated processes of communication. These contrast
with previous ways of organizing activism and mobilization. On the other hand,
we can see obvious continuities and links between the online and the offline,
with the former being seen as an extension of the latter. This continuity does
not mean that the uses of the digital for activism may not be considered innova-
tive; but rather that there is no rupture between the practices before the digital
and those after it, defining a more complex setting for understanding activism
and mobilization.

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