Social Movements, Social Media and Civil Resistance in Zimbabwe, 2016-2017: Lessons for the Future

Abstract

This article explores the use of social media platforms (mainly Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) for the purposes of civil resistance by social movements in Zimbabwe between the year 2016 and 2017. The socialmedia-reliant social movementsunder study include; #ThisFlag, #Tajamuka/Sesijikile, #OccupyAfricaUnitySquare, #ThisFlower and #ThisGown. This article is motivated by the fact that,except for newspaper articles and commentaries, scholarship focusing on social media-reliant social movements in Zimbabwe remains scant. Existing scholarship tends to gravitate towards the (in)famous "Arab Spring” or South Africa's #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall movements. This study therefore seeks to bridge such a scholarship lacuna by exploring the utilization of social media platforms for the purposes of civil resistance by the above-mentioned social movements. The article concludes by underlining that, although the afore-mentioned movements made notable contributions, they were largely urban-based, elitist and divorced from rural areas where the majorityof the population reside.