Social Media in Protests: Study Finds ‘Recruiters’ and ‘Spreaders’

UNITED KINGDOM–(ENEWSPF)–16 December 2011. A study has explored the dynamics behind social network sites in recruiting and spreading  calls for action that contribute to mass mobilisations in riots, revolutions and protests.

Led by Oxford University and published in the journal Scientific Reports, the study finds that the most influential group consists of a small group of users close to the centre of a network. This group, described by the researchers as the ‘spreaders’, plays a…