The Agonistic Social Media: Cyberspace in the Formation of Dissent and Consolidation of State Power in Postelection Iran

Abstract

In this article an attempt is made to rethink the phenomenon of emerging social media, not merely as a means of communication, but as social space wherein confrontational activities of political significance take place. How do political movements manifest new forums, promoting or resisting state power through social networking sites such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, or YouTube? How do states exert authority in the realm of digital activism? Unrest over official election results in Iran represents a case in which social media sites shape distinct sites wherein dissent is virtualized to challenge authoritarian rule, both offline and in cyberspace. Such cyberspaces of protest should be viewed in close connection with online governance through which the state can exert authority through surveillance operations, propaganda, and hacktivism. Online social media are agonistic arenas where information, ideas, values, and subjectivities are contested between (uneven) adversaries, and where new contexts could potentially emerge for new ways of doing politics.

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