This thesis is a comparative content analysis of Pro- government and Pro- TPLF activism during the war and after the signing of the Agreement on Permanent Cessation of Hostilities, also known as the Pretoria Agreement, in the context of the 2020-2022
Ethiopian civil war.
The study argues that unlike the military confrontation in the ground, those Pro-government and Pro-TPLF activists played major role in amplifying and exacerbating the war through the social media warfare. It further argues that the involvement of different actors behind each Pro-government and Pro-TPLF activists makes the technological warfare and weaponization trend of social network more complicated and dangerous to sustained peace. The study concludes based on the findings that greater efforts are needed to ensure new mechanisms to understand the nature, role, and dynamics of social media warfare. Therefore, media literacy work and professional engagement in this field has to be seriously considered.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.3. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1.3.1. GENERAL OBJECTIVE
1.3.2. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
1.6. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPLICATION OF THE STUDY
1.7. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
1.8. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. CONCEPTUALIZING SOCIAL MEDIA
2.1.1. DEFINING SOCIAL MEDIA
2.1.2. IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
2.1.3. SOCIAL MEDIA'S ROLE IN WAR AND PEACE
2.1.4. NEXUS OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
2.2. SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM
2.2.1. ACTIVISM DURING WAR AND PEACE
2.2.2. ROLE AND IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM IN WAR
2.3. Information manipulation
2.3.1. MANIPULATION STRATEGIES
2.4. EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM IN ETHIOPIA
2.5. THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM IN CONTEXT OF ETHIOPIA’S 2020-2022 CIVIL WAR
2.6. APPROACHES TO PEACEBUILDING
2.7. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1. INTRODUCTION
3.2. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATION
3.3. METHODOLOGY
3.4. RESEARCH DESIGN
3.5. SAMPLING
3.6. DATA SOURCES AND COLLECTION TOOLS
3.7. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
3.8. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
4. DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSISAND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
4.1. DATA PRESENTATION
4.1.1. CONTEXT OF THE CIVIL WAR
4.1.2. OPERATIONAL TERMINOLOGIES DURING THE CIVIL WAR
4.2. DATA ANALYSIS
4.2.1.. PARTICIPANTS PROFILE
4.2.2. COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF PRO-GOVERNMENT AND PRO-TPLF ACTIVISTS
4.3. FINDINGS
4.3.1. WAR PROPAGANDA
4.3.2. ALLEGATION
4.3.3. BLAME SHIFT OR BLAME GAME
4.3.4. SATIRE AND MIMICKING
4.3.5. CONSPIRACY
4.3.6. AMPLIFY
4.3.7. UNDERMINE
4.3.8. WARNING
4.3.9. CAPITALIZE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS
4.3.10. TARGETED HARASSMENT
4.3.11. TWEET FOR TUTORIAL, CAMPAIGN AND PETITION
4.3.12. MEME WAR
4.4. DISCUSSION
5. CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis conducts a comparative content analysis of Pro-Government and Pro-TPLF activists' use of social media during and after the 2020-2022 Ethiopian civil war to determine their role in amplifying and exacerbating the conflict.
- Analysis of digital information manipulation techniques used by opposing online factions.
- Examination of social media's role in political mobilization and the dissemination of war narratives.
- Investigation into how social media affects peacebuilding processes and social polarization.
- Comparison of the rhetoric and framing strategies employed by Pro-Government vs. Pro-TPLF digital activists.
Excerpt from the Book
2.3.1. MANIPULATION STRATEGIES
Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer (2018) indicates there are several manipulation strategies, which have different implications on receivers of the information. Among different strategies the following techniques highly recommended and widely used in social media sphere:-
A. Astroturfing -Occurs when campaign operators attempt to create the false perception of grassroots support for an issue by concealing their identities and using other deceptive practices, like hiding the origins of information being disseminated or artificially inflating engagement metrics.
B. Butterfly attack - Butterfly attacks occur when imposters mimic the patterns of behavior of a social group (usually a group that has to fight for representation). Imposters pretend to be part of the group in order to insert divisive rhetoric and disinformation into popular online conversation or within the information networks used by these groups. Distinct from Astroturfing, which tries to falsify grassroots support for an issue, butterfly attacks are designed to infiltrate existing communities, media campaigns, or hashtags to disrupt their operations and discredit the group by sowing divisive, inflammatory, or confusing information. The term butterfly attack is inspired by the mimicry behavior of certain species of butterflies, who impersonate the fluttering patterns of other species to confuse predators.( Patrick Ryan, 2017 )
C. Distributed amplification - Distributed amplification is a tactic whereby a campaign operator explicitly or implicitly directs participants to rapidly and widely disseminate campaign materials, which may include propaganda and misinformation as well as activist messaging or verified information via their personal social media accounts. The strategy relies on many campaign participants to individually circulate campaign materials throughout their own communities, either via personal social media accounts or within offline spaces (such as on community bulletin boards, in the public square, etc.). It is often employed by campaign operators in an effort to complicate mitigation by seeding the campaign to as many platforms as possible (so that if one platform mitigates the campaign, it remains active on other platforms), or to overwhelm the information ecosystem with a specific narrative or message.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: Provides the background and problem statement regarding the understudied role of social media activism in the Ethiopian civil war.
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE: Explores theoretical frameworks of social media, digital activism, and the specifics of information manipulation strategies.
3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY: Details the qualitative comparative content analysis approach and the rationale for using a purposeful sampling of Twitter activists.
4. DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSISAND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS: Examines specific propaganda, allegation, and harassment techniques used by chosen activists during the war period.
5. CONCLUSION: Synthesizes findings on how online digital activism significantly exacerbated the civil war through deceptive and polarized communication.
Keywords
Activism, Manipulation, Social media warfare, Ethiopia, Civil War, Twitter, Information Warfare, Propaganda, Digital Mobilization, Content Analysis, TPLF, Pro-Government, Narrative Framing, Polarization, Peacebuilding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this thesis?
The thesis focuses on a comparative content analysis of Pro-Government and Pro-TPLF activists' use of Twitter during and after the 2020-2022 Ethiopian civil war.
What are the central themes of the research?
Key themes include information manipulation techniques, digital agenda-setting, the weaponization of social networks, and the impact of these activities on the war and subsequent peace processes.
What is the primary research objective?
The objective is to understand how social media platforms and activists mobilize populations and manipulate war narratives between the conflicting parties.
Which methodology is employed in the study?
The research employs a Qualitative Comparative Content Analysis method, utilizing data collected from the verified Twitter accounts of six influential activists.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It covers theoretical frameworks on social media, detailed documentation of manipulation techniques such as "butterfly attacks" and "distributed amplification," and a descriptive analysis of war propaganda and targeted harassment used by the activists.
What are the key attributes defined by the study to categorize this research?
The primary keywords characterize the work as a study on activism, manipulation, social media warfare, and political discourse in Ethiopia.
How did researchers select the activists for this analysis?
Activists were chosen via purposeful sampling, specifically targeting Twitter users from both sides with verified status and over 10,000 followers.
What significance does the study place on the "digital warfare" aspect?
The study highlights how "the other form of war" through social media mirrors military confrontations, significantly complicating and endangering sustained peace.
Did the study find evidence that Twitter activity stopped after the peace agreement?
The research notes high engagement during the active war but observes that this activity became relatively dormant after the signing of the Pretoria Agreement.
- Citar trabajo
- Ermias Getachew (Autor), 2024, Analysis of pro-government and pro-TPLF social media activism in the context of Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1499927
