My research question is “What Effective Social Media Tools and Tactics Does Myanmar Resistance Use to Communicate and Organize Protests in the Aftermath of 2021 Military Coup?”

The operationalization part of the research will be based on two main concepts in the question: the “effectiveness” and the “tools and tactics” used. For the latter, I will be observing social media platforms (e.g Facebook, twitter, etc.,) including encrypted messaging applications such as Telegram, Signal, etc.,. Tactics will be observed by studying communication processes among the resistance forces such as crafting of the messages, people involved in the communications, and the criteria on distribution of information. The effectiveness of each tool and tactic can be measured in terms of the number of protestors, number of arrests and crackdowns, reach of social media campaigns for mass protests (likes, shares, hashtags, etc.,), and the connection between the digital reach and the on-ground numbers such as number of protestors. The effectiveness will be also measured in terms of reliability, safety and the reach rated by the subjects of the study. 

The goal and motivation behind this study is to understand the multifaceted relationship between social media and political change especially in oppressed communities. My hypothesis for the study is that certain social media helped organize record breaking mass protests in the following days of the coup as well as sustain such activities longer than the previous ones from pre-internet era. I am hoping this study either confirm or disconfirm the theory that digital communications including the use of social media to organize protests and campaigns as well as encrypted messaging applications to implement on-ground activities have assisted in sustaining the resistance.

I am hoping this study will help us understand the role of social media in political activism in Myanmar post 2021 coup whether it does actually bring significant results. Additionally, I hope the data and analysis from this study will somehow become helpful in further exploration of the understanding of social media as a tool in social/political change in the society as a larger phenomenon.