Six decades of research suggest people are more likely to join protests because of social connections and group ties than personal grievances alone, highlighting the powerful role of social networks in collective action.

And unfortunately the internet enabled people to feel a proxy for those social connections.

Isn’t it great for the ruling capitalist class that capitalism has largely destroyed our social networks? The number of friends people have has been declining for ages.

I’m sure that the destruction of community and rise in isolation is just a coincidence and in no way related to this.

Is this the same as saying that people join movements in solidarity with people they care about, even if they aren’t personally impacted?

Isn’t this the main reason platforms are so censored and locked down nowadays?

people move with the herd

most people don’t think that hard ab out what they’re doing

this is why/how social media has been turned into a tool to use against poor people.

Republicans don’t t think ANYONE BUT THEM SOULD HAVE ANYTHING OF VALUE.

I would insist that the main point of these protests IS social cohesion, IE that the CAUSE of it is social cohesion.

I live in Minneapolis, and after being very vocal on social media about how I felt about what was happening to my city last winter, an old acquaintance of mine who lived out of state contacted me and said she was thinking about wanting to protest but that she’d be all alone where she lived. I invited her here and told her about an upcoming march, and she ended up renting a hotel in the city and joining me. It really meant the world to her to be able to do this, and she found it incredibly inspiring. She’s a gay woman from a conservative family and lives in a conservative town, so, you can imagine how badly she needs that kind of inspiration.

But just in general, as someone who has joined multiple protests like these, I’ve always felt that inspiration / motivation was really the main point. I was very nervous going to my first one, but wow, was it ever a cathartic experience, but more importantly, it made me realize that I wasn’t alone in thinking what I thought, not even close. I was honestly boiling with anger over it all and thought maybe this was me not controlling my feelings well enough, but I learned that these feelings are really just a natural response to gross injustice.

There’s a dark side to this also. Everything I said here applies to other beliefs also. See January 6th as an example of what I’m referring to…

But yeah, continued engagement and inspiration to keep going are really the point. Critics will say “oh, have you saved the world now that you held up a sign? Did your little protest get any laws passed?” Of course not. But it did encourage me to be more vocal on social media, to talk with my friends and family about these things more openly, and to try and get more politically involved. That’s the real effect here.

Herd mentality.

Don’t think, just accept the narrative being forced on you and be sure to show up at the current thing or else.