Political activism and Democracy: the use of online spaces by the #ThisFlag movement in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT
This study is about Political activism and democracy. Specifically, it studied hashtag this flag movement in Zimbabwe, commonly referred to as “the #ThisFlag Movement”. The study was carried out between April 2016 and August 2018. The research is guided by the following objectives: To do an appraisal of the #Thisflag movement on the use of online spaces; To do an assessment of people’s reactions generated by videos on Facebook, To identify how hashtags were used in delivering a message from the #ThisFlag movement and lastly to examine the effectiveness of online activism for democracy in Zimbabwe. The study was guided by the Public Sphere theory and Relative Deprivation theory. The research used Convergent Parallel Mixed methods approach. Data was gathered from a sample of 10 videos downloaded and purposely selected. The sampled videos were subjected to content analysis and semiotic analysis. In addition, three key informants that is, the founder and, activist of the movement, prominent city of Harare Mayor and Movement for Democratic Change – Alliance Secretary for elections were interviewed. The video speeches were transcribed into text to allow for content and semiotic analysis. Content analysis focused on the comments generated by the videos in order to generate the various themes and public opinion of activism and democracy in Zimbabwe. Content analysis also enabled the researcher to use descriptive statistics through the number of reactions generated. Semiotic analysis was used to compliment content analysis by enabling the deconstruction of images, signs and sounds in the videos selected as well as the comments. Using codes and themes generated from content analysis it emerged that #ThisFlag movement used the online space for freedom of expression, mobilisation and a space to air out emotions towards the existing government. The use of emotional appeal resonated with the participants as they responded with the emotions in the videos. The use of the online space saw the inclusion of the diaspora community to participate in political discussions. The study found out that in as much as the activists called for freedom of expression, the participants largely viewed the videos and did not comment, like or share the videos. The participants were mostly passive audiences, and this was due to fear. The study, therefore, recommended for educational awareness on citizens human rights. Through educating citizens on their human rights will increase their participation in demonstrations as they will be fully equipped on their rights. The study also found out that the mobilisation strategies of the movement were effective and peaceful. This was noted from the success of the Zimbabwe shutdown movement. Thus, the study recommends the mobilisation strategies by the #ThisFlag for peaceful protests.