UNC tracks 'Occupy' movement on social networks

UNC sociologists are studying just how occupied social networking sites are with the Occupy movement.

Neal Caren, assistant professor of sociology, has been working with sociology doctoral student Sarah Gaby to track the role of social media sites in mobilizing the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Caren and Gaby have been following activity levels on Occupy’s more than 408 Facebook pages since early October.

Gaby said she began noticing heavy exchange between the movement’s followers in late September.

“Neal was documenting how many posts and ‘likes’ the groups had,” she said.

Gaby said they recorded data, analyzed patterns and found sizeable figures.

So far, more than 170,000 people have posted or commented more than a million times on the Facebook Occupy Wall Street pages, according to Caren and Gaby’s report.

But Gaby said it’s hard to measure how many people are actually getting involved online.

She said many people don’t tag “Occupy” in their status or post on the Occupy walls, making that activity impossible to track.

There is at least one Occupy Facebook page for each of the 50 states, and pages in college towns are some of the most active.

Gaby and Caren were surprised by some places with active Occupy Facebook groups, such as South Dakota.

“Not places you would think of on the national spotlight,” Caren said.

They were also surprised at the amount of information shared on Facebook walls.

Caren and Gaby said photos — ranging from an elderly man holding a sign on Wall Street to a woman protesting in an Alaskan field — have been especially popular on Occupy Facebook pages.

“Facebook is an easier way to spread the movement to a wider audience,” Caren said.

Occupy Chapel Hill protester Kassandra Ofray said she learned of the movement via social media.

“Facebook is how I found out about it — a post someone had made,” she said.

Caren and Gaby’s report follows a new phenomenon in communication studies.

“It’s part of a general trend in sociology in looking at the way people organize and communicate online,” Caren said. “Sites are great for activists and academics.

“If we had information like this on civil rights and suffrage movements, we’d have a better picture of how the average person participated in those movements.”

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.