Digital Media and Social Movements: The Role of New Media in the Outcome of Proposition 8

Abstract

Using Proposition 8 in the state of California as a case study, this article examines whether new media can be effectively used to aid social and political movements. The author analyzes the digital rhetoric involved in the campaigns surrounding the debate over marriage equality to demonstrate that these technologies were a deciding factor in the passing of Proposition 8. A framework is presented that demonstrates the applicability of new media to all social movements.