This
research examines the supporting characters of social movement protest in
the March 18th anti-Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement
(anti-CSSTA)Occupation Movement. This spontaneous protest group of
supporting characters firmly held the site of Lane 8, Linsen S. Road
outside Legislative Yuan during the occupation movement. Most participants
were mobilized through internet, like PTT and FB network platforms.
Through participation and observation at the scene, as well as subsequent
in-depth interviews and social network analysis, this research explores
the protest process, and shows how this group of "Professional
amateurs" was mobilized and organized in the process of on-going
occupation movement. How did the participants from different social
networks and organizations group, cooperate, and collaborate? How did the
interaction between the Internet forums and site protests affect the
grouping and cognition at the scene?
This research
shows that in a civil society where Internet is the public's main
interaction platform, the networks have become a new resource of mobilization
by social movement actors, and citizens participate in the social movement
by extending the battle field and protest site via the internet.
Professional amateur plays an important role in organize the activists
mobilized by internet.
However, sharing
of the massive information via the internet actually brought some
obstacles to the organization at the protest site. When information could
not be confirmed, it was easy to cause conflicts among the participants.
The solution of disputes mostly resorted to aftermath conciliation based
on what had actually happened at the scene. Finally, the on-site social
network of the movement interacts with internet connections.
