Campanhas digitais como ferramenta de engajamento cívico - estudo de caso campanhas “eu não pago dívidas ocultas” e “portagens não vai dar”

Abstract

Digital campaigns have proven to be an increasingly important force in the world, especially in the age of the Internet and social networks. With the dissemination of information and the global reach provided by technology, they can mobilize large numbers of people, interactively and immediately. Movements such as Black Lives Matter have already been nominated for the nobel peace prize in 2021 for their actions in mobilizing protests around the world against police violence and structural racism, motivated especially by two murders 2 . Mobilization is a process built in everyday life together with people who aim at the same goal. One can characterize the online social networks as the new counter-hegemonic weapons of today, which will give voice to engaged citizens to continue their struggles. But what will formalize the social movements in this new era is the visibility achieved by network mobilizations, so it is important that the publications of a particular group are viewed and shared with network users. The network is viral, that is, it is able to spread information instantly to hundreds and thousands of connected people, in the case of mobilizations initiated on the Internet this is a key strategy to ensure their effectiveness (Ugarte, 2008). They can be used for a wide variety of purposes, such as raising awareness about social and political issues, raising funds for causes, putting pressure on governments and companies for policy changes, or creating a community around a specific issue. Moreover, they can have a wider and more diverse reach than traditional campaigns, allowing people from different cultures, countries, and social classes to participate and contribute to the cause. Considering the latest events in Mozambican society, two digital campaigns of social mobilization in Mozambique were analyzed to serve as a case study and, through them, to understand if their reach was able to promote and influence changes in public policies. The two campaigns took place in the city of Maputo, the first one was about the Hidden Debts campaign and the second one about the Revimo Tolls, the non-governmental organizations mobilized virtually to propose to the Mozambican citizens new ways to express themselves through tools available in cyberspace, from this movement the research seeks to understand through a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology, how the digital campaigns achieve results and what kind of strategies are used to mitigate ideological attacks were analyzed.