Media and YouTube Appeal in Social Movement Mobilization: The Case of Anti-Tourism Incident

Media and YouTube Appeal in Social Movement Mobilization: The Case of Anti-Tourism Incident

Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis1, MatinaKiourexidou2, & Nikos Antonopoulos3
1Hong Kong Baptist University
2Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
3Ionian University, Greece

Abstract

Spain has become the second most popular destination in the world, and the city of Barcelona has experienced several incidents characterized by anti-tourism sentiment. One of them was the ‘tourist go home’ movement, which attracted interest throughout the world. In this study, quantitative and empirical approaches were used to collect and analyzed the sample. The analyses were conducted focusing on specific characteristics of YouTube videos. This research highlights the dynamic of a brand-new “anti-tourist” emotion and movement, which is linked to mass tourism and to renting platforms such as Airbnb. Additionally, the conducted study tried to analyze this new social phenomenon, paying simultaneous attention to the YouTube platform as a propaganda tool and the use of hate speech as a weapon against individuals. Subsequently, it is believed that the examined issue influences social media companies, social movements, the tourism industry, journalists, state, and non-state actors.

Keywords: Fake identities, hate speech, propaganda, social media, social movement, tourist go home, YouTube

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Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis is a PhD student at the School of Communication of Hong Kong Baptist University and an awardee of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) 2018/19. His research interests include framing theory, hate propaganda, and media ethics.

Matina Kiourexidou is Postdoc Researcher at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She received her Ph.D. in Medical Informatics from the Aristotle University. Her academic interests include communication, media, multimedia content, virtual and augmented reality.

Antonopoulos Nikos is an Assistant Professor of Communication and New Technologies in the Department of Digital Media and Communication at Ionian University, Greece. He is Head of New Media Communication and Usability Lab (NeMeCU Lab). His research interests include digital communication, journalism, human computer-interaction and framing.