The dangers, directness, and purposes of online collective actions

Most research on online collective action investigates low-effort, social media-based actions rather than tactics with highly disruptive potential. To better account for the variety of forms of collective actions that use digital technologies, we conducted an open-source intelligence search (Study 1a) and an expert consultation survey (Study 1b; N = 21), to create a database containing 31 types of actions. In Study 2, we interviewed activists (N = 20) and found six key dimensions underlying those actions. In Study 3, participants (N = 273) rated the actions across the dimensions. Based upon the (dis)similarities of each action's rating across the dimensions, we identified two main types and five subtypes of online collective actions: Ingroup-assisting actions (collaborative resource generation, ingroup mobilization, and digital picketing) and outgroup-attacking actions (disruptive clicktivism and technology-enabled attacks). The results showed that digital collective actions substantively differ from each other based on the six underlying dimensions, from the social psychological function, to the skill required, to the groups being targeted. This work offers a multi-dimensional explanation for the variations across the domain of online activism and offers a way forward for future collective action work to explore psychological motivations underlying choices across action type.