The Power of a Protest

Last weekend, one year into the Trump administration, one year after the historic Women’s March, protesters gathered once more to show their displeasure with and resistance to the administration and its policies. Researchers estimate that between 1.6 and 2.5 million people participated in women’s marches held last weekend — one of the largest organized protests in human history. Yet the media coverage was sparse and perfunctory. According to Zeynep Tufekci, author of Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest, that's not necessarily a misstep: marches can be an important signal about the underlying capacity of a social movement, but only insofar as they indicate the ability to have other significant social and political impacts. Tufekci speaks with Bob about how the work of signaling power has changed with technology, and where the movement behind the Women's March might go from here.