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The Digital Activism and Social Media Audiences Engagement on Israel-Gaza War 2023-24
Maria Zulfiqar & Junaid Arshad
Abstract:
This study examines the engagement behavior of social media users on digital news content shared by Al Jazeera, TRT, Middle East Eye (MEE) social media platforms on the Israel-Gaza War (2023 -2024). The research is grounded in the Social Media Engagement Theory and Public Sphere Theory. The research explores how users respond to conflict-related content emotionally, its perceived impact, peer influence, and the users’ behavior on online emotional fatigue. The study adopts a quantitative approach employing a cross-sectional survey. The self-structured survey has 20 items. A sample of 151 social media users is used to quantify the results using Spearman’s correlation and chi-square tests to assess the relationship between engagement frequency, emotional investment and real world activism. Findings indicate that the engagement significant increases when users believe that their engagement influences public awareness and shape media narratives. Furthermore, results demonstrate a strong relationship between active engagement and offline participation including donations, protests, and boycotts. In contrast, negative emotions, particularly anxiety and emotional burn out – reduce active engagement. The study highlights the dual role of social media platforms with social mobilization and emotional fatigue during a humanitarian crisis. Overall, the study gives an insight into how emotional dynamics and perceived efficacy influence user’s behavior in conflict-driven digital settings.
Keywords:
Social Media Engagement, Digital Activism, Emotional Response, Israel-Gaza Conflict, Alternative Media, Offline Activism, Emotional fatigue, Engagement Motivation.
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