Online Claims-Making: The NRA and Gun Advocacy in Cyberspace

• Published in: Qualitative sociology review : QSR 2015-04, Vol.11 (2), p.144-159
• Main Author: Maratea, R J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advocacy; Associations; Citizens; Cyberspace; Democratization; Firearm laws & regulations; Internet; Lobbying; Media; Sociology
• ISSN: 1733-8077; 1733-8077
• DOI: 10.18778/1733-8077.11.2.10

This article examines the Internet’s emergent role in the claims-making process. My central premise is while Internet technology provides lay citizens with a mass mediated platform to distribute claims publically, power dynamics in the public sphere have remained relatively stable: Insiders and lobbyists continue to be powerful cultural voices; the press still functions as a cultural gatekeeper of newsworthiness; most people continue to have relatively little social authority; and the least powerful risk being completely left out of a digital society. Using the National Rifle Association (NRA) web presence as a case study, I describe the Internet as a vast collection of interconnected public cyber-arenas where problem claims are continuously disseminated, global communication is facilitated via online advocacy networks, and claimants utilize novel cyber-strategies to mobilize supporters. In doing so, I examine how cyber-arenas fundamentally differ from more static traditional claims-making arenas like television, radio, and print publication. I conclude by considering the extent to which historically powerful insider claims-making groups like the NRA are actually best positioned to succeed in a supposedly democratized new media world.