Retweeting the Caliphate: the role of soft-sympathizers in the Islamic State’s social media strategy

Abstract

This research provides an overview of the evolution of the jihadist in cyberspace, focusing primarily on the impact of the emergence of Web 2.0, and the subsequent shift towards ‘lone wolf’ terrorism. The primary focus of this section is on al-Qaeda, due to its role in establishing the use of electronic medium to communicate widely jihadist messages. Therefore, by no means does this section attempt to present itself as a truly exhaustive review of the relationship between cyberspace and terrorism; however, it does provide a broad conceptual understanding of this evolving relationship. The following section provides a discussion of how IS leverages the power of social media, focusing on how the activities of soft-sympathizers create an echo-chamber which allows for IS’ messages to dominate the so-called ‘Twittersphere,’ as these messages are repeated, thus becoming somewhat normalized. This soft-power strategy, in contrast to its military campaign, can be understood as an attempt to normalize and legitimize IS’ existence. Finally, this paper concludes by offering thoughts on how IS strategy can be undermined through both governmentally organized, and grassroots campaigns of counter-messaging, aided by allies within the Islamic world and Muslim civil society