Be Water: Technologies in the Leaderless Anti-ELAB Movement in Hong Kong

DOI

We examine a leaderless social movement characterized by participants' autonomy and the absence of leaders and organizations. We conducted a participant observation study of the Anti-ELAB movement in Hong Kong. Focusing on the organization of a protest march, we collected thousands of lines of discourse in the LIHKG Forum and the Telegram instant messaging system. Our grounded theory analysis revealed hundreds of groups acting within a symbiotic network. Participants promoted an ethos of empowering individual participants and groups to act autonomously. At the same time, participants' extensive use of hyperlinks and polls orchestrated a coherent social movement. We discuss how this novel formation can mediate successful leaderless movements.