oa Forumartikel: Rapport Project X Haren revisited

Project X Haren research revisited. A critical analysis of the research project about the role of the media in the Facebook riots in September 2012

In September 2012 the Dutch town of Haren witnessed a real-time version of a Project X party, starting with a Facebook event page and culminating in riots and substantial property destruction.The Cohen Committee studied the alleged mobilizing role of the news media and social media in the start-up phase. In this article a critical analysis will be made of the results and the methodology of this study. The results will be placed in the perspective of scientific research traditions on media and mobilization processes leading to large scale social disturbances. The Cohen Report tried to prove that a ‘cross-media-hype’ developed based on the critical mass on Facebook, but the empirical data contradict this position. They show that Facebook exploded after the first reports on Project X Haren in the news media. The concept of ‘cross media interactions’ leading to a powerful and comprehensive media hype is also quite problematic. It will be shown that new concepts are needed to analyze these complex interactions, combining different research paradigms on (online) media, youth culture and mobilization.