This book examines how citizens use digital social media to engage in public discontent and offers a critical examination of the hybrid reality of protest where bodies, spaces and technologies resonate. It argues that the augmented reality of protest goes beyond the bodies, the tents, and the cobblestones in the protest square, incorporating live streams, different time zones, encrypted conversations, and simultaneous translation of protest updates into different languages. Based on more than 60 interviews with protest participants and ethnographic analysis of online content in Ukraine and Russia, it examines how citizens in countries with limited media freedom and corrupt authorities perceive the affordances of digital media for protest and how these enable or limit protest action. The book provides a nuanced contribution to debates about the role of digital media in contentious politics and protest events, both in Eastern Europe and beyond.

The book focuses on civic and political transformations in Ukraine and Russia during the start of the 21st century, marked by the increasing use of internet and communication technology in a reality that is at once physical and digital. How do citizens in both countries navigate these shifts in their use of digital media and technology? From posting about everyday occurrences and commenting on news to expressing their political position, witnessing crises, and engaging in protest activity? Drawing on work in media studies, cultural studies, technology studies, and protest movement literature, the book provides an overview of existing theoretical discussions and field research on the role of digital technology, the internet, and social media in social transformations, civic culture, and protests.