Birth and challenges of a viral movement

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To understand the origin of this call for mobilizationYou have to immerse yourself in the hundreds of messages broadcast on social networks: Tiktok, Facebook, Telegram. A particular video draws attention. It dates from the start of the summer and proclaims: “On September 10, we stop everything, not to flee, to say no. ” Behind this clip viewed by tens of thousands of Internet users is a group called “essentials”. On their site, there is a speech in favor of a “sovereign France”, but also texts with sometimes conspiracy accents. On Telegram messaging, the collective invites the French to organize themselves locally. In a message dated May 14, the contact of a certain Julien Marissiaux appears.

To better understand the springs of this mobilization, direction the North, to meet Julien Marissiaux. Father, entrepreneur and manager of an associative café, he explains the philosophy of the movement: “There is not a problem today in France, there are plenty. People suffer, they cry. Some must choose between heating and eating. We want to carry out actions that would stop the system, show that we exist. This is what we saw with the yellow vests. We try to recreate these conditions. “

Initially, his initiative struggles to mobilize. But at the end of July, the watchword suddenly spreads. Groups are formed everywhere, mainly via Telegram. We read messages like: “This system will not fall on its own, it must be overturned.” or “Hi, is there a group for Dieppe?”

How did this watchword born from a small online group become a national movement? Digital standby experts give elements of response. At Backbone Consulting, we analyze conversations published on Tiktok, Facebook or Instagram in real time. DIYAR AMLI, Consultant, explains: “We collect all messages to have very concrete data: volume, interactions, but also the themes that emerge.”

A pivotal moment is identified: The presentation of the budget by François Bayrou, July 15. In the days that follow, the messages evoking on September 10 explode. For Véronique Reille Soult, president of Backbone Consulting:“The media relayed this budgetary announcement, but on the networks, it is the two holidays in question that played the role of spark. This convergence affects various profiles, whether apolitical, left or right.”

In August, the movement is still growing with the support of rebellious France (LFI). His speech is resumed online, but the participants seem to be divided: on the one hand of the groups marked on the left, on the other of the activists sporting tricolor or yellow vests.

On the ground, meetings are organized: in Paris, but also in small towns like Figeac (Lot), where around forty inhabitants find themselves regularly on a roundabout. All denounce budgetary announcements, perceived as “The drop of water that overflows the vase”. Some go further, hoping even a resignation from Emmanuel Macron.

By D -Day, the Internet remains the main organizational tool. An online map already lists the places of events and blockages provided.

There remains an unknown: the capacity of this mobilization, very visible on the networks, to result in a real street movement. The looks will be turned towards the level of participation of September 10, a real revealing of the scope of this call.