The conflict over TMT has also made it onto the national political stage, with presidential hopefuls Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeting their support for protesters.

Sanders, though, subsequently deleted his tweet.

Buente said in his estimation, TMT protesters have upped their game since the opposition began.

“The core movement has always been there, but they’ve learned a lot since 2015 on how to effectively use social media,” Buente said.

“By acting in kapu aloha, the message will survive in our current attention economy where people have so many movement options in front of them.”

TMT protesters took to social media to make their case ― and build support nationally

hmmm