The analysis of social resource mobilization on new media: A case study of Chinese environmental protection documentary Under the Dome

•According to the theory of online social mobilization and the theory of resource mobilization, the article takes environmental protection documentary Under the Dome as the research object to analyze the mechanism of online resource mobilization from three dimensions including resource, framework and member, as well as answering the research complex on the environmental risk communication – how to use resource mobilization to achieve desired communication effect in the circumstance of new media.•Meanwhile, based on social network analysis, the article discusses whether in this case the communication effect was obtained and the purpose of online social mobilization was achieved.•Moreover, it also probes into the problems in the online mobilization of environmental issues and posits optional research approaches in the future.•The innovation points of the article are, on the one hand, the first-hand data are used to study the environmental protection documentary concerning air quality problems in China, and on the other hand, the theoretical analysis in terms of online resource mobilization is applied. According to the theory of online social mobilization and the theory of resource mobilization, the paper takes environmental protection documentary Under the Dome as the research object to analyze the mechanism of online resource mobilization from three dimensions including resource, framework and member, as well as answering the research complex on the environmental risk communication – how to use resource mobilization to achieve desired communication effect in the circumstance of new media. Meanwhile, based on social network analysis, the paper discusses whether in this case the communication effect was obtained and the purpose of online social mobilization was achieved. Moreover, it also probes into the problems in online mobilization of environmental issues and posits optional research approaches in the future.