Clicking for a good cause

Oh hello!

So maybe you wouldn't carry a banner outside Town Hall protesting for better wages, and maybe you wouldn't hand out anti-abortion flyers outside a clinic even though you felt strongly for the cause. But you probably would re-tweet a comment about improving the safety of women in India, or 'like' a Facebook page that was trying to ban a new illegal drug. Welcome to the world of digital activism...where you don't have to leave your desk to make a change.

Digital activism is about utilizing networked technologies to make social and political change (Joyce, 2009).

Long gone are the days when we used Facebook for catching up with friends, these days, it is a complex networking tool which allows people from across the globe to petition against/campaign for/question/improve conditions for a wide variety of issues across the globe. 

Image: Ventura, 2012

One expert, Mary Joyce, is in two minds about the relationship between digital technology and activism...a positive being that the "internet can help activists mobilize and re-frame public issues" (Joyce, 2011)...and a negative being that it "distracts citizens and feeds apathy" (Joyce, 2011). 

Personally, I see digital activism as a step in the right direction towards creating a more aware and involved society. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube are far more approachable mediums than face to face contact, particularly when the subject matter is controversial or sensitive. Most people shy away from a situation where they are going to be labelled, such as a hippie, man-hater or terrorist. 

Read this National Post article "They were even seen as terrorists: Why people seem to hate activists but not what they stand for" (Gerson, 2013) and share your thoughts in the comments section. Would you put your face to a cause, or do you feel more comfortable behind the safety of a keyboard?

This is just one example why digital activism is a positive tool in creating social change. Can you list more? Think of successful campaigns such as #Kony2012 by Invisible Children, and consider what sort of impact this creates on a global scale. You can read some statistics about Kony 2012 here.

Bye for now,

Lisa

Reference List:

Joyce, Mary 2009, An Introduction to Digital Activism, DigiActive.com, accessed 11 January 2014, <http://www.slideshare.net/MaryCJoyce/introduction-to-digital-activism>

Ventura, Marie 2012, 'Digital Activism: A Revolution for Change' [image], xomariee, accessed 31 January 2014, <http://xomariee.wordpress.com/>

Joyce, Mary 2011, Complex and Contradictory: A New Way to Think of Digital Activism, meta-activism.org, accessed 31 January 2014, <http://www.meta-activism.org/2011/08/complex-and-contradictory-a-new-way-to-think-of-digital-technologys-effects/>

Gerson, Jen 2013,‘They were even seen as terrorists’: Why people seem to hate activists, but not what they stand for, National Post, accessed 31 January 2014, <http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/27/they-were-even-seen-as-terrorists-why-people-seem-to-hate-activists-but-not-what-they-stand-for/>