Social media allow for the “extension of
the public sphere to an online platform” in which anyone can both consume and produce
media content. This participatory aspect of social media has allowed citizens to utilize sites such as Facebook
and Twitter as platforms for both political and social activism. John
Downing discusses how social media have become “integrated in the processes
of social movements” and have become tools used by activists to protest and
bring awareness to particular causes.
An example of this can be seen in the ways in which the activist group Black Lives Matter has both used and relied on social media as a means to bring awareness to the injustice taking place in the legal system in regards to the criminalization and victimization of black people. #blacklivesmatter was used to gain support on Twitter and Facebook and to bring people together in order to organize street protests. This is just one instance where social media aided in activism. However, not all social media activist groups are as successful in their use of media as Black Lives Matters. Consider, for instance, Kony 2012. This was an activist campaign that targeted social media users by asking them to share and like a video in support of their cause. People shared the video all over Facebook but in the end there was no action taken and on the day in which people were suppose to go out and rally no one showed up. This is an example of how social media can fail as an activist platform. People watched the Kony 2012 video liked it and shared it but that was as far as the movement went. It stayed within the media platform and did not resonate into action.
This is often referred to as slacktivism and Morozov Evgeny, states that “the success of online political and social causes is hard to predict, let alone engineer” and that although online activism can sometimes bring about political or social change, it is rare. There is no doubt that social media have the ability to bring awareness to injustice. It is easy for someone to like or share something on Facebook or retweet a hashtag on Twitter. The challenge lies in transforming these likes into engaged activism and taking the passion to support a cause and putting it into action. As Bijan Stephen speculates, “social media could serve as a sources of live, raw information. It could summon people to the streets and coordinate their movements in real life.” Stephen is right in his assertions. Social media have allowed for a new way for activists to be informed and come together and they can be used in positive successful ways but there is no way to tell what social media activist campaigns will gain traction and what will not. What is certain, however, is that social and political power can be applied to the Internet and its sounding technology, but it takes a commitment by those involved to turn those Facebook likes into protest in the real world for change to happen.
An example of this can be seen in the ways in which the activist group Black Lives Matter has both used and relied on social media as a means to bring awareness to the injustice taking place in the legal system in regards to the criminalization and victimization of black people. #blacklivesmatter was used to gain support on Twitter and Facebook and to bring people together in order to organize street protests. This is just one instance where social media aided in activism. However, not all social media activist groups are as successful in their use of media as Black Lives Matters. Consider, for instance, Kony 2012. This was an activist campaign that targeted social media users by asking them to share and like a video in support of their cause. People shared the video all over Facebook but in the end there was no action taken and on the day in which people were suppose to go out and rally no one showed up. This is an example of how social media can fail as an activist platform. People watched the Kony 2012 video liked it and shared it but that was as far as the movement went. It stayed within the media platform and did not resonate into action.
This is often referred to as slacktivism and Morozov Evgeny, states that “the success of online political and social causes is hard to predict, let alone engineer” and that although online activism can sometimes bring about political or social change, it is rare. There is no doubt that social media have the ability to bring awareness to injustice. It is easy for someone to like or share something on Facebook or retweet a hashtag on Twitter. The challenge lies in transforming these likes into engaged activism and taking the passion to support a cause and putting it into action. As Bijan Stephen speculates, “social media could serve as a sources of live, raw information. It could summon people to the streets and coordinate their movements in real life.” Stephen is right in his assertions. Social media have allowed for a new way for activists to be informed and come together and they can be used in positive successful ways but there is no way to tell what social media activist campaigns will gain traction and what will not. What is certain, however, is that social and political power can be applied to the Internet and its sounding technology, but it takes a commitment by those involved to turn those Facebook likes into protest in the real world for change to happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment