Online activism also known as digital activism is the use of electronic communication technologies to raise awareness in the society about social issues. It holds the promise that the overwhelming challenges that we face can be tackled in ways we can never dreamt possible.
Internet has evolved to provide us with increasing accessibility and, the ease and ability to communicate with the mass population in a short period of time which has over time made it a tool of choice for individuals and organisations in order to spread a social message worldwide.
Independent activists from all over the world are using the internet and digital tools to build their community, connect with like-minded people outside their physical surroundings as well as take
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which helps to spread a message, get support and collect information on a topic that might otherwise be overlooked by mainstream media.
Blogs provide an effective means of non-filtered communication with an audience about any topic and have been used in numerous online campaigns.
Micro-blogging sites such as Twitter are used to help spread awareness of an issue or activist event. Twitter’s hashtag function, which allows people to have their tweets contribute to a multi-user conversation by typing a keyword or phrase preceded by a hashtag, is frequently used as a digital tool for spreading a message.
Mobile phones can be used to install apps through which one can share texts and pictures of on-going happening about a particular situation.
Proxy servers as a means of circumventing government intervention when it comes to online protesting, many people employ proxy servers, which act as intermediaries between a user and a site, thus essentially circumventing national restrictions on any
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One can change their profile picture to raise awareness, share videos and articles related to the cause and stay up to date with charities by liking their pages. Making a difference seems very easy in this digital age.
A new study has found that the majority of people who “like” a Facebook page for a cause don’t follow up that gesture with a donation. Return rates for charities and campaigns on Facebook can be a tenth of those for traditional routes such as mail solicitation. Its east to click, but just as easy to disengage. (Rosalie Tostevin, 2014)
So while the digital age is continuously evolving over the years giving power to the people who are already active, it can’t seem to drag the rest out of their armchair.
If a person has ever shared a video about a cause, worn an awareness bracelet, donated through text message, signed an online petition or purchased a product because they donate to charity then he/she has done their part to raise awareness. They are referred as slacktivists. Slacktivist is anyone who does something in support of an issue or cause that requires minimal personal
Change.org gains user trust by creating an emotional link between the petition and the user. Spotlighted on Change.org is an image of a smiling cherubic seven year-old. In his picture little Josh, whose name has been provided by the description to the right, is healthy and brimming with life. Change.org helped save Josh’s life by convincing a pharmaceutical company to provide a compassionate release of an experimental cancer drug. Josh’s success story convinces viewers that Change.org is a reliable website for petitioning. Furthermore, Josh humanizes the petition process. He encourages the user to empathize with each cause, putting a face and story behind the petition. While Josh captures user interest and establishes the beginning of user trust, further victories immerse the user into the Change.org community. Underneath Josh’s photo are several victories varying from honoring a slain athlete to helping a family stop bullying at school. Many of the people ...
Throughout history, social movements have continuously formed because of a person who had the courage to stand up against the injustice they witnessed in every day live. When I was a child, I remember feeling as if it takes a superhero-like person to start a social movement. However, I have found that through the use of social media today, any person with a passion for making a change can spark a social movement. Social movements are a powerful way to help people believe that their voice matters and they should stand up for what they believe in. Before the advancement of technology, it took a lot longer for social movements to become prominent in society’s media outlets because of the difficulties of not having enough time in one’s life to
There are many celebrities who support and promote causes and charities to create awareness about peace, humanitarian causes, poverty, and illness in the world. Does celebrity activism really have the intention to help others or do celebrities get involved in it because they want to enhance their reputation? Although some celebrity activists do not have a good reputation because of their bad behavior, they contribute to society by giving donations or by supporting good causes. Celebrity activism matters because celebrities are powerful tools who raise awareness of good causes. Celebrities have the power to attract people’s attention, for instance, their fans, to influence them to support the important causes.
Technology has had a negative impact on this generation- we have lost and forgotten many things because of it. In Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, he discusses the difference between social media activism and “real” activism and the loss of human connection that he has identified. He believes that with social media activism, we lack the connections a community should have because we don’t get together in person- we are satisfied with being connected through technology. He also thinks that as time goes on, we will only get worse when referring to the ideas that we are delusional because the issues we fight about (such as getting phones taken away) aren’t as important as we think.
In conclusion, Carr and Gladwell’s essays have proven that the internet positive effects are outweighed by its negative effects. Carr has found he is unable to finish a full text anymore or concentrate. He thinks that the internet has taken our natural intelligence and turned it into artificial intelligence. Gladwell discusses how nowadays, social activism doesn’t have the same risk or impact as former revolutions such as the Civil Rights Movement. The internet is mostly based on weak ties based among people who do not truly know each other and would not risk their lives for their
For a long time the ways that non-profit organizations raise money was the same. They used solicitation letters as a way to reach out and engage new audiences to financially support their organizations. Then with the rise of the internet, they were able to use mass emails. Now there is an even newer form of technology that allows organizations to fundraise and gain new audiences. This new medium is social media. Stone brings up some good points about using social media to fundraise. He quotes Stannard-Stockton, chief executive of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, as saying, “It’s pretty well documented that social media is by no means an easy way to raise money, but it is a rather fantastic way to build a network of supporters.” Using a few other articles this paper will explore how nonprofits need to properly use social media and how it can help their organizations in return.
While many people throughout the world see social media as a trendy new application in the service of personal amusement, the political upheavals in the Arab world have shown how it can change the dynamics of modern day activism. The Arab Spring Uprising interlaced social unrest with a technological revolution. Blogs, news websites, twitter feeds, and political list servers became avenues for communication, information flow and solidarity. Being capable of sharing an immense amount of uncensored information through social media sites has contributed to the success of many Arab Spring activists. Social media played a role in facilitating the events of the Arab Spring, but the main issues are rooted in a broader set of economic, political, and social factors. This paper will examine how social media impacted the Arab Spring Uprising. Specifically, I will look at how social media introduced a novel resource that helped to created internet activist communities, changed the dynamics of social mobilization and revolutionized interactions between protesters and the rest of the world.
People are very blessed to be able to share their opinion as freely as they can; it makes political activism so much easier. This current generation values every individual’s opinion and is very welcoming of change. People can use the internet, form an organization or write a book that forwards a political opinion in order to share what they believe in and affect the world around them greatly.
This summer if you were on social media you heard about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The concept was simple, just film yourself dumping a bucket of ice water over your head, challenge your friends to do the same, and donate ten dollars to the ALS Association. Opt out and donate one hundred dollars (Madison). Many Americans did not know what ALS was and by putting this challenge on social media has brought tons awareness to this devastating disease. Activism used to be taking action to bring social change, people in the 1960s used to gather in front of community centers and protest and or speak about their issue or cause. Now even though people still gather together it is much easier to use the internet. Hundreds of social media applications
For example, in Saleem Kassim views, “As a result of the many technological advancements and innovations that have revolutionized how individuals communicate, an abundance of information has become available to everyone.” Saleem Kassim’s point is that anyone and everybody can put out information that can be seen by everyone when you are an internet user. For example, the news can tell you that there’s nothing happening in a certain country; whereas, someone from that country can post on twitter and upload videos showing anyone that decides to see the truth of what is really happening in their country. Kassim also states, “Ultimately, public information supplied by social networking websites has played an important role during modern-day activism, specifically as it pertains to the Arab Spring.” In other words, Kassim believes that digital communication has brought people together to fight for something that is a good cause. To have people aware of the truth and to have someone do something about it. Indeed it is highly likely that we bring people together for a good cause but digital communication can also cause a downside through having no censorship on what you post. When more people are brought up of current events trending they decide to hope on board to see if there is anything they can do to help. Not to mention, Graff and Birkenstein view it the same way. Like I mentioned earlier, Graff and
The author of this article, Evgeny Morozov, writes about how online campaigns through Facebook are generally unsuccessful because they allow supports to be lazy, or in this case, slack off. Those who join campaigns on Facebook to spread awareness feel as if they have done their part and stop helping the cause. However, these people would most likely be more beneficial if they had joined the cause off-line and continued to help or contribute. Morozov brings up “social-loafing” in order to explain the slacktivism. Social-loafing is with increasing numbers of people, the amount of effort contributed by a single person decrease than if they were to try to do it on their own.
It is through the implementation of advocacy strategies through technology integration that have allowed practice to evolve. According to Edwards and Hoefer (2010), communication technology that allows real-time updates and expansive reach include social networking sites, online journals or blogs, and video sharing technology, like YouTube. Social networking sites are online communities that built on social interactions and relationships. In these environments there are opportunities to share ideas that can lead to large scale changes. Similarly, online journals or blogs present idea sharing for those subscribing or interested in the topic selections. Video sharing adds a facet of sharing information that can complement or strengthen a perspective. According to Tetloff, Hitchcock, Battista, and Lowry (2014), videos can encourage partnership, engage a community, and inspire thinking that is not sculpted by a preconceived notion or faculty of negative influence. The use of these technologies provide a social media venue to share messages and connect people to advocate for change and ultimately affect how and what policies are adopted for local and large scale
Social media activism has no sense of organization or leadership. According to Gladwell, “Networks don’t have a centralized leadership structure and clear lines of authority, they have real difficulty reaching consensus and setting goals (Gladwell).” Organizations find agreeing and establishing goals problematic. Not having the ability to set specific goals and complete them effectively leaves networks vulnerable. Using social media lacks the organization required to properly execute an aim for a group. It is quite obvious that since anyone can take part in social media sites and simply the vast number of people online; it would complicate anything that they were trying to achieve. Working even in small groups of people can create difficulty. Social media increases the number of people. So using social media as a platform for activism can prevent change from
Twitter and Instagram are Social Media sites that allow users to communicate with others. Twitter is used to communicate small thoughts. Pe...
From the words of United States President Barack Obama "Call your members of Congress. Write them an email. Tweet it using the hashtag #My2K." (Coffee). Social media has played an increasing and larger part in today's government. Social media has the power to influence elections and connect the people to the policy makers in new ways.