What is Online Social Activism? By Geneviève A. Nixon
On November 6, 2012 the US presidential election will take place, at the forefront of popular culture and at the height of social media. President Barack Obama, who ushered in a new practice of grassroots digital campaigning through social media, is running for his second term. There will be people from every country, language and religion focusing on the election and posting up to the second information and commentary on viral networks using multi-media campaigning. Thanks to pioneers and innovators such as, the late Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, the entire world is populated and connected like never before. Billions of users worldwide update their social networks like: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and blogs like Tumblr with “likes” and “status updates” at a whim. Users share with a close few, or a few thousand friends and followers, or if you’re a celebrity of sorts a few million followers, their minute to minute, picture to picture, status updates and tweets through social media. Social media at it’s best is a service for activism. In turn, social activism is the bridge connecting social change through online media. Using the content that we all share to influence each other and create change on a local, federal, or global level. Through our mobile devices we have a direct effect on people through our social networking behaviors. Whether, all we have time for is a quick “like” or “retweet”, join the conversation, or even better, share the message and contribute to its movement. The Trayvon Martin case is a prime example of how social media can have a direct impact on the political involvement of the public in what would otherwise be considered local or unheard of news. Because of social media, thousands of people around the world, from everyday students and professionals to celebrities, all shared in some of the same sentiments regarding the murder of Trayvon Martin. Social media platforms like Facebook, created a space where people who otherwise do not know each other can share in the same causes, conversations and ultimately helped to organize protests around the country in record time, which otherwise would have been close to impossible. At the very least, thousands posted pictures of themselves wearing hoodies, which became an iconic symbol of what Trayvon was wearing at the time of his death. We are all ultimately and forever connected across the world, on all levels of life through social media. And, this level of connectivity will continue to rapidly grow as technology capabilities increase, as the demand and consumption exceeds yesterdays.