Keyboard Warriors: Today’s Activists

(http://serendipics.blogspot.com.au/2009_05_01_archive.html)

It is a lot easier to protest an issue or voice your opinion when you are sitting safely at home behind a keyboard. For many, protests and riots are a thing of the past, whilst online petitions and Facebook page sharing is right now. Could it be the fact you are anonymous? Or that it’s simply just quicker and easier?

Digital activism can be most simply defined as “when citizens use digital hardware and software to bring about social and political change” (Mary C Joyce, 2013). Social media is the biggest platform for these activists to share their views and take action.

According to Mary C Joyce (2011) “The effect of digital technology on political contention is neither good nor bad, it is both.” Meaning that although there are many positive or constructive aspects of digital activism there are also negative.

In my opinion, the positives way out the negatives and this type of activism is exposed to a whole new audience, prompting more people to help make a difference. Some of the most effective online activism organisations include Avaaz, Make Poverty History, Electronic FrontiersAustralia and GetUp! Action Australia. These sites utilize online petitions and social media whilst aiming to spread awareness.

Malcolm Gladwell (2010) claims that ‘Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice.’ Meaning that it’s easy enough for people to sign an online petition but many of these people would not be bothered to physically do something to make a change. However, a lot of the time, these online petitions call for people to take physical action, one great example being a campaign by Make PovertyHistory. Millions of white wrist bands were bought raising money, 444,00 people emailed the prime minister of England and 225,000 people took to the streets of Edinburgh for the Make Poverty History march, an extremely impressive turnout that wouldn’t have been possible without the internet and social media.

Do you remember the KONY2012 campaign? With over 97million views on the famous viral video, it’s likely you stumbled across it last year. It was a campaign that started out strong and had people donating a lot of money from the very start. However, it wasn’t long until it was called a hoax and this is one reason why digital activism isn’t all positive. It’s hard to tell when something is legit due to anonymity.

 The viral KONY2012 video from Youtube.

In the end, online activism may not always be as effective as traditional activism, but if used correctly, it can really help make a significant difference.