Me and My Cell Phone by Crystal Powell

Author:Crystal Powell [Powell, Crystal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9956727148
Publisher: Langaa RPCIG

Social Media: a Voice for the People and a Tool for Activism

It has been suggested that social media platforms, as tools for activism, provide opportunities for otherwise powerless individuals to coordinate and give voice to their concerns. In this way, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been shifted (Gladwell 2010:2). One such example of the use of social media giving voice and empowering individuals occurred in late February of 2011. During this time the Middle East and North Africa experienced a series of uprisings that have been referred to as “Facebook” and “Twitter Revolutions”. In these particular uprisings the Internet significantly increased the speed at which participants could communicate and transfer information around the world while avoiding, at least some of the time, official censorship; expressing freely all they wanted to say. In Tunisa, for example, the youth, also known as the Internet Generation, were the primary participants of the uprisings. They focused all their energy, often non-violently, towards a “democratic political change”. It has been said that the youth are most effective when using these tools. Today, words on Facebook, Twitter and videos on YouTube are powerful means of mobilizing mass amounts of people and gaining worldwide support. Through the accelerated use of the Internet and mobile communications for such uprisings, it would appear that, currently, participation in social activism has increased as compared to previously used methods (Shah 2011).

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