Week 14 reflection

This week’s readings discussed forms of digital activism and how they can be effective in climate change and environmental movements.  According to the Berkeley article, social media has allowed for “a new way to organize with less organization.” However, the article also warns that hiding behind technology as a means of getting involved prioritizes virtual individualism over the collective and organizational action necessary to effect change.  A Washington Post article from this week also presents a similar warning, stating in the headline that it takes “more than social media” to create a social movement. While it mentions the power of social media in terms of the most recent election and protests that followed, it also warns that social media is a “tactic” rather than a “strategy,” making it less effective for long-term planning and goal-setting.  New organizers that go straight to social media to connect and mobilize people often forget or skip important steps for effective activism, including logistical considerations and taking the time to build up tangible coalitions. In the article by Kidd and McIntosh, they argue for an ambivalent approach to technology and its role in social movements. They claim that empirical evidence proves revolutionary social movements today will definitely include social media, but they will need much more than that to be successful.  They also make an important point about how social media can make people more likely to get involved online, but less likely to actually take it to the streets if they can feel involved while sitting on a phone or computer at home.

The articles this week raised important points that I had not really considered regarding how even though social media can be used to organize and connect people quickly across large distances, it can also create complacency where online activists forget the importance of demonstrating in the streets or building coalitions in the real world.  The articles and links regarding youth organizers in Sunrise Movement, the NAACP, Sierra Club and others show that not everyone is doing their activism solely on Facebook, but in an age where all of our interactions tend to stem from or involve social media in some way, it is hard to gauge whether supporters online will show up when it really counts, or will only share articles or join online groups due to the convenience of being able to participate from their phones.  I feel like if you look at any given climate org Facebook page, it will have thousands or even hundreds of thousands of “likers” and people sharing their content, but I doubt even ten percent of those Facebook users are engaged in local grassroots activism or have ever actually attended advertised events. Social media should not be used as a way to gauge how committed our generation is to climate change action, but it can be used to gauge concern and awareness levels.

Keywords:

Youth activists = according to the UN, people between the ages of 15 and 24. In everyday life, however, there are different views regarding what constitutes “youth” based on different roles and attitudes adopted within different communities and cultures.

Techno-optimism = approaches that emphasize the potential of social media technologies to solve social problems, while acknowledging its challenges but still using it as evidence for social change

Internet-mediated advocacy organizations = examples include MoveOn.org, 350.org, and EAC. Organizations that use the internet as a key communication platform and also as a critical platform for disseminating political information, gaining participation, expressing views and increasing awareness.