Digital Activism: What a difference a day can make

I’ve never partaken in activism in an official sense. It’s not that I don’t care for causes, as I certainly form strong opinions on the state of the world, it’s just that I choose to voice those opinions in a more private sense. I prefer to engage in conversation with friends and family and it’s fair to say that I don’t make my opinions or support for causes known on a wider public scale, so the concept of involving myself in public campaigning or protesting has never been an option.

The shift towards digital activism provides a more passive opportunity to become involved in causes. Facebook groups and sites like getup.org.au make it easier to be involved. For somebody like me who holds strong opinions, but has never had interest in voicing those opinions in a public forum, this form of activism fits well. So why is it, that I’m not drawn to join in?

I definitely believe that the digital realm allows causes to gain greater support. Social networking and the ease with which causes can be supported will ensure that the right cause can go ‘viral’ and touch many more people than traditional means of activism could. More people considering the stance of a worthy cause can only be a good thing, can’t it? Or is it a further disconnection from real human contact, as society plunges further into a world where digital expression is chosen over genuine personal interaction? Sitting on the fence a little bit there aren’t I?

I suppose that sums up my thoughts on digital activism. I’m a fence sitter. My view is that digital activism is useful for involving more people and raising awareness of issues, but I question the effectiveness of the manner in which the activism takes place, and the potential for it to achieve an end goal. Will Facebook groups and websites purporting culture jamming, really make the people who make decisions on issues stand up and take notice? Will a campaign driven by a website or blog really stop large corporations producing products in parts of the world where working conditions are poor? No, but the website campaign certainly has the ability to make more people aware that this practice happens. From a political standpoint, is activism against governments using technology that those same governments can tap into and control, really going to achieve much? Internet censorship placed on people by repressive governments across the world provides a fairly good answer to this question.

An article by Sivitanides & Shah (2011) presents three perspectives on the value of digital activism. The perspectives are optimists, pessimists and persistents. The more I think about digital activism as I write this, the more I find myself fitting into the persistents group. Digital tools make the ability to spread a message more effective and aide the organization of activism. But in order for digital activism to be successful in achieving the desired result, it must, at some point, shift offline.

EPILOGUE

What a difference a day makes. I wrote the above blog post yesterday questioning some of the merit of digital activism. This morning I have risen to the news that an American man has opened fire on an elementary school killing over 20 people, many of them young children. I’m absolutely horrified and feel compelled to add to my original post.

The first thing I did this morning on hearing the tragic news was post a tweet expressing my sadness. The site was flooded with similar messages of sympathy and calls for American President Barack Obama to severely tighten U.S gun laws. After logging out of Twitter I opened Facebook to find my news feed flooded with messages questioning the madness of this horrific crime and the madness of American gun laws. I am witnessing in real time the power that social networking and digital activism has in pulling together groups of people to fight for a cause. This is a cause I will be joining. 

Here I am, an Australian man jumping aboard a cause to have guns outlawed in a country I do not reside in. I am challenging the constitutional right of American citizens to bear arms. Tens of millions across the globe will do the same thing. My perspective on digital activism has gone from ‘persistent’ to ‘optimist’ in a day. 

REFERENCES

Adbusters 2012, Adbusters Media Foundation, Vancouver, Canada, viewed December 12 2012, <www.adbusters.org>.

Dery, M 2012, Shovelware, viewed December 12 2012, <http://markdery.com/>.

GetUp! 2012, GetUp!, Sydney, Australia, viewed December 12 2012, <www.getup.org.au>.

Gross, D 2012, Sniggle.net, viewed December 12 2012, <www.sniggle.net>

MacKinnon, J 2001, The Shoe They Wouldn’t Sell, Adbusters Magazine, Vancouver, Canada, viewed December 13 2012, <http://www.contagiousmedia.org/press/nike/nike-adbusters.htm>.

Sivitanides, M & Shah V 2011, ‘The Era of Digital Activism’, Education Special Interest Group of the AITP, CONISAR Proceedings, vol. 4, pp. 1-8.

So much more than 140 characters

I am an avid user of the wonderful ‘twitterverse’. It is by far my preferred social networking tool. I love that Twitter provides me with the opportunity to completely customise a personal news and information feed. For me, this means following providers of tweets that offer quality world, sports and music news. I also follow a range of helpful sources that provide information on my interests; guitars, fitness, sports and cooking. Twitter has given me the chance to completely individualise news to suit me. I can select the sources and journalists I like, to provide me with the news I want. It has relieved me of the need to filter through pages and pages of tabloid reporting and articles written to serve the social and political agendas of the media giants.

As Twitter grows it is becoming so much more than merely an entertaining social networking site that allows me my own custom news and information feed. Corporations use Twitter as a key marketing tool, where they can build identity, promote brands, perform market research and interact with their customer base. Twitter now provides a website (https://business.twitter.com/), educating businesses on how they can effectively optimise usage of the site to serve their commercial purposes. Celebrities use the site to promote their latest endeavours and to communicate with fans eager to believe that their favourite actor or singer is within reach. As at December 7 2012, Twitter stats website www.twittercounter.com recorded musicians Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry as being the three most followed people on Twitter.

Significantly, Twitter has proven itself to be a global safety net in times of crisis. Shortly after the horrific Japanese earthquake in 2011, twitter was flooded with more than a thousand tweets per minute providing updates and information on the situation. For those directly affected by the tragedy, twitter was an avenue to access information imperative to survival, replacing the normal communication channels which had been crippled by the disaster. The ease of accessing twitter via a mobile device means that twitter can be used to gather information in times where electricity, telephones, the internet and other information sources are not accessible.

Unfortunately, the ease with which information can be spread via Twitter is not always used to serve positive purposes. For every example of Twitter being used to spread valuable information, there are examples of Twitter being used for seedy purposes. Many a celebrity or world figure has been the victim of a hoax death via Twitter. In 2012 alone, Morgan Freeman, Paris Hilton, Bill Cosby and Adam Sandler have all had news of their ‘death’ spread rapidly over Twitter, only for it to later be revealed that the news was inaccurate. For all the good that Twitter can serve, examples of hoax deaths and other poor taste information being spread on the site means that the old saying “don't believe everything you read”, has never been more applicable.

REFERENCES:
Cross M, 2011, Bloggerati, Twitterati: How Blogs and Twitter are Transforming Popular Culture, Praeger, California.

Hernandez, B 2012, Twitter Rewind: Big Highlights From 2012 to 2006, Mashable, viewed December 4 2012, <mashable.com/2012/03/21/history-of-twitter-timeline/>.

McIntyre, D 2009, 10 Ways Twitter Will Change American Business, Time.com, viewed December 4 2012, <http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1901188_1901207_1901196,00.html>.

Twitter Counter 2012, Viewed December 7 2012, <www.twittercounter.com/pages/100>.

Twitter 2012, Twitter for Business, Twitter.com, viewed December 4 2012, https://business.twitter.com/.

Mobile Devices: Anytime, Anywhere

As I write this blog, I find myself being drawn at ever more frequent intervals to my smart phone. The device has become an irreplaceable tool in my life and not an hour goes by where I don’t find myself interacting with the device in some form or another. Whether it’s to check Facebook; to respond to a text message or email; or to check bank balances; my smart phone has become more than purely a material device used to make and receive the occasional phone call.

The prominence of mobile technology is highlighted by statistics indicating that globally almost 154 million smartphones sold in the second quarter of 2012 (Brownlow, 2012); more than 491 million smartphones were sold in 2011. A 2011 survey conducted by Sony Ericsson found that the average American is digitally connected between 2.5 and 3.5 hours each day (Greengard 2011, p.17).

From a personal life perspective, we as a society are more within reach of each other and information than ever before. By integrating the use of smart mobile technology into our personal lives we can pay bills, go shopping or seek the latest world news, irrespective of our whereabouts and the time of day. My favourite mobile device, the Kindle allows me to store hundreds of books on a device smaller than the standard magazine. Whilst there are clear benefits in having instantaneous access to our contacts and to the ever growing services offered via mobile technology, we must be aware of the inherent risk mobile technology presents in creating a socially inept civilisation as text messages, emails and online interactions are chosen over face to face dealings and real human interactions. As Sherry Turkle points out in her video Connected, but Alone? (2012), people can’t get enough of each other, if and only if they can have each other at a distance.

In our working lives, we now have around the clock access to our offices via mobile access to emails and business documents, creating an opportunity for more flexible working arrangements. As people become absorbed in utilising mobile technology and take advantage of the positive benefits in productivity, flexibility and reactivity it provides, there is a need to set clear boundaries governing appropriate use of the technology. Gaining additional flexibility and productivity in the workplace positively impacts on both employers and employees, but they must be wary of the ease in which work time and personal time can be blurred as a result of mobile technology.

The impact on our lives that mobile technology offers is clear. The boundaries of connectivity and information access have been broken down to a point where our contacts, websites, emails, work documents and other services can be accessed anytime and anywhere. What is also clear is that the use of the technology must be appropriately balanced to provide a clear separation in work time and personal time, and to ensure that we are not solely choosing mobile interactions over real human interaction.

REFERENCES

Brownlow, M 2012, ‘Smartphone statistics and market share’, Email Marketing Reports, viewed 26 November 2012, <http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/wireless-mobile/smartphone-statistics.htm>

Gluesing, JC 2009, ‘Identity in a virtual world: the coevolution of technology, work and lifecycle’, in Meerwath TL, Gluesing, JC & Jordan, B, Mobile work, mobile lives, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, USA <http://www.swin.eblib.com.au.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/patron/Read.aspx?p=428280&pg=71>

Geser, H 2006 ‘Is the cell phone undermining the social order? Understanding mobile technology from a sociological perspective’, Knowledge, Technology & Policy, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 8-18, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 November 2012.

Greengard, S 2011, ‘Living in a Digital World’, Communications of the ACM, vol. 54, no. 10, pp. 17-19, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 November 2012.

Kalkbrenner, J & McCampbell A 2011, ‘The Advent of Smartphones: A Study on the Effect of Handheld Electronics on Personal and Professional Productivity’, Journal of Applied Global Research, vol. 4, no. 8, pp. 1-9, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 November 2012.

Sharwood, A 2012, ’10 ways smartphones are destroying our lives’, News.com.au, 19 November 2012, viewed 28 November 2012, <http://www.news.com.au/technology/smartphones/ways-smartphones-are-destroying-our-lives/story-fn6vihic-1226519813913>.

Turkle, S 2012, Connected, but alone?, April 2012, online video, viewed 26 November 2012, <http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together.html>

My very first blog post

I should start with an introduction. My name is James; I'm 32, married and have two beautiful daughters who are the nucleus of my entire existence. I love guitars, sports and keeping fit. I have been in the same job for nearly 10 years. A couple of years ago I was particularly frustrated with work and the limited opportunities available which suited to my skills. As I result I decided to take a giant leap and begin mature age study in the hope of improving my job prospects. My study towards gaining a Bachelor of Social Studies has led me to undertake a unit called 'Social Media' and I'm writing this blog to discuss my thoughts and ideas on the unit's content. 

Social media is something I am fairly well versed in. I use Facebook and Twitter regularly, but not obsessively. I love keeping up to date with friend’s activities and photos and I enjoy the ability that Twitter gives me to customise news suited specifically to my interests. It's fair to say that I'm a fan of social media and I use it to help stay in touch with the world; however I'm not a prolific poster of my own content.  

As I delve further into social media through my studies, I am beginning to think deeper about all elements of social media, its usage and the impacts it has in today's real world. Previously I merely viewed it as a source of quick entertainment, perfect to kill five minutes at home or to alleviate the boredom of long waits at the supermarket or the doctor's office. 

The week one content gave me a strong understanding of just how vast a landscape social media covers. Watching the video A Day in the Life of Social Media made my jaw drop, as I learned statistics showing how far reaching social media's effects are. My highlight in the video displays a statistic equating Facebook content to McDonalds burgers, stating "if content were burgers Facebook would move 238 times the burgers McDonalds sells in a day". 

Week two saw me researching key theorists including Jean Baudrillard, Mark Dery and Howard Rheingold and examining aspects of social media from their perspective. Viewing social media through these lenses made me see bigger picture impacts it can have both socially and culturally such as the social disconnect that social media can inadvertently produce by contributing to a generation of people who'd rather text or send Facebook messages as a preferred means of communication.    

Week three has led me to where I am right at this point in time, blogging. This is my first blog post ever and I must say, it’s been enjoyable reflecting on content from the first couple of weeks. I look forward to contributing my posts in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading.