Activism On Social Media. Note 1. Image 3. Image 2. Image 1. How our activists view social media. Opposition politician Amr Badr from Egypt Modern communication strategy platforms such as twitter and facebook had a great influence on protest movements as they facilitated reaching a larger number of protesters and eased organizing protests in addition to media coverage.
However, it is hard to reach older demographics, the poor and illiterate people who cannot or do not have access to such communication platforms. Greek lawyer Lila Bellou Social media and the internet (blogs etc.) help the dissemination of information and contribute to the pluralism of ideas and opinions, which the traditional mass media (TV, newspapers) can’t offer. On the other hand, this abundance of information creates sometimes confusion to those, who don't have enough critical ability and face problems prioritizing important issues.
Ukrainian journalist Tetiana Chornovol Every medium is important for the development of a protest movement, and there is no doubt that twitter and facebook have a contributing role. Twitter, Facebook, and social activism. At four-thirty in the afternoon on Monday, February 1, 1960, four college students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina.
They were freshmen at North Carolina A. & T., a black college a mile or so away. “I’d like a cup of coffee, please,” one of the four, Ezell Blair, said to the waitress. “We don’t serve Negroes here,” she replied. The Woolworth’s lunch counter was a long L-shaped bar that could seat sixty-six people, with a standup snack bar at one end. The seats were for whites. By next morning, the protest had grown to twenty-seven men and four women, most from the same dormitory as the original four. By the following Monday, sit-ins had spread to Winston-Salem, twenty-five miles away, and Durham, fifty miles away.
The world, we are told, is in the midst of a revolution. These are strong, and puzzling, claims. Some of this grandiosity is to be expected. What makes people capable of this kind of activism? Media activism. Media activism is a broad category of activism that utilizes media and communication technologies for social and political movements.
Methods of media activism include publishing news on websites, creating video and audio investigations, spreading information about protests, and organizing campaigns relating to media and communications policies. Forms of media activism[edit] Social media is often used as a form of media activism. Because of the interactive features and widespread adoption users can quickly disseminate information and rally supporters.[3] Platforms like Facebook and Twitter can reach a much larger audience than traditional media.
Live streams applications or websites such as Livestream is an other media form which can replace TV when there is a kind of censorship. Youtube is another efficient tool of spreading information. Case studies[edit] Venezuela[edit] Turkey protests: how activists stay one step ahead with social media. She will receive links to maps only visible to fellow activists that show the location of makeshift clinics in houses and even in restaurants' basements, and can watch live streams of protests on the Ustream service if she is at home.
She told the Telegraph: "It has had a massive impact, and if it wasn't for social media we wouldn't have the right information on anything. It's been our saviour. " Damla said the use of private group messaging meant activists could "react quickly to check whether we're all safe", and added that if access to Facebook and Twitter was temporarily disrupted, as it has been on each day of the protests, they would merely start communicating through the blogging site Tumblr instead. Protesters became more careful about communicating information privately after they realised police knew where they were, tracking public posts on social media.
Best Activism in Social Media. Social Media Activism.