Digital Activism Provokes a Smile but not Change
The video “Ten Tactics of Digital Activism” identifies 10 methods used by human rights advocates to turn informations into action. The tactic which will be further discussed in this post is the #5 called “provoke a smile - just add humor.” This tool relies on the use of jokes to criticize power. One of the example used to explain tactic #5 is the use of humor in Egypt employed to denounce the Mubarak regime. Activists have been replacing in famous film posters the faces of criminals with the face of their President to make a statement. This wave of humor started a narrative which damaged the image of Mubarak.
Similarly to Egyptian activists, the yellow vests protesters have been using humor as a tool to spread their message. The yellow vests movement, born in Paris in 2018, calls for economic and social equality and fights the unjust fuel taxes imposed on the French citizens. Many of the jokes built around the claim of the yellow vests make fun of the French President Macron, who is, according to the activists, the main person to blame for the injustices of the French system. Likewise the jokes used against Mubarak, the jokes against Macron are intended to damage his image. For instance, yellow vests activists created a video (A) depicting Macron dancing with a yellow vest on and, basically, making a fool of himself.
(A) 0:42 of the Video
Other examples of humor used to criticize Macron are memes which point out the elitist aspect of his presidency. For instance, the picture (B) below uses an iconic French food to emphasize what are, according to the creator of the meme, Macron’s flaws.
(B) Know the difference meme
Both in the case of Mubarak and Macron opponents, humor is used as a tactic to reveal truth and, arguably, promote change in society. The video supports the claim that technology fosters change in society because it involves a large number of people, it spreads essential informations and it transforms them into powerful actions. This argument would be supported by Schmidt and Cohen. The two authors state in The digital disruption: Connectivity and the diffusion of power recognize (2010) that technology is a powerful tool to enhance interconnectedness and bring change.
In contrast, Jodi Dean in Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies (2009) stands on a very different position. She does not believe in the idealistic changes brought by technology. The case studies identified in the video, particularly the ones regarding the tactic #5 called “provoke a smile - just add humor”, may be used to verify her statement. Even if the authors of the video strongly believe in the power of technology to boost change, the two examples mentioned in this post prove that it does not.
Both the jokes about Mubarak and the jokes about Macron started a narrative. Despite that, they did not bring a real change in society. The movement started against the Egyptian president wanted to foster democracy and clean elections, two goals which have not been reached at the time and even today. On the other hand, the protesters which are opposing Macron are fighting injustices in society which are still present and far from being eliminated. In both cases, humor was useful to gain visibility. However, it takes much more than just a funny video or a couple memes to achieve real change.
