My response to a lecture given on ‘Digital Culture’. The thrust of the lecture was to open the question on what is ‘Digital Culture’? The lecture then went on to, what I would call an almost ‘bias’ argument against social media and it’s political uses. It explored heavily the idea of so-called ‘Slacktivism’ and if the instantaneous communication of the internet is good for global politics.
Digital Culture: Why The Internet and Online Activism is Good for Global Politics
With the advent of the internet and social media, communication has never been more ubiquitous. Anywhere in the world, I can contact someone for (near enough) free. I can voice my opinion on anything in a free and open society. I can read local and international newspapers, libraries of scholars works and unfiltered, alternative news information. This level playing field has taken a lot of educational and informational powers away from the powerful conglomerates. It's made this information available to anyone who wants it. Although, downsides do exist to the internet and social media; internet trolls, predators, misinformation, this list is a long and unpleasant one. But, as with any new technology it requires a good degree of public education and understanding.
From my personal experience, the ones who fear the internet most are the ones who understand it least. The people who see mistake a harmless joke for serenity and people who fall for beguiled marketing scams. These aren't new problems we face, they just exist in a new medium. Although the non face-to-face interaction allows bullying cowards to achieve upsetting someone with more vigor, this has existed in written, telephone or rumor form before. Some people are horrible, whatever media they use to display that, is not the fault of that media. You may as well blame a pen for writing a racist remark or the English language for homophobic insults. The 80's saw huge influx of salesman as the common man was pushed to become entrepreneurial. This opened the door for predators to trick senior citizens and vulnerable people into fraud, attacks and robbery. Did anyone blame business practices or salesmen? No, we became more educated, informed and cautious.
'Slacktivism' is a term coined by writers like Evgeny Morozov . It argues that the internet allows people to participate in piecemeal change and feel 'good about themselves' instead of engaging politically with issues. Apparently before Twitter, the world was awash with concerned masses and large-scale grass roots change and the world ‘did hold hands and sing’. Unfortunately we don't live in a society where everyone has access to an even level education and information and If anything the openness of the internet is working to change this inequality. If YOU are a person who is educated and informed, and you allow yourself to be limited to ‘slacktivism’ then maybe you should check yourself before decrying it for everyone else. I would rather have a society of ‘click and point activists’ who feel they can ‘dip their toe’ into issues, than apathetic passive people who never bothered because they thought they weren't allowed. This kinda of elitism expresses the view that 'What you're doing won't change anything' and 'This isn't real activism' which is typical of neo-liberal ideology. Issues are inherently made to be nihilistic, so if someone challenges this, then the status quo is disrupted. 'Who are you to start lecturing us on this?' 'Think you're intelligent, do ya?' This is because as citizens, we know that being apathetic and passive is wrong, yet we continue to act as if it's not. Unless you're an ‘approved’ member of the intellectual class, like Morozov and stay within the confines of accepted dissidence, you are chastised for even the smallest contribution and diversion.
Online P2P communication and crowd funding has armed activists with tools their forefathers would have dreamed of. For example, the New Era campaign was run by several mothers in East London who were facing eviction. With celebrity endorsement from the likes of Russell Brand and online activism and petitions they delivered over 250k signatures to Downing St which led to the buyers pulling out of the purchase and eventual sell-off. Not only has this overthrown multi-national corporations and capitalist ideology, which is extremely difficult to achieve, it's also spurred many other campaigns to deal with the London housing crisis. Another example is Edward Snowdon, who leaked NSA information to the mainstream media. The internet allowed for this information to spread like wildfire, propping up support for his actions, opening a huge debate about transparency and privacy. Without the untameable nature of social media and the internet, you can bet this information would have never reached the light of day or Snowdown would have met an “unfortunate” end.
The internet is neutral and it's un buy-able. Although issues with privacy still exist, it is the closest thing to uncensored media and information we have. This is why it is so vehemently protected and important. This is also why governments and big business don't like it. It has broken major politicians and allowed for global education on current affairs. It is home to alternative ideas on currency, software, education, democracy, politics and the way of life itself. Social media requires a degree of responsibility and education that, in time will become common place and institutionalized in our educational systems through lessons and academic research. But for now, the understanding of its power and responsibility is limited to a few. If you're going to judge the internet by the standard of the old guard, it won't live up to your expectation, but it was never meant to. It requires you to leave you preconceived ideas at the door and walk into the biggest conversation on the planet. It has the power to change the way we govern ourselves, educated ourselves and structure our entire society. If I have to scroll through Facebook photos of your holiday snaps and Kim Kardashian tweets to be a part of that, then so be it.
'Your old road is rapidly agin', please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand. The Times--Are-A-Changin' – Bob Dylan
I wasn't very good at school. But what I always had was an over-active mind and some form of self-motivation to be creative. I could easily sit for hours playing the guitar, drawing or writing, but I couldn't even attempt one question of my maths homework. Because, to me maths wasn't important. Music was important. Art was important. It’s what made me want to get up in the morning, it’s what gave me the confidence to talk to girls, it’s what gave me a purpose to potter along my miserable teenage existence of self-absorbed nihilism and male arrogance of thinking I was an un-discovered Kurt Cobain. Now, at 21 I constantly wish I studied harder at A Levels and wished I did this and that and blah blah. We all do this but that doesn't mean my position on studying art has changed.
I was having a conversation with a musician friend of mine. Him, along with a lot of other people from parents to tutors to strangers have expressed to me that ‘I don’t want to have an art degree’, ‘its a waste of a degree’. This got me thinking, all the conversations and interactions with people I’ve had who describe ‘Media Studies’ as a ‘doss’, what ‘idiots do’ or Art ‘as a cop out’ or ‘easy A’ which really don’t make much sense to me.
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