Week 6: Digital citizenship 2: Activism and protest
Internet activism (also known as online activism, digital campaigning, digital activism, online organizing, electronic advocacy, cyberactivism, e-campaigning, and e-activism) is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, especially Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster communication by citizen movements and the delivery of local information to a large audience.
There are many benefits to digital acitivism. The digital age has allowed people from all over the world to come together to support or protest a cause. it allows the fast spread of information. However there are several disadvantages too. Some say it gives disproportionate representation to those with greater access or technological ability.Groups that may be disadvantaged by the move to activist activity online are those that have limited access to technologies, or lack the technological literacy to engage meaningfully online; these include ethnic and racial minorities, those of lower socioeconomic status, those with lower levels of education, and the elderly.
Slaktivism
Slacktivism can be defined as the act of showing support for a cause but only truly being beneficial to the egos of people participating in this so-called activism (Wikipedia, 2014). It usually involves "feel good measures" to support an issue or social cause, that have little physical or practical effect, other than to make the person doing it feel satisfied that they have contributed.
A great example of slacktivism is Kony 2012.
(http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/apr/20/kony-2012-facts-numbers)
Today this campaign has been forgotten highlighting the "trendiness" that certain campaigns are and the slackitvism of modern social media users.
Cultural Jamming
Culture jamming is an intriguing form of political communication that has emerged in response to the commercial isolation of public life. Practitioners of culture jamming argue that culture, politics, and social values have been bent by saturated commercial environments, from corporate logos on sports facilities, to television content designed solely to deliver targeted audiences to producers and sponsors (Centre for Communication & Civic Engagement).
It was originally based on the idea that advertising can be turned against itself to point up the flaws, inequalities and unethical elements of consumer culture and capitalism.
(http://www.spartacusx.com/culture-jamming/)
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_activism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacktivism
http://depts.washington.edu/ccce/polcommcampaigns/CultureJamming.htm