Observing the latest trends,
patterns and issues raised on social media highlights the power the internet
has had in connecting people, not only with each other, but with politics and
issues of social justice.
Through the use of social media,
many sociological issues are raised and answers / solutions ignored, and this
just proves that radical change within ourselves is the first necessary step in
combatting the existing systematic oppression of many social group (whether
that is racially, sexually, or in terms of class).
But individual change cannot transpire until
the problem is recognised. The only way
to solve systematic oppression is to break the system from its roots. Yet if people cannot recognise the problem,
how does one get to the system?
Permit me to perch proudly on the
fence here and say that while social media allows us to articulate our politics
to the world, dominated though it is by groups infatuated with the current
pop-music sensation, and be inspired by others; it is not the most important
aspect. People have to face the tanks (literally in some cases, sadly) for real
change.
The Arab Spring revolutions were
brought about by the desire of many citizens for radical political and social
change. However, the medium in which
they were active, and which influenced many more to face the tanks and take a
stand against a political system they felt was not working in their favour, was
almost entirely through social media, particularly Facebook. In countries such as Tunisia and Egypt (the
latter suffering a setback), Facebook was the tool for protest and activism,
and in vast masses. Ordinary inhabitants
were able to instigate an avalanche of political change which swept through the
Arab World, despite governmental attempts to restrict access to social media, a
clear indication that the authoritarian regimes were wary of such an empowering
tool.
This socio-political uprising
leads to, what I feel is, one key question: If the personal is the political,
is the social the political too?
Yes. Our personal digital presence, which has
given birth to social media venues, are crafted and bound by the
political. Think privacy laws,
anti-piracy policies, right to information and expression, and information
governance, production and distribution.
Through using our online space to challenge existing political
ideologies and social issues, social media has already begun realising its
massive political potential.
Therefore, as social media
becomes more entrenched in politics, users will be more inclined to challenge
and shift existing perspectives, demand even more transparency and be more
critical of causes, questioning the omnipresence of ideology.
I feel social networking ultimately has more of a negative effect on the "social revolution" (that is the potential of radicalizing people to embrace a mental way of being outside bourgeois culture) for two main reasons:
ReplyDelete-It promotes egoism and petty interests (looking online to see how many people liked their statuses and waste time online rather than doing anything to help themselves or others)
-It gives people who are "into" activism a false sense of accomplishment by posting a quote by Karl Marx and feeling like they're so radical and edgy because their senile Catholic grandmother could see it and that's bound to start a family tussle! Ultimately Facebook and twitter are used not by people (overall) who routinely are involved in propagating social change. But are lazy left-wingers who want to feel connected to something so like a socialist party on facebook and follow a Leninist page on twitter. It doesn't do anything. Even idealist tactics of participating in Representative Democracy (especially in a country like America) to me doesn't accomplish much unless the conditions are right, but ultimately they are at-least doing something.
I.e. people should either be spending their time writing something with more-than one hundred and forty characters or working to unionize and revolutionize the working base by creating worker's organizations among other materialist and idealist tactics available to them.
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to write this interesting comment.
DeleteI understand wholly where you are coming from, and for the most part agree with what you have to say. I do agree that people do have the tendency to look at the impact of social media from a micro-perspective (through observing their creeping number of likes and RTs), and this can be destructive in encouraging people to become more active with their issues.
However, I feel that, for me personally, social media has been a brilliant platform for me to express my views and engage in enlightened discussion with other people, not just those with a similar world-view to myself, but also people whom have encouraged me to consider alternative perspectives.
In regards to your final point, I believe strongly that in order to create workers' organisations, social media can be an important tool, if used correctly. It can provide the foundation for discussion and spreading the word beyond an individual's social circle. I think that used collectively with physical activism, social media can be incredibly powerful and provide people who might not be able to participate with a space in which they can comment and support those who are actively fighting.
Finally, social media is increasingly becoming politicised, though the extent to which it is revolutionary can be debated. During the run up to the General Election here in the UK, people were voicing their opinions and, on Twitter, the hashtag #GenerationVote was used to highlight how the 18-24 year old category were not going to be apathetic, thus attempting to overturn media-hyped stereotypes that this group is disengaged and disinterested in the political process. Additionally, following the (shocking) election results whereby the Conservatives were "democratically" voted into government (with 37% of the vote?!), protests began along Downing Street yet no news outlets reported this (and, I believe, there was no coverage because 87% of mainstream news outlets are right-winged in the UK and a protest like this doesn't support their bourgeois interests). Consequently, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter allowed people to share real-time footage and commentary on what was happening, showing how unhappy and frustrated thousands of people are with the results. Thus, as I stated earlier, social media along with protests and physical activism can be a force for good and support the thesis of the politicisation of social media.
I definitely agree it can be used to mobilize. I just think that we shouldn't confuse the cart for the horse. I don't think it can be effectively used to add numbers, just organize pre-existing numbers. I'm a bit of a hypocrite because I really think that to really make a difference you somehow have to get to people in a very personal yet economical way. Like workers' co-ops. I however just complain about the problems while not doing anything to enact any solution.
DeleteI think online in-general can be a valid source of news and "propagandizing" in-response to the Conservative-bias of News Orgs; however, once again this becomes somewhat of a conundrum because what's really important isn't what they read on whatever social media or news site you contribute to it's that they're in the mode-of-being that they would want to read what you would say (them presuming it would be from a certain ideological bias) and confirming that they're "on your side" in a sense. But of course they won't be likely to be on your side until you (or something else) sways them and something won't sway them until they see it which they won't because they won't be in the frame of mind to actively see it ... and you see how it becomes sort of a Catch-22.
It's hard for me personally. I have this feeling that I know our species is doomed but that doesn't let me off the hook from trying. But all the ways I "try" seem so ineffectual. I think all we can really do is increase the standards of living and bring some more moments of joy and meaning into people's lives. But that's really all we could do anyway in a sense. I hope I'm wrong.