Impacts of digital communications on social change

Question 1

What are the benefits of a networked global society in bringing about social change according to Castells?

Digital technology is effective in enabling positive social change

Answer 1

• Individuals share information and organise collective action bypassing political parties and traditional media
• Led to decentralisation of power away from the elite towards the civil society
• People no longer need traditional organisations to mobilise protests and share information

Question 2

How did Kirkpatrick provide examples of social media bringing about positive social change?

Digital technology is effective in enabling positive social change

Answer 2

• ‘Facebook effect’ book
• Columbian engineer used Facebook in 2008 to organise large protests against Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC)- terrorist group responsible for violence and kidnappings
• Millions of Columbians marched in 27 cities over the country and over 100 major world cities
• Social media connected protestors

Question 3

How did Jurgenson provide examples of social media bringing about positive social change?

Digital technology is effective in enabling positive social change

Answer 3

• Arab Spring (protests in North African and middle Eastern countries against authoritarian governments and lack of democracy)
• Social media raises awareness of protests and sharing info between protestors
• Led to removal of dictatorship but led to civil war in Syria

Question 4

Digital activism is ineffective and can actually undermine movements for change because it leads to laziness among potential activists as well as acting as a distraction

Digital technology is ineffective in enabling positive social change

Answer 4

• Lees: ‘a hashtag is not a movement’- it promotes laziness and apathy (clicking a button makes people feel like they’ve done their bit, more beneficial to attend a physical protest)
• ‘Slacktivism’- campaign for change purely through digital means
• Chromsky: Marxist- platforms (Twitter), create superficial forms of communication, acting as a distraction
• Instead of tackling critical injustice of inequalities, Twittter focuses on non-critical issues (shopping, entertainment)

Question 5

In many countries the government uses censorship to prevent protestors from using digital communications to their advantage as well as spreading misinformation on social media about campaigners

Digital technology is ineffective in enabling positive social change

Answer 5

Joyce: ‘Proof is the pendulum’- those in power do not allow protestors to gain ground using digital media
- Governments catch up and take control
- 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong: China used social media to spend misinformation (‘cockroaches, ISIS members) of activists and censorship (‘police’/’justice’)

Question 6

Many people in the least developed countries do not have internet access

Digital technology is ineffective in enabling positive social change

Answer 6

• We are Social’s 2020 data shows 95% of the population in Northern Europe are internet users VS 23% in East Africa
• Undermined by global divide in access to and participation in digital networks
• People who cannot access internet, cannot be part of the networked global society

Question 7

Social media can be used to encourage conflict, rather than peaceful social change

Digital technology is ineffective in enabling positive social change

Answer 7

• Encourages violence and rioting rather than peaceful protests
• E.g: Tottenham riots- messages sent via blackberry to encourage others to join
• Terrorist groups use digital communications to support, plan and share their activities
• Taliban once banned use of internet (un-Islamic). Now internet is used by the group for recruitment and propaganda
• E.g: ISIS used internet to recruit new members (Shamima Begum)