The Influence of Social Media in Activism
Sebastian Restrepo
ENC1102
Prof. Diane Mooney
3 July 2009
The Influence of Social Media in Activism
Is the social media network like Facebook and Twitter just used for our entertainment? Just by having a twitter account or a Facebook, one knows that this not true. Not too long ago, people started to share frantically the Kony 2012 video and that later caused uproar in society motivating them to donate money to this organization greatly helping to stop the war criminal and save the children under his command. With this example it can be seen how social media are influenced in activism and this not the only example. As discussed in the following paragraph’s it will tell of recognizable events and the shocking outcomes of social media activism in our world.
The success of the protests in Iran that happened in 2009 is credited to twitter. Twitter was so influential in the revolution that many people called the revolution the “Twitter revolution”. Golnaz Esfandiari believed that twitter did not help much for organizing protests except letting people outside Iran know about what was happening but credits bloggers instead of helping the revolution. (Gladwell) This didn 't stop others crediting twitters involvement in the revolution. For example Mark Pfeifle, a former national security adviser believed if twitter was suspended for maintenance “the people of Iran would not have felt empowered and confident to stand up for freedom and democracy” and he nominated Twitter for the Nobel peace prize.( Gladwell) From these two peoples ' perspective social networks were still important to help the Iranian people fight for their freedom.
Activism works well with social media network if it’s not asking much of the participant. This can be seen by the story that Andy Smith and Jennifer Aaker wrote in their book called “The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Social Change”. (Gladwell) It tells of a story of a girl named
ENC1102
Prof. Diane Mooney
3 July 2009
The Influence of Social Media in Activism
Is the social media network like Facebook and Twitter just used for our entertainment? Just by having a twitter account or a Facebook, one knows that this not true. Not too long ago, people started to share frantically the Kony 2012 video and that later caused uproar in society motivating them to donate money to this organization greatly helping to stop the war criminal and save the children under his command. With this example it can be seen how social media are influenced in activism and this not the only example. As discussed in the following paragraph’s it will tell of recognizable events and the shocking outcomes of social media activism in our world.
The success of the protests in Iran that happened in 2009 is credited to twitter. Twitter was so influential in the revolution that many people called the revolution the “Twitter revolution”. Golnaz Esfandiari believed that twitter did not help much for organizing protests except letting people outside Iran know about what was happening but credits bloggers instead of helping the revolution. (Gladwell) This didn 't stop others crediting twitters involvement in the revolution. For example Mark Pfeifle, a former national security adviser believed if twitter was suspended for maintenance “the people of Iran would not have felt empowered and confident to stand up for freedom and democracy” and he nominated Twitter for the Nobel peace prize.( Gladwell) From these two peoples ' perspective social networks were still important to help the Iranian people fight for their freedom.
Activism works well with social media network if it’s not asking much of the participant. This can be seen by the story that Andy Smith and Jennifer Aaker wrote in their book called “The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Social Change”. (Gladwell) It tells of a story of a girl named
Cited: Gladwell, Malcolm, Ed. SMALL CHANGE. N.p., 4 Oct. 2010. Web. <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all>. Keller, Jared, Ed. Evaluating Iran 's Twitter Revolution. N.p., 18 June 2010. Web. <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/06/evaluating-irans-twitter-revolution/58337/>.