Digital Activism Survey Report 2009

We cannot say that these respondents value digital technology highly because they are finding certain tools
effective. It is impossible to assign causation here. However, we can make hypotheses based on the
correlation. What does it mean that this group, which highly values digital technology for activism, is using
relatively older forms of social media
Does the Hype Cycle Mislead Activists
Figure 7: The Hype Cycle
One explanation lies in the Hype Cycle, a graphic representation of technology adoption developed by
Gartner Inc. in the mid-nineties (see graphic left). The diagram shows that after a technology is launched
or generates initial press attention there is a steep climb of inflated expectation in which users
overestimate the utility of the application. When many of these unreasonable applications of the tool fail
to bring fruitful results, users become disillusioned with the tool and underestimate its utility. However,
some users have found effective applications of the tool and continue to use it, sharing their positive
experiences. In this phase users become enlightened and gain a better understanding of the tool's strengths
and weaknesses. Finally, there is a leveling-off, the plateau of productivity, in which use of the technology
for its tried-and-true applications becomes stable.
The activism technology that most obviously fits this model is the blog. Following a peak in attention
around 2004 (high-profile American political bloggers covering the US election, launch of the
international citizen media site Global Voices, the first of Deutshe Welle's Best of the Blogs award
competitions), blogging fell into a period of disillustionment. A 2008 article by Paul Boutin in Wired
Magazine, titled "Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004," noted sarcastically: "Thinking
about launching your own blog Here's some friendly advice: Don't. And if you've already got one, pull
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