Strategic Use New Media Peaceful Social Change

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Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change
Responding to Gladwell’s point about the lack of hierarchies within the
social web, Popova says: “Ultimately Gladwell’s mistake is seeing online
and offline social networks as disjointed mechanisms.” She insists that
hierarchies within the social web do exist, giving the example that those
with a large following on Twitter can draw on their online network to reach
large audiences.
Giving examples from her personal life, Popova also dispels the claim that
online interactions do not allow strong relationships to be built, adding that
connections on social media can and have led to deep conversations that
then transformed to offline relationships.
Social media and internet scholar Clay Shirky, in his book Here Comes
Everybody: the Power of Organizing Without Organizations, 9 points out that
ICTs have created new incentives for groups to act collectively by cutting the
costs and difficulties, which existed in the past, associated with collective
action and with managing groups.
On the other hand, Evgeny Morozov, who studied “the dark side of the
internet” and how it is used to impede democratization, targets the more
optimistic view of the internet. In his book, The Net Delusion: the Dark
Side of Internet Freedom, 10 he stresses that the internet is good and bad
for promoting democratic policy – it helps both dictators and democratic
movements. He cites the Iranian government’s swift reaction after the
“Green Revolution”, when it employed the very tools used by citizen activists
and demonstrators to identify and arrest protesters. 11
His main thesis is that the internet has become the new front for State
propaganda, censorship and surveillance and that social media can
implicate digital activists much more easily than traditional State intelligence.
Morozov cautions against the Western coverage of the internet that is
mostly dedicated to exploring the positive or “Cyber-Utopian” side of
the internet. His philosophy is one of “cyber-realism”, where he urges a
balanced understanding of the way the internet is used. He also cautions
against “slacktivism” 12 and points out that Facebook and Twitter will not and
cannot replace traditional forms of activism; they should only complement
“real-life campaigns”. 13
9 Clay Shirky. Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing Without
Organizations. Penguin Press. 2008. PP. 22-23.
10 Evgeyny Morozov. The Net Delusion: the Dark Side of Internet Freedom. Public
Affairs. 2011.
11 Ibid., p. 11.
12 Foreign Policy Magazine. Evgeny Morozov. The brave new world of slacktivism.
May 19, 2011.
13 Morozov defines “slacktivism” as a “feel-good online activism that has zero
political impact,” and gives those who participate “an illusion of having a
meaningful impact without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook
group.” Ibid.