Movement organisations Flashcards
Point
Social media platforms have become crucial tools for increasing political activism through organizing and amplifying political protests as well as online campaigns.
Explain (1)
Social media has empowered movements like Youth Climate Emergency, by providing a platform for activists to organize, raise awareness, and engage with people worldwide. Social media not only spreads information but also helps people to take action, whether it’s through attending protests or sharing educational content about important issues.
Example (1)
One example is the Fridays For Future campaign which is led by young activists like Greta Thunberg, which gained widespread support through social media after Greta Thunberg posted her actions over Instagram and X.
Analysis (1)
Social media meant that youth could participate in the movement from anywhere in the world by sharing posts, signing petitions, and organizing local protests. In addition, the hashtag #FridaysForFuture became known worldwide, which encouraged young people to strike for climate action. This shows how social media can be used to make these campaigns more visible which increases political engagement as people are more informed on these movements and how they as individuals can act on them.
Rebuttal
However, while social media can increase the visibility of protests, it can also lead to a slacktivism effect or shallow engagement.
Explain (2)
This is where people support a cause online such as reposting or liking content without taking meaningful action off of social media.
Example (2)
An example was in June 2020 when many people posted a plain black picture and captioned it as #BlackoutTuesday, which was initially started off to raise awareness about racial inequality and police brutality after the death of George Floyd, but this movement was heavily criticised as people were concerned that many posting were not including themselves in other forms of activism within the movement. This concern is supported by research done by UNICEF which found that although 64% of young people engaged with online campaigns, only 26% followed up with offline action such as attending protests.
Analysis (2)
This highlights a key issue with online campaigns and political protests which is that many are blindsided by the idea that passive online actions like reposting, liking or sharing political content is enough on its own to make a difference without being backed up with actual real-life involvement in the movement, which can ultimately undermine the goals of the movement.
Conclusion
Although social media increases political engagement by online campaigns and spreading information about protests to attend, but it runs the risk of shallow engagement and people seeming like they are engaging but in reality are not doing so outside of the digital world.
