AEC 1131HS
The Internet, Adult Education and Community Development
Online Social Movements and Online Nonprofits
After reading the articles related to online social movements in addition to listenting to Nilofar and Mary’s presentation on online social movements, I am amazed by the role that the internet plays with activism and the political impact it has on society. For example, something so simple as a smart mob can bring numerous people together in a powerful way that can impact the turnover of the president of the Phillipines.
I found this interesting youtube video on social movements:
As described in Khan and Kellner’s article on new media and internet activism, online activists have found a new space to build social relations. As a result, I see this new space as a breeding ground for expressing political views. I believe that technology really plays a role in facilitating the opportunity for more people to participate in a social movement more than ever before.
In Agre’s article on the Internet and the Political Process,he mentions that the internet can assist in helping organizations expand their membership, respond quickly, cooperate with other organizations and thus eventually strengthen the power to participate in the political process. This got me thinking about the medical relief organization, Doctors without Borders.
If you look at the Doctors without Borders website,you can look at what they have achieved, what they are currently doing and what their future projects entail. You can quickly find out how you can donate or how you can volunteer or work for them. There are blogs, bulletin boards and podcasts. A simple view of a podcast will reveal a real life case of a burn victim in Gaza and the assistance of Doctors without Borders. With a simple click of a button, you have access to all the worldwide work that this humanitarian organization has done. This makes me realize how powerful the internet is in exposing what is going on in the world and what contributions are being made. In this instance the internet serves as a tool to enable the public to contribute or become apart of such an organization.
While on the topic of Doctors without Borders, I can also link it to our next part of the courese on non-profit organiations. An example of how technology is used to assist Doctors without Borders in fighting world malnutrition is illustrated below.
Child poverty which is normally not present in everyday media, became so present and made public to the people of Stokholm. By having child size coffins spread all over the city, people were exposed to the topic of child malnutrition. People marched all over the city with the coffins. On each coffin,a message was posted to "text a coffin away". The message spread to people all over the city and outside Sweden. The message was spread via facebook discussion groups, blogs and then eventually involved the media. Each time a donation was made,a coffin was removed and the impact of people's actions were made visible. The success of this campaign occured within two hours. This is a phenomenal example of the use of technology in assisting a non profit organization in making a difference to the world and involving the city of Stokholm as well as other countries outside of Sweden.
As found in Jensen, Danziger and Venkatesh’s articles, it is interesting to note that they note that participants of online democratic engagement are not characterized by those with a a higher socioeconomic status as found in offline democratic engagement. I think it’s fascinating that a number of people in Sweden were able to assist with an offline community activity through the use of the internet. A goal to target child poverty was achieved so quickly and successfully.
As stated by Brainard and Brinkerhoff in their article on cyber grassroots organizations(CGO), the internet has assisted in raising awareness and advocacy. It can be used as a fundraising tool as well as offer the “potential to foster social capital and civic engagement through the creation of virtual communities".
CGOs are able to capture a large number of participants and can contribute by bonding and bridging social capital. I think it is truly amazing that Doctors without Borders was able to use a combination of internet technology to perform online democratic engagement and offline activity to carry out real life democratic engagement.
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