by By Catalina Kurihara
With the touch of a finger, individuals can be transported into different cultures, places, and ideas from countries that are thousands of miles away yet right in front of you.
Thanks to social media, connectivity has never been so readily accessible. The benefits have proven to become a powerful tool for a range of disciplines. The most revolutionary is the use of social media for digital activism and social change.
Pre-internet, creating social change took more than a repost. Think about the hours behind agenda-setting, writing speeches, planning boycotts, and so much more. While we still use those tactics today, social media has created a new medium for collective action and what public participation might look like.
You’ve seen it before in America. It’s the Instagram stories about the Cornell 7. The uses of hashtags like #IAmJaneDoe and #MeToo to bring awareness towards social justice issues. It’s that awareness that is almost inescapable on these platforms.
While it can be overwhelming, this dissemination of information combined with the amplification of marginalized voices has resulted in real-life influence.
Recently, the United Nations released an article talking about social media and activism, but what interested me was the fact that younger generations are changing what activism looks like through the use of social media.
One reason this new age of activism is so powerful is because it can take place offline too.
Last year in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 4, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli imposed a ban on various social media platforms against the country’s citizens’ best interests. Angry and unrepresented, the young people of Nepal protested “Gen Z against corruption.”
By September 8th, 19 protesters were shot and killed by government security forces and hundreds were wounded. It was because of this, that the power of digital activism was unleashed.
While it would be logical to assume the protests were enacted without social media because of the Prime Minister’s ban, you would be incorrect. The young adults in Nepal distributed flyers with printed QR codes to access online chat channels.
And it worked.
Young activists began creating digital hubs for people to join the movement on Discord. The server was called, “Youths Against Corruption” and exploded in popularity with over 100,000 members joining.
After protests continued and vandalism began to unfold, Nepal Prime Minister Khadga resigned.
This comes after less than a month of the ban being introduced.
And it didn’t stop there.
The Discord server “Youths Against Corruption” had transformed into a virtual parliament and successfully elected Sushila Karki as the interim Prime Minister of Nepal. While also marking a historic milestone with Karki being the first female prime minister of Nepal.
We often see social media as a trivial and entertainment focused platform. However, the uses Gen Z are applying to the platform are expanding limits and creating real change across the world.
Because this wasn’t just Nepal using social media for digital activism.
In the last couple years, multiple countries have experienced massive social media digital activism that directly catalyzed political change.
- France: “Bloquons Tout” movement
- India: Forced resignation of India’s Education Minister
- Madagascar: Malagasy protests
- South Korea: South Korean lightstick protest
In an internet era, social media and digital activism have the power and potential to incite real political change. It’s about time we recognize it, adapt to it, and utilize it.
Great write.
I completely agree that the power of social media is changing the way people protest, I love the part you mentioned about how even planning and dispersing information has changed from pre social media to now…and with that, the effects of protest. Something else this blog makes me think about is how before social media, people had the ability to remain blind to social/political issues but now its all over social media and hard to ignore. I wonder if there is a report that shows how engagement in protests have increased ever since the rise of social media.
Great write.
I completely agree that the power of social media is changing the way people protest, I love the part you mentioned about how even planning and dispersing information has changed from pre social media to now…and with that, the effects of protest. Something else this blog makes me think about is how before social media, people had the ability to remain blind to social/political issues but now its all over social media and hard to ignore. I wonder if there is a report that shows how engagement in protests have increased ever since the rise of social media.