Wednesday night, I was introduced to a video from a non-profit group Invisible Children. The video is well put together, well written, and frankly, an amazing piece of work. Thursday night, I was introduced to the controversies surrounding the Kony2012 video and Invisible Children.
Then I was reminded of Occupy.
As some of you may remember, I blogged about Occupy because I believed in the ideals behind the movement, even if we had some frightening stories coming out of the movement.
But while the news continued to report on the ‘flagging’ support of Occupy Wall Street, we saw something interesting happening around it.
Just recently, we had SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA. Those protests got direct attention, and reached their stated goal. But has anyone else kept an ear out? Something changed.
The same thing is happening now around this video. While the stated goal may, or may not, be achieved, the combined voices of thousands the world over is changing the conversation. It’s making people more aware of the problems of the world, and producing a debate to find the better solution for each one.
For all the world’s problems, the Internet is proving to be the tool that may help solve them. And that excites me like nothing else.
I’ve only mentioned a few great moments the Internet has created, comment below and tell me your favorite story of how the Internet community is changing the world.
To a certain extent your right, the problem with the internet and social media is that it allows everyone to disperse their attention to so many worthy goals, that it is impossible to get a coherent and lasting support system out side of the one that attracts the national media
The other problem is the dominance of the younger generations on the net, those thinkers that are knee-jerk reactionaries or without the experience to see the depth of a problem and pick goals that solve problems in the long run and that are logistically possible. We all go through it, but don’t see it except in hindsight, the nature of most things, with the internet we give way to much credence and attention to so many of these attitudes that again our energy to do anything is squandered.
Knee-jerk reactions attributing all problems to ‘those meddling kids’ is a rather problematic response. Training in responsible activism is not something that happens by osmosis.
I also don’t comprehend the reference to national media: the internet is multinational. Lasting support tends to not come from headline stories du jour, but from connecting to the people who will be passionate about a particular cause, who tend to find things they are passionate about through, hey, the internet, like interest-based blogs.
For example, I first saw the Kony video on Tumblr, where I follow various people who post things related to social justice. It took 24 hours from the first time I saw it until I saw several critiques of it, links to comprehensive articles about how problematic Invisible Children is, and lists of charities active in Uganda who have excellent reputations and ratings as charities. This is because, as someone vaguely and peripherally interested in social justice for all (regardless of country, sexual orientation, or status as a member of one of those younger generations), I make sure I hear about these things.
The way almost everyone I know interested in activism at all does.
My favorite story about internet activism is that hubbub last year or the year before about Sherwood Smith and her cowriter on that one post-apocalyptic young adult novel who were asked to change the sexual orientation of one of their characters. They refused. It was well done.
As followup, there was an anthology of stories focusing on gay young adults. It was awesome.
Sorry for the last post, I posted it accidentally before finishing my thought in the last paragraph..hopefully you get the point even with the mistake…thanks..
I understood. I agree the ‘right’ answer is the most important thing, but I definitely think this open communication and awareness is more likely to bring out the best response to any problem, where as the old methods went to whoever could talk the loudest. That’s a great change.
I am continually amazed at the increased sensitivity of the social consciousness around the world because of the internet. Occupy brought it home for Americans that when enough of us get together in agreement–long enough– we can make changes.
Awesome post — as “easy” as it is to repost videos like the KONY 2012 video etc., they still do accomplish high visibility, which I think we can all agree is the first big step to major change.
The internet has changed the face of politics and world activism — for the better, I think. With the dissemination of information, it holds people a lot more accountable. Mention Joseph Kony now and millions know his name and his crimes. Mention SOPA/PIPA and people let out a yop. It’s still early in this game, but the internet definitely makes it easier to be heard.
I can’t wait to see what a more mobile and more open internet will mean in the future. It’s exciting!