| Internet Activism |
Article Index for Internet |
Website Links For Internet |
Information AboutInternet Activism |
|
GROWTH The sophistication and impact of Internet activism seems to be growing. Its origins are arguably the early nineties when internet communications enabled mexican rebel group The Zapatistas to reach out from behind the frontline in a previously unheard of manner, effectively networking with first world activists and stimulating the anti-globalisation movement's Peoples Global Action. This group remained at the forefront of the movement, with large scale protests beginning in Geneva and London. Media activists utilised growing internet technologies to communicate their struggle, essentially creating the globalisation of protest. Following extensive protest in London in which such media activism was developed, when the protests eventually hit America this had developed to such a point that a global network of internet activist sites, under the umbrella name of Indymedia, sprang up in 1999. As a local example, in 1996, volunteers opposing the commercial aviation conversion of the former Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro in Orange County, CA started blogging on the El Toro Info Site to rally grass-roots attention, money and manpower to their cause. The anti-airport effort eventually was successful. See "Internet for Activists - A hand-on guide to Internet tactics field-tested in the fight against building El Toro Airport" by Leonard Kranser. In 1999 , opponents of corporate-led Globalization used the Internet effectively to coordinate protests against the World Trade Organization that came to be known as the " Battle Of Seattle ." Groups like MoveOn and Care2 have successfully used the Internet to raise funds and push their causes. U.S. Election campaigns that have used the Internet successfully for fundraising or other purposes have included:
Carol Darr, director of the Institute For Politics, Democracy & The Internet at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. , thinks the Internet works best as an organizing tool for "charismatic, outspoken mavericks" with "outsider" appeal in elections. It also invites a decentralized approach to campaigning that runs contrary to the traditional controlled, top-down, message-focused approach. "The mantra has always been, 'Keep your message consistent. Keep your message consistent,'" said John Hlinko , who has participated in Internet campaigns for MoveOn and the electoral primary campaign of Wesley Clark . "That was all well and good in the past. Now it's a recipe for disaster...You can choose to have a Stalinist structure that's really doctrinaire and that's really opposed to grassroots. Or you can say, 'Go forth. Do what you're going to do.' As long as we're running in the same direction, it's much better to give some freedom." {Link without Title} According to some observers, the Internet may have considerable potential to reach and engage opinion leaders who influence the thinking and behavior of others. According to the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet, "Online Political Citizens" (OPCs) are "seven times more likely than average citizens to serve as opinion leaders among their friends, relatives and colleagues...Normally, 10% of Americans qualify as Influentials. Our study found that 69% of Online Political Citizens are Influentials." {Link without Title} The Internet has also made it easier for small donors to play a meaningful role in financing political campaigns. Previously, small-donor fundraising was prohibitively expensive, as costs of printing and postage ate up most of the money raised. Groups like MoveOn, however, have found that they can raise large amounts of money from small donors at minimal cost, with credit card transaction fees constituting their biggest expense. "For the first time, you have a door into the political process that isn't marked 'big money,' " says Darr. "That changes everything." {Link without Title} CRITICISM Internet activism has been criticized on grounds that it gives disproportionate access to affluent or technically aware activists, marginalising minorities and elderly citizens due to lack of access to or confidence in emerging technologies. This concern is especially relevant in Developing Countries , where many people still lack even the basic Literacy needed to access written materials on Internet. However, projects such as the Open Source movement and A-Infos Radio Project have consciously tried to reduce economic Barriers To Entry , and in developed countries such as the United States, this concern appears to be fading; a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggested that more than 90% of Americans have access to the World Wide Web either directly or through work and family. Studies by both Pew and Nielsen indicate that the elderly are one of the fastest growing demographics on the Web, and one of the most literate in computer use. Another concern, expressed by author and law professor Cass Sunstein, is that online political discussions lead to "cyberbalkanization"—discussions that lead to fragmentation and polarization rather than consensus, because the same medium that lets people access a large number of news sources also lets them pinpoint the ones they agree with and ignore the rest. "The experience of the echo chamber is easier to create with a computer than with many of the forms of political interaction that preceded it," Sunstein told the ''New York Times''. "The discussion will be about strategy, or horse race issues or how bad the other candidates are, and it will seem like debate. It's not like this should be censored, but it can increase acrimony, increase extremism and make mutual understanding more difficult." "The Internet connects all sides of issues, not just an ideologically broad anti-war constituency, from the leftists of , have been used by activists to overcome the social isolation that can result from extensive solitary internet use. SEE ALSO
REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|