Introduction
Social media (for instance, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube) has played a key role in the way human beings communicate by enhancing data sharing through considerably trimming barricades of communication. Through social media, persons from diverse areas of the globe are able to note any developments of occasions or events. Activists are using social media as a means of demanding justice for the people involved in political crises (Westerman, Spence, and Heide 199-203). Social media has influenced activism and revolution in different ways as explained in this paper.
Mobility of Information
Social media networks have assisted the flow of information by boosting the velocity with which information is transferred and have minimized the blocks along its path. Use of social media networks like Facebook and Twitter has made it possible for multitudes in the Middle East and other areas to marshal their efforts and coordinate riots within a short period. For example, Arabs have organized various political upheavals to expel the Syrian leader and overthrow the government. Social media has offered these people a platform to convey their unity, both locally and internationally. Additionally, after the tsunami had hit Japan, citizens reached each other through social media in a bid to provide aid to the victims and determine the condition of their relatives and friends. Because of social networks, information is now capable of going globally depending on the way it is displayed and its intended recipients. For instance, Youtube contains thousands of videos like the Kony 2012 video, which attempts to enhance international consciousness on the troubles in Uganda caused by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army under the headship of Joseph Kony (Stanko 78).
Growth of Verbal Communication
Social media has resulted in the growth of verbal communication as plenty of information communicated by rebel networks is verbal, for instance, seeking knowledge of the condition of their locations. People also utilize social media such as Youtube to show the destruction of life and property caused by political revolts. Most of the data is authenticated because it is conveyed directly thus making communication with a person in a different area of the globe instant. Social media has also been applied to convey a matter of urgency in some incidents thus resulting in the instant personal response; this frequently assists in conditions that need rapid evacuation action or financial support. For instance, during the latest disaster in Haiti, contributions to support the victims were sent via social media (Christensen 233-240).
Increasing the Emotional Effect of Information
Social media networks have succeeded in shaping activism and political transformation in the world by increasing the emotional effect of the information conveyed. Social networks intensify the need for personal participation during occasions and incidents in various parts of the globe. President Barrack Obama utilized social media to spread a sense of hope and transformation during his presidential crusades and managed to reach millions of Americans and other people around the globe. President Obama also used social media to borrow finances, and this eventually resulted in people all over the globe taking part in his rallies. This indicates how social media is powerful in shaping and regulating change through activism and political transformation (Westerman, Spence, and Heide 203-206).
Conclusion
Social media has played an important function in political turbulences that have been happening around the globe. An association of causality between social media network and political activism can be presumed. This paper has demonstrated that social networks can potentially lead to activism and political revolution. Therefore, there is a need to have a compound network for social media to be successful in activism and political transformation (Christensen 240-253).
Works Cited
Christensen, Christian. “Discourses of technology and liberation: state aid to net activists in an era of “Twitter revolutions”.” The Communication Review 14.3 (2011): 233-253. Web.
Stanko, Jessica. Social Media, Political Upheaval, and State Control. Washington: Washington University Press, 2013. Print.
Westerman, David, Patric Spence, and Brandon Van Der Heide. “A social network as information: The effect of system generated reports of connectedness on credibility on Twitter.” Computers in Human Behavior 28.1 (2012): 199-206. Web.