I feel that social media has brought activism and political movements
into popular culture. What does this mean for the world though? I mean with
popularity comes the good and bad. For every person who stepped foot at an
occupy protest is three other people who claim to be “activists” because they
post on facebook about one subject or another without contributing anything to
the real world. I am no hero I stand on my soapbox quite a bit if a subject comes
up but I am not going to blog about it if I am not there.
While we are on the subject though Occupy Wall Street has
now become the poster child for the modern online activist revolution. What started
as a single protest started by Kalle Lasn
and Micah
White of Adbusters
in New York City soon became a world wild protest. After the economic collapse
of 2008 many people disenfranchised took aim at the banks and corporations for their
own individual reasons and I have to admit I didn’t think it would work. After seeing
pictures of protesters on television and seeing pictures in the newspapers I started
reading blogs, even watching live streams of it as it was happening. During this
time I heard of another online revolution WikiLeaks allowed whistle-blowers to
leak classified government documents. The internet has opened up the world many
sites like this making the political landscape a lot smaller place.
There are many ways you can help change the world by making
small donations online. Sites like Kiva.org that provides microloans for people
and families in less fortunate countries. Also a of more recognizable
organizatios like UNICEF have made donation available on their websites. So what
are you waiting for? Help make a difference.
