Impact of the Globalization of Social Media
The Role in Euromaidan
The twenty-first century is evolving into a time of technological advancements. There is constant edit and addition to the available technological resources. As it advances, it also spreads worldwide. The worldwide spread of technology creates vast connections that create new opportunities on a larger scale. The current focus of the globalization of technology is the connections created by networks of social media. Social media is a brilliant tool that can be easily used by those who have access to it. As access is gained globally, it creates opportunities to those who are first experiencing the use to outsource ideas. Currently, the use of social media is being used to implement change. The effectiveness of using social media as a dominate form of activism is discussed by many. Malcolm Gladwell, who is a respected writer for The New Yorker and the Washington Post, critiques the use of social media activism in his essay “Small Change.” He believes that social media is an effective tool to use for activism, but that it cannot make a revolutionary change, like that of traditional activism. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google and Jared Cohen, the director of Google, also discuss the use of social media for activism in their book, The New Digital Age, specifically chapter four: “The Future of Revolution.” Here they discuss the opportunities and drawbacks that come with social media activism. Social media activism may have many limitations, according to some, but these drawbacks will not keep it from evolving. As technology advances and becomes a resource worldwide, global connections will expand and be used as a key tool for social media activism.
Present and future revolutions are and will be actively using social media as a tool for protest. Social media is very effective at spreading information rapidly to a broad audience. With the spread of technology becoming available worldwide social media is becoming more abundant. The availability to use social media creates global connections. These global connections make it possible for countries to express new and old concerns to all. Modern advancements in some countries are the source of disturbance due to newfound accessibility to information. This exposure to new sources of information provides reason for many countries to protest. The desire to act is irresistible as Cohen and Schmidt explain because,
“With new access to virtual space and to its technologies, populations and groups all around the world will seize their moment, addressing long-held grievances or new concerns with tenacity and conviction.”
Global networks provide unfathomable opportunities because of the ease of use. As availability spreads worldwide, many people will use technology to their advantage to start a social movement. Social media makes activism easy to start as exemplified with Euromaidan. Euromaidan is a social movement currently happening in Ukraine. The protestors are actively fighting for their human rights, democracy, and freedom because the Ukraine-EU association agreement, a treaty between the European Union and Ukraine that establishes political establishment between the two parties, was not signed (Hebblethwaite). The forefront to their movement is expressed through social media, mainly Twitter and Facebook. Previously in Ukraine, Twitter was not widely used until the protests began. According to Olga Onuch, a writer for The Washington Post, “Many reports have credited initial tweets by journalists and activists as the key mechanism that brought hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians out into the streets.” Twitter is essential for the Ukraine protest because it provides the connection to further their protest by spreading information and gaining participants. In the country, its main use is to gather protesters and release events, but worldwide, it is used as a source of information to outsiders. With the globalization of technology providing vast and efficient spread of information people are connected like never before.
The vast networks created by social media create many opportunities but still have setbacks. Because the networks are worldwide it means that everyone has access to it as long as their technology is advanced enough. This can become a problem as Cohen says because, “Countries that have not yet had their first big protest in the new digital age will experience it on a global scale, with the world watching and potentially exaggerating its significance.” Worldwide connections provide the access to all information that is expressed. However, all the information expressed is not always accurate resulting in the spread of false information. The alteration of information is inevitable so it is important to separate the truth from everything else. Noted about the Ukraine protest, by Carola Frediani, in her article, “How Ukraine’s Euromaidan Played Out Online” the spread of false information is impossible to stop. This false information has great impact on people’s reactions, therefore, the EuroMaidan News Team has a group of volunteers responsible to verify the sources of information so incorrect information is not provided (Frediani). Alteration of information cannot be stopped so it is necessary to check the validity of the information that is received and not believe everything that is spread through media networks. For example, more English speaking people comment on the activism than Ukrainian people (Hebblethwaite). This shows that with social media connections being worldwide, anyone can comment and influence the information that people are receiving, for better, or for worse. Despite falsification of information it will not prevent the use of social media as a tool for activism.
Social media itself is built on weak ties because the information is not concrete, therefore, social media activism is built on weak ties. These weak ties make it possible for information to be spread rapidly, worldwide. Weak ties will not inhibit social media activism from being successful. Gladwell admits that, “There is strength in weak ties… [social media is] our greatest source of new ideas and information.” In today’s era, social media use is inevitable because it is so efficient. The weak-ties of social media are low-risk but the use of social media for activism is not always low risk. Those who release or receive information from social networks and are, or become active participants of a social movement are putting themselves at a higher level of activism, therefore, at risk. In the case of Euromaidan, all protestors became involved in high-risk activism due to the brutality that was inflicted upon them by the force of the government trying to stop the movement. A writer for the World Affairs Journal, Nadia Diuk, reported on the revolution that on:
January 22nd, the date usually celebrated in Ukraine as the Day of Unity between east and west, will now go down in history as the day the two-months-long Euromaidan movement saw its first fatalities as violence escalated in Kyiv’s city center, with internal troops and special forces pitted against the formerly peaceful protesters in a vicious, at times almost medieval battle. One civic activist was found beaten to death in the woods outside Kyiv, and others were shot as they took part in the standoff.
Euromaidan is an example of the success of using social media as a tool to gain participants but that activism, even social media, has risk. The unexpected can always happen, as seen with the protesters of the Euromaidan movement, who were initially peaceful until they were forced to fight back for their rights and to take steps toward accomplishing the goal of their movement.
Social media activism is successful in using social networks as a tool to spread information efficiently and gain participants. It is not yet successful at completing a revolutionary movement due to the lack of a hierarchy. A hierarchy is necessary in order to have an organized plan of action once the protesting has moved towards a takeover. As Gladwell suggests for real change to occur it can only be done with traditional activism because, “if you’re taking on a powerful and organized establishment you have to be a hierarchy… networks are messy… ceaseless patterns of correction and revision, amendment and debate…” Social media activism is held back by its inability to fulfill a movement because there is no organization in charge to implement the change desired by the protestors. Once protestors gain control they do not have successful plans of how to run things to satisfy the people. Cohen and Schmidt agree that:
it’s the people who make or break revolutions, not the tools they use… Technology can help find the people with leader-ship skills—thinkers, intellectuals, and others—but it cannot create them… Building a Facebook page does not constitute a plan; actual operational skills are what will carry a revolution to a successful conclusion.
Without someone or a group in charge of a social movement, chaos will arise not only during the protesting but thereafter, “without a clear next phase, a movement is left to run on its own momentum, which inevitably runs out.” The lack of a hierarchal system makes the success of social media activism extremely difficult to implement real change. Euromaidan exemplifies this struggle of social media activism because the movement is not yet successful. It has been occurring for months and the people have still received their desires or gained control of the government. It is extremely difficult for larges masses of people to actually make a change because they do not have to power to make the change, only the freedom to rebel.
Overall, social media is an inevitable force that is being used for activism presently and no doubt will be used in bigger and better ways in the future. The advancement of technology has made it possible for social media to be spread worldwide. As social media spreads to most countries vast connections are made. With these great connections come great opportunities. The main one is the use of social media as activism to run a social movement. Social media activism is successful in exposing the world to current events. However, with this exposure comes the falsification of facts. But this does not prevent the use of social media for activism. As can be seen currently with the social movement Euromaidan, in Ukraine social media is the forefront of the movement. The tool of social media for activism is successful at gaining participants, but becomes high-risk once someone becomes an active protestor. Social media activism is completely successful at starting a movement and getting it spread worldwide, but because it is not consisted of an organized hierarchy it fails at completing the movement in a way that satisfies most. As the use of social media is used for activism it will become possible for social media activism to be completely successful. It is only a matter of time before the global resources will develop ideas and solutions for the completion of social movements.
