The area of online activism is a dynamic and exciting one. Online activism is a growing field that includes many forms of political, environmental and social activism that takes place via the world wide web. Websites such as [1] allow people from all over the world to become involved in political activities. Donna hancox 11:37, 9 Sep 2004 (EST) Online activism has become a major force in the mobolising of people across the globe for shared causes and its scope and potential continue to grow. Donna hancox 11:43, 9 Sep 2004 (EST) Online Activism employs the use of e-mail lists, websites and wireless text messaging to spread its message. The Zapatistas movement based in Chaipas, Mexico is widely considered one of the founding organisations of online activism. The Zapatistas have been struggling with the Mexican government for indigenous land rights for the past 15 years. Since 1994 they have used the internet as their primary communication tool. There are a number of websites devoted to the Zapatistas, with [2] their offical website. The Zapatistas regularly post communiques on the internet to raise awareness about their plight. Through their use of the internet, as online activists, the Zapatistas have promoted their cause beyond being a local concern. They have pushed their agenda onto the global stage and as such have inspired many other regional activist groups to harness the use of the internet for political activities. Donna hancox 12:40, 9 Sep 2004 (EST) The Zapatistas also use the internet to network with other like-minded activists throughout the world. The issue of how effective the internet is for many activist groups is a debate that needs to be taken into consideration when discussing online activism. For many groups there are inherent problems with using the internet as their primary point of contact. With some of these groups there is a sense of preaching to the converted. For those who already know where to look there is a huge range of political activity available on the internet, however for the 'average' user it can be bewildering trying to find appropriate groups.
Networking between activists is one of the main aspects of online activism. Many different groups such as The Refugee Action Collective, Greenpeace and Amnesty all network with one another to co-ordinate rallies and projects. On their websites they include links to each other and co-ordinate internationally for global days of action and awareness raising activities. By networking with other activist groups, organisations can maximise the audience for its message. Also they can exchange information with each other in the effort to keep abreast of activities being organised globally. The area of Link internet activism has many different concerns and as such there are a number of problems with it as well as advantages.
Antiglobalisation and the internet have been closely linked. The anti-globalisation movement (for the want of a better title) incorporates many different groups with various agendas from many different countries that are promoting an alternative to market driven globalisation (Azambuji, Carlos. 200) at [3]. The anti-globalisation movement uses the internet to communicate with activists and to organise international protests like those in Seattle, Prague, Genoa and Melbourne during the late 90's and early 2000's. The anti-globalisation movement also uses the internet to organise meetings such as the world social forum (Kingsnorth, Paul. 2003. one no, many yeses. London:Free Press). ISBN 0743220269. Those groups involved in the anti-globalisation movement remain autonomous while simultaneously working together for a common goal. This can be a problem for the movement at times, it is difficult to identify a coherent message of the movement and this is source of much criticism of the anti-globalisation movement.
The practice of culture jamming is also something that is associated with online activism. [4] is the seminal website for cuture jamming. Culture jamming is the act of using the existing mass media to deconstruct and criticise the media itself using the same communication methods. Culture jamming incorporates the areas of guerilla communication, hacktivism and tactical media (Meikle, Graham. 2002. Future Active Annandale:Pluto Press) ISBN 1864031484. Adbusters.org has links that give instruction on how to culture jam as well as promoting 'buy nothing day' and the sale of the anti-brand 'black spot sneakers'. Culture jamming has proved to be an effective and imaginative form of protest, part of the appeal of online activism is that it incorporates a creative aspect to protest.
One of the main objectives of online activism to provide a space for alternative media that is accessible to a wide range of people. Websites such as [5] are a network of collectively run media outlets that post independent media reports. Indymedia has locally based sites in virtually every country in the world that provides local information as well as a international home site.
The role of online activism in the contemporary political scene is extremely important. It provides an easy way for citizens to become involved in politics from a community to a global level. The huge protests seen recently in New York for the Republican Party Convention were organised, to a large extent, via the internet. Also images and updates from the protests are available from many different sites on the internet. The future of online activism depends on how cohesively groups can continue to work internationally with one another to promote a sense of community and hope for people struggling to move towards a just future for the world.
Donna hancox 14:53, 9 Sep 2004 (EST)
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