Who is Social Media Really Working For? | Jason Benlevi | Cato Unbound - 0 views
-
“digital activism” had tremendous impact and leverage for change
-
It’s my opinion that social networking, as an activist tool, is being vastly oversold.
-
Technology always cuts two ways. Although the personal computer provided empowerment and creative liberation for individuals, and the Internet gave us access to information, they came at a cost.
- ...7 more annotations...
-
Since centralized power is inherently non-democratic, these monolithic network entities are not inclined to liberate humanity. Therefore utopians better think twice if they are depending on the Net to promulgate democracy and freedom
-
Does social media make any kind of impact in molding opinion? Yes. As with all media types it serves both for good and evil, truth and lies
-
in the belief that cultural and physical realities are the determining factors far more than “friending” a cause. Whether we like it or not, bullets and batons are more potent than bytes. Reality generally trumps virtuality.
-
The efficacy of the network as a tool of activism is best examined in three different contexts: 1. Democratic states 2. Authoritarian states 3. Commercial “states”
-
the social network as it is presently constituted is not a serious tool for substantive social change. It is concentrated, centralized and controlled
-
n the democratic context, it is similarly a way to vent, and perhaps organize, but as of yet not much more. However, if you are selling widgets, the social network looks more promising.
-
Who is Social Media Really Working For?
