Political activism has been given a shot in the arm by the Internet, a truism that is fleshed out in this piece by Jennifer Earl, Director of the Center for Information Technology and Society at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which appears in tomorrow’s Washington Post.
Last week’s United for Peace and Justice anti-war rally on the Mall would have been much more difficult to pull off without the range of web-based tools, including online printable flyers, Facebook and MySpace gizmos and maps, used by the organizers. Online petitions are playing a growing role in social and political activism, thanks to a web sites such as PetitionOnline.com, which has housed tens of thousands of petitions (not all of them political, either) and garnered 47 million signatures since its founding in 1999.
The web’s ability to “streamline” activism could lead to greater political involvement by young people (“the point and click generation”), Earl contends.
As some types of online activism allow people to take part quickly and easily , it opens the door for broader changes, shifting how regularly people take part in political actions. Such streamlined activism may lead to more frequent, and more committed, political engagement on the part of everyday citizens. And politicians seeking donations, votes and other kinds of support may look to tap into this new generation of self-selected, point-and-click activists. Much like the Web, these online petitions are an end in themselves as well as a gateway to new kinds of action.
Cynthia Brumfield at 12:12 PM|Comments(0)
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