The growing importance of digital media with respect to social movements

"Social media is changing the way we communicate and the way we are perceived, both positively and negatively. Every time you post a photo or update your status, you are contributing to your own digital footprint and personal brand."

-Amy Jo Martin

  What does digital media play in social movements and even politically? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google have proven themselves as important components in social movements.

  Digital media is a mixture of technology with content we see, watch and read every day. Right now, we are consuming digital media from apps, games, news, social networking and even software. Digital media is part of our everyday life.

Digital media includes:

• Written communication or copy
• Interactive Design
• Digital marketing 
• Digital Journalism
• Digital Video
• Coding, data, and Analytics
• Digital business

   The digital medium plays a very crucial role. It reaches a large number of people quickly at a short period of time which is not possible through mass mediums. It has the ability to motivate people virtually which helps in social changes. Social media sites have become a very important part of the life of many individuals, and they have become the tool to express ideas freely, which can influence the opinions of others, and help to organize people to protest policy changes. A social movement is an effort by an association or a group of people or an individual to bring about a change in the society. Today, social media is a lifeline connecting citizens, activists, governmental and nongovernmental actors worldwide. It has changed the face of social events and revolutionary uprisings in our societies. 

  There are a lot of examples of social movement through digital or social media which become so big and exposed to people.

For example,

Nirbhaya rape protest movement:

   In December 2012, New Delhi witnesses a horrific crime, that is, a female medical student was violently gang-raped on a moving bus and then dumped onto the highway, injured and unconscious. While she doesn't survive the attack, Nirbhaya, as she was named by the media, sparked a revolution in India and in its neighboring countries.

  The media was also accused of activism and leading a trial of its own while covering the case. As the movement to bring the gang-rape victim to justice went viral, the nation saw widespread protest that spilled throughout the streets across the country. The media covered the demonstrations day and night, following the protesters to each and every street and corner, giving a voice to their demands for justice and bringing them to the center of political debate. Moreover, it also exposed the growing crime statistics, especially in the national capital, against women. Basically, the media show the growing frustrations of an entire emerging aspirational urban class and generation. The media remains committed to the cause of justice for rape victims and more issues regarding a gender-sensitive society that it supports so strongly. Rapes that are taking place continue to be reported in every major newspaper with more prominence than was the case before the incident, even though they do not always get front-page coverage.

   Online spaces are used to channel potentials onto public spaces. Historical spaces like India Gate and Jantar Mantar are occupied by demonstrators, and protests were also held outside then Chief Minister Sheila Dixit’s residence, and the police headquarters. At first mass text messages was sent, asking people to collect for candlelight and peaceful marches. As the situation got worse due to both the state government and the Delhi Police ,which is not under the purview of the Delhi Government, refusing to accept blame, as well as the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s delay in issuing a statement about the incident, the State and Central governments attempted to control the protests. The metro stations were closed to hamper the mobility of the protesters. However, the government, clearly not in touch with social media platforms like Twitter. As text messages were blocked, people began using WhatsApp, a messaging application that uses the internet instead of cellular networks. Twitter was also widely used, to mobilize as well as to make the public aware of the violence that the police were resorting to. The internet played an important role in mobilizing the urban Delhi middle-class people, however, that is not to say that there were no politics of visibility involved.

   Following the Nirbhaya rape case, WhatsApp users began to change their display pictures to an image of a black dot on a white background, to protest. The dot symbolized as a blot on society and a collective shame that was the fault of an entire culture that was unsafe for women. By using it their display picture, users felt they were contributing their bit towards the larger movement. 

"Don't use social media to impress people; use it to impact people."

- DaveWillis.org