Abstract
This research focuses on highlighting how minorities within differentiating social environments make use of (new) media in order to build communities and fuel social movements. While a lot of research has been focusing on how social media activities lead to ‘slacktivism’ recent events showed that online activism can lead to change within societies and disrupt the current status quo. Similarities between different successful social movements have been analyzed in order to understand what made them succeed. Moreover the technological and societal influences have been taken into consideration when looking at each and every movement fueled by the desire to bring about change in order to avoid generalization and simplification. Social movements are becoming more influential once again after having been ignored for some time now. With digital natives reaching adulthood and realizing their knowledge advantage over older generations the future seems primed to see more social media powered change rather than traditional social media campaigns.
Presenters
Sascha FunkHead of Media Studies, Lecturer, Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Thammasat University, Thailand
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
New Media, Social Media, Minorities, Culture
