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Digital Communications: Shaking Things Up

How has digital communications altered the social cause ecosystem? Perhaps a better question might be, how has it not. Digital communications – everything from websites and email to texting and social media – have transformed the way organizations respond, the way movements drive change, and the ways individuals act (Doyle, 2019).

In this assignment for my Global Activism and Social Change Communication master’s degree course at the University of Florida, let’s take a look at a few examples of digital communications’ impact.

Reach more people at greater speed.

In a chapter focused on digital humanitarianism, author Pradip Ninan Thomas relays six characteristics identified by Simon Cottle of new media in humanitarian crisis – the first two being scale and speed (2018). Digital communications have enabled us to access and share information about disasters (natural and human-made) in real time. The broad reach and swiftness of transmission means more people can be both informed and primed to act almost instantaneously. In the wake of the Australian bush fires in 2019, the World Wildlife Fund was able to both mobilize immediate response efforts through donation and other means, while continuing to keep recovery and restoration top of mind with video, first-person accounts, commissioned research and more.

Better watchdogs and more witnesses.

Cottle also notes surveillance and seeing as important factors (Thomas, 2018). Because we can nimbly capture, record, share, governments and other institutions of power cannot ignore tragedies, uprisings, protests, etc. and we as individuals cannot ignore the suffering or real experiences of others. In the United States, the smartphone video of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police both ignited calls for justice across the country and proved pivotal in the conviction of Derek Chauvin (Corley, 2021). “Capturing the Police,” a project by The Verge, further documents how people use technology to bring awareness of police brutality and racism (Abdulkaf, M., et. al., 2020).

Build communities and share experiences.

Digital communications also enable us to connect with one another across vast distances and build communities, often linked by shared experience. In their examination of the #MeToo movement, researchers Ryan Gallagher, Elizabeth Stowell, Andrea Parker, and Brooke Foucault Welles, illustrated the reciprocity of disclosure of sexual harassment or violence – showing how seeing others share their stories and experiences, not only prompted others to do the same, but also facilitated sharing in greater detail and becoming more connected to the greater network of participation (2019).

Publish, distribute, repeat.

Digital communications have enabled organizations to break free from dependency on traditional media outlets (like print, TV, or radio) to get their message out (Pariser, 2018). Instead, organizations (and individuals) can be their own content creators and distributors, which can generate funds, fulfill calls to action, and even generate media attention. For example, in 2014, the World Wildlife Fund’s #LastSelfie campaign used the fleeting nature of Snapchat to reinforce its messaging about endangered species. The effort yielded a month’s worth of donations in three days, as well as exposure to half of all Twitter users (not to mention coverage by industry and general media). Overall, World Wildlife Fund continues to lead in its use of digital communications with a strong web presence, social media content that combines personal narrative and on-the-ground experiences, as well as collaborations with celebrities and artists, like Swiss singer Miel de Botton for #EarthHour.

There’s also a dark side…

Not all the impacts of digital communications on the social cause ecosystem are positive ones. Access to mapped and collated data could be used for nefarious purposes or ones beyond what was originally intended (Thomas, 2019). Reliance on remote, digital interventions pushes us away from face-to-face interaction and can lead to armchair humanitarianism, slactivism, and the belief that awareness alone will solve problems (Morosov, 2009).  

Just as digital communications can bring us together, it can also divide. Social media algorithms, search results, and our own tendencies to curate knowledge from family, friends, and people we “trust” feed into the spread of misinformation (McNeil, 2018). Greater emphasis on digital communications also spotlights inequalities in access to technology and information. For example, in a study of activists in India, research participants noted that reliance solely on online activism in a digitally divided country is insufficient to bring about change (Chadha and Harlow, 2015).

Here to stay

It’s clear that digital communications have – and will continue to have – a seismic impact in the social cause ecosystem. How digital communications shape the future of social change efforts will depend on how we decide to adapt. As noted by Ben Ehrenreich in a story on societal collapse in the New York Times Magazine, “When one way doesn’t work, we try another. When one system fails, we build another. We struggle to do things differently, and we push on.” As a communicator, I play a role in the social cause ecosystem and will continue to reflect on how I push to use digital communications for positive social change.

References

Abdulkaf, M., Brandom, R., Calma, J., Carmen, A., Chin, M. Farokhmanesh, M., Faulkner, C., Grush, L., Jeong, S., Hawkins, A., Lyons, K., Robertson, A., Statt, N., Stephen, B., Vincent, J., and Wetsman, N. (2020). Capturing the Police. The Verge. Retrieved from: https://www.theverge.com/21355121/new-civil-rights-movement-police-brutality-protests-film-videos-black-lives-matter.

Chadha, M. and Harlow, S. The Writing Is on the Wall, or Is It? Exploring Indian Activists’ Beliefs About Online Social Media’s Potential for Social Change. International Journal of Communication. Retrieved from: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2562.

Corley, C. (2021, May 7). 1 Year Later, The Video Of George Floyd's Death Has Lasting Impacts. NPR, Morning Edition. Retrieved from: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/07/994539600/1-year-later-the-video-of-george-floyds-death-has-lasting-impacts

Doyle, L. (2019, January 25). What is Digital Communication & Why Are Skilled Professionals in Such High Demand? Northeastern University Blog. Retrieved from https://www.northeastern.edu/bachelors-completion/news/what-is-digital-communication/#:~:text=Simply%20said%2C%20digital%20communication%20involves,%2C%20employees%2C%20and%20other%20stakeholders.

Ehrenreich, B. (2020, November 11). How do you know when society is about to fall apart? The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/magazine/societal-collapse.html?referringSource=articleShare.

Gallagher, R., Stowell, E., Parker, A., and Foucault, B. (2019, November). Reclaiming Stigmatized Narratives: The Networked Disclosure Landscape of #MeToo. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact., Vol. 3, No. CSCW, Article 96.

McNeil, L. (2018). “My friend posted it and that’s good enough for me!”: Source Perception in  Online Information Sharing. Journal of American Folklore 131(522):493–499.

Morosov, E. (2009, September 5). From Slactivism to Activism. Net Effect – Foreign Policy. Retrieved from: https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/09/05/from-slacktivism-to-activism/.

Pariser, E. (2018, February). The Future of Mission-Driven Media. frank, University of Florida. Retrieved from: https://vimeo.com/278246500.

Thomas, P.N. (2018). Communication for social change: Context, social movements and the digital. ProQuest Ebook.

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