Is Social Media the New Frontier in Activism?

Social media has become a powerful to tool for people to connect in so many ways. From sharing pictures, finding out who's dating whom and where the coolest party is this weekend. This power to connect has also seen itself manifest in the form of social and political activists utilizing these tools to galvanize other users around the issues they care about.

One prominent example of late is Canadians expressing their outrage over the Harper government's decision to prorogue government until the Olympics are over. The Facebook group for this issue now has more than 200, 000 members. But how effective is this form of political activism?

Is the same effort required join a Facebook group expressing opposition than joining a march or contacting a government official? Or for that matter, to get out and vote when election time rolls around?

This is the true test of the efficacy of social media as a tool for political and social activism. Can activists get social media users to take the next step? If members of Canadians against Proroguing Parliament don't email their MP's or attend a rally, is the act of joining becomes symbolic?



The answer to these questions are far from clear and seem to be evolving on a continual basis. Social media is an incredibly powerful tool to both raise awareness of issues, as well as allowing people to discuss how they feel about issues. In the end, as the power of social media grows, and technology-resistant boomers begin to acknowledge the power of these tools - the legitimacy (and effectiveness) of this form of activism will only grow over time.

UPDATE:

So whatever happened to the uproar about Harper's proroguing of the government? Did anything come of it? The answer, as is all things political, is...well, kinda. I think one thing that did come of it was a display of the potential power that social media can have in this realm.

Not only did people join the Facebook group - when asked, they came out in droves. Indeed, thousands came out to protest across the country - no easy feat for a rather arcane parliamentary procedure.

Furthermore, the outrage the Facebook built may actually translate into new legislation. It's non-binding - but it's a start.