Politicising Digital Media

Some days ago, my attention was drawn to the below video; a fascinating example of how an online social media campaign, with an unusual and original twist, changed the tides of a local vote.

I find it fascinating how the effects of digital media can force powerful shifts into the political world; from the local, such as the above, to the global, as with the Arab spring. There's no denying that social networking, after surviving several attempts at censorship, played a fundamental role in coordinating the protests and the eventual overthrowing of a dictator. In the words of one Egyptian activist, reported here at the time of the revolution;

"We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world"

Not even half a century ago, such innovations were inconceivable and unimaginable to many. The technological era has brought fresh insights into the realities of dictatorships, wars and oppression, and has been appropriated worldwide as a useful tool to push the boundaries of regional societies outwards into a larger, global network. I think it's very exciting to be a part of an era where this has been made possible, and to be able to witness the world change as a result of it.

A Proposition: Open Letter to UoL IT Services

First of all; happy new year! The drinks were consumed, and the food demolished. Sadly, exam season has rolled around; I'm going to be spending the next nine days fiercely revising, so blogging will be taking a back seat until mid-January or so. Until then, I just wanted to check in with a few comments and suggestions on something I was thinking about yesterday.

As someone who enjoys social networking (and actually depends on it for several things) I'm an avid tweeter; I get a lot out of following sources of personal interest, and enjoy the insights gained into the lives of people from all over the world. Recently, I began following Sweden. Yes, the country - their official account! Volunteering Swedes have put themselves forward for a chance to be selected to tweet on the country's official Twitter account for a week. So far we've seen an impressive range of people running the account, giving insights into their hobbies, interests, and Swedish culture/politics. So far, the account has racked up over 67,000 followers!

In short, I think it's a great idea, and I've been wondering if this idea is something we could actually implement in our own university. Thus, this is an open letter to the IT services at Leeds, just to share some thoughts I had on why it might be beneficial for us to follow suit and perhaps create a representative, student-led, randomized-user account for the UoL. 

• Firstly, the university is home to over 33,000 students, from at least 142 countries. it's a campus which supports and celebrates diversity, including 100+ student societies, encompassing a wide range of cultures, interests and sports. Thus, I think it would be wonderful to be able to follow an active, dynamic reflection of our student population, as it would capture the variety and the spirit that make Leeds special. International students would also be encouraged to take part, as it would be interesting to see unique and fresh outlooks on the Leeds culture.

• Secondly, to my knowledge, no other UK university has tried anything similar (correct me if I am wrong). Hence, Leeds could display originality and lead by example with yet another demonstration of how modern universities are embracing social networking methods to put our university on the map, and also by encouraging community interest (in both volunteering and following the account) and endorsing the creation of online dialogues between students, including in those who may not yet be interested in online networking (yep, there are still a few out there!). (Also, I know I'm biased, but I think it's wonderful that something similar has already been done with the student blogs; I'm having so much fun reading everyone's entries, and it has made me look towards the above idea with a lot of optimism!)

• Lastly, such a project might be appealing to prospective students, who are interested in getting a taste of what the Leeds community is like. It's not always possible to reach all of the open days and know entirely what you are getting into, before you sign up to study at a given place; a representative social networking account could benefit prospective students by allowing them to a) witness first hand the interesting mix of people which makes Leeds such a stimulating environment, and b) use the network to quiz the users on their Leeds experience, thus gaining honest, peer-to-peer information and advice from current students.

I think it would be a really rewarding project for the university to take on, and if necessary, I'd be happy to assist in the operation/moderation for the remainder of my time here. To those at the IT services, if you feel I've put forward a convincing argument, I'd be more than happy to chat about this with you in person!

And I know I could have just emailed; the reason I went for an open letter is because I'd love to hear from the readers, too! Readers; what do you think about the idea? Is it something that you'd be interested in a) participating and b) following? How might such a system be improved? Comments welcome!