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.