Blog Profile - "Online Activism"

Online Activism is a cyberactivism and social movement blog, covering issues of social media, slacktivism, clicktivism and web communities. Operating under the tagline “A Network Society Perspective”, the blog appears to be a more objective collection of opinions from online activists across the Internet. The postings however suggest a more critical stance on the issues in question, and are clearly academic and professional in style. The author, Khatarina Otulak, is a Masters student of Digital Communications and Cultures at the University of Sydney, interested in political blogging, citizen journalism, Internet censorship and the digital divide. Judging from her insights and educational background, Otulak knows what she’s talking about. Her posts flow smoothly, with articulated arguments and well-drawn conclusions. Enough detail and substance is included to keep the posts scholarly, but without boring the reader. Ultimately, she makes strong points that directly support my own blog.

The most recent entry, entitled “The Gladwell Controversy”, discusses the power of social media to influence “real” activism. The post reflects upon a New York Times article by Malcolm Gladwell, which makes a distinction between strong ties (direct contacts and associations) and weak ties (distant connections or acquaintances). Gladwell argues that social media facilitates engagement in causes through the quick dissemination of information across many weak ties. While Otulak agrees with this point, she challenges his view of the overall result. “Facebook is an example for social networks’ effectiveness in increasing participation by lessening the level of required motivation.” By attributing successful causes to only high-risk activists, Otulak argues that Gladwell is disregarding the different types of involvement and the evolutionary nature of activism itself. Ultimately, she contends that he has overlooked the real potential of social media to cause change.

Even more relevant to my initial blog is her post, “What’s your bra color - Social Contagion for a good cause?” Otulak touches on many of the same criticisms I voiced about the breast cancer awareness campaign of late, which she similarly agrees could have been more useful. To add to the debate, she also examines why social media is so effective in drawing support for such campaigns. In her opinion, Facebook and Twitter provide “low barriers to entry” to social causes, requiring little active effort from users to become involved. One is just a click away from joining a page or changing their status - a very low personal cost that most are willing to pay.

As a whole, Otulak’s posts create an overall sense of conflict throughout her blog. On one hand, social media is effective in reaching users across online communities and providing them with information and opportunity for involvement. On the other, it requires little motivation or personal sacrifice to become part of a social cause through these networks. By creating this internal argument, Otulak’s blog is successful in keeping readers interested. While her own opinions are firm and supported by evidence, there is still room for an ongoing debate. Additionally, she also provides links to further reading and videos to offer different perspectives on the topic. This is a quality I hope will feed my own work, as I want to invite active feedback from my readers, and point them to more useful sources. Unfortunately, Otulak’s posts do not allow you to comment back, a clear difference between my blog and hers. While her blog appears to be relatively unpopular, I’m hoping that she will continue posting more frequently to give me future points of discussion.