Emergent digital activism: The generational/technological connection

Authors

  • Fernando Adolfo Mora

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v10i1.2676

Keywords:

online civic participation, digital activism, social technologies

Abstract

In this article three interacting categories for the understanding of emergent digital activism are reviewed: tools that enable the participation, people as social agents, and contexts of social or political participation. Since in many of the most recent cases of digital activism the main actors have been young activists, the paper attempts to present how some of these new cohorts make use of technology mediated tools for social interaction, crowd engagement and participation, through a networked and apparently leaderless social and political activism. By analyzing the interaction between the existing tools and the generational characteristics of the social actors in particular situations we show the role that digital systems and new social media play in certain situations.

Con el fin de comprender el activismo digital, en este artículo se exploran tres categorías que se entrelazan: las herramientas que facilitan los procesos de participación, las personas como agentes sociales que intervienen y los contextos de participación social y política. Dado que en los casos más recientes de activismo digital los principales actores pertenecen a cohortes juveniles, el artículo intenta presentar algunas ideas de cómo esos activistas hacen uso de las herramientas tecnológicas para la participación social, la ccoperación y la inteligencia de las multitudes, mediante un activismo en red aparentemente sin liderazgos notorios. Se hace el análisis de la interacción entre las herramientas tecnológicas y las características generacionales en tres casos particulares para ilustrar el papel que los sistemas digitales y los nuevo smedios sociales juegan en ciertas situaciones.

Author Biography

Fernando Adolfo Mora

Fernando Mora is Professor of Management at the MBA’s in International Business and Health Management of St. George’s University (Grenada) since the inception of these programs in 2009. He was Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Universidad Simon Bolivar (Caracas, Venezuela) where he also was Graduate Studies and Research Coordinator for the university. Fernando was also member of several research commissions for the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology. At St. George’s University Fernando coordinated the creation of the PhD in Management and was active in leadership and management research activities. His research interests are in the field of health information management and social participation systems.

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Published

2013-12-06

Issue

Section

Research Articles