How much has social media actually helped?

Courtesy: Out of The Mouth of Dave (2011)

Have you ever heard of the Occupy Wall Street Movement (OWS)? If you regularly use social media, you probably have. The OWS has virally spread over the internet the past 6 months, “occupying” all of the big social media sites: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Many argue that social media centralizes the movement because it is run by average citizens and is unified around fighting social and economic inequality. Here is a brief summary of how OWS utilizes social media:

• ·         Facebook: “Occupy Wall Street” has approximately 340,000 fans on Facebook, where members can share news, debates and event details.
• ·         Twitter: @OccupyWallStreet has 154,000 followers on Twitter, which gives quick updates about protests and reminds followers to come to events.
• ·         Tumblr: “We are the 99%”, a blog run by the Occupy Wall Street Archives Working Group, allows anyone to post their personal story and why they support the movement.

Essentially, OWS is run by everyday citizens. Because of this diversity, anyone can join the online protest, from any part of the world. Yes, this sounds like it is a good thing- social media has allowed global storytelling and sharing from the comfort of our homes. Although social media has helped unify the movement across states, it does not explain the complex underlying issues and does not encourage working toward solutions. I have joined the critical voices of the movement and will talk about how social media has allowed many people to rally and because of this, it lacks clear goals and a clear target audience, thus resulting in close to no progress.

Since anyone can join the social media protest at any time, this has caused the movement to lack focus. First, the September 17^th protest complained about Wall Street’s bank bailouts and the “greed” of big companies. Kalle Lasn, the editor-in-chief of Adbusters—an activist magazine—explained in an interview “We need to shake up the corporate-driven capitalist system we're in. To do that, we needed something radical” (CNN Money, 2011). Next they were protesting capitalism and austerity. On October 15, an article explained “Tens of thousands went on the march in New York as organizers aimed to initiate global change against capitalism and austerity measures.” (The Guardian, 2011). And next? Police brutality. A Guardian article describes the scene as “Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators marched to protest against police violence and demand the resignation of New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly on Saturday afternoon.”

Example of a OWS meme targetting police on Tumblr. Courtesy: Ekoshyun Blog (2011)

And now? ‘Occupiers’ are protesting killing dolphins and student loan policies (NYU Local, 2011). Many of these issues are protest-worthy. However, raising all of these issues and expecting change on every issue is silly. Because the protestors come from such diverse backgrounds such that anyone can voice whatever they want- whether it is their opinion or story- social media has allowed too many people to talk at one time. For example, the OWS Tumblr blog encompasses a wide set assortment of people: students, teachers, single moms, sick patients, and former delinquents. 

Examples of OWS Tumblr blog stories. Courtesy: G.L. (2011) Source: The Economist

Also, researchers say that for every young person, there is someone in their 40s (USA Today). Because of this, social media convokes people from distinct backgrounds who might not have assembled together in the first place. It personalizes the movement by allowing anyone to join, anyone to tell their story, and anyone to share anything. This in itself is a big flaw since too many people are fighting for different issues, one of the main criticisms of the movement. Thus, social media does not elaborately describe their reasoning to taking action where and how, causing the movement to seem like it is protesting just to protest. Instead, it often just tells people to come to their protest and “support the movement” (Occupy Wall Street, 2011).

Social media has spread the wrong information on who to target. The protestors blame Wall Street big companies for the bank failure. In my opinion, bad government policy and poor regulation caused bank failures rather than greed. It is the EU Central Bank and the EU commission “which have not only blundered economically, but are now prepared to destroy democracy itself in order to remain in control” (The Guardian, 2011). Despite this, many continue to protest in New York at Zucotti Park to the wrong people. This again is a problem with the organization of the movement and how they disperse their message. Because there are no clear leaders of the OWS, a bunch of people just use Facebook and Twitter to say “Hey, come to our event as we protest the big banks” with no real backup and persuasion as to why.  Although these social media sites have been great at getting people to places, it dismisses the complex issues of the movement, which has led to lost time and money by protesting to the wrong people.

Are they protesting just to protest? Courtesy: Know Your Meme (2011)

Clearly, social media has raised awareness for the movement. But the underlying question still remains: how much has the progress actually made? How much help could social media have been if there is no progress and the movement is dying down? Basically, the protest is about Wall Street bankers making large bonuses and salaries. As the Guardian article (Occupy Wall Street is about noise, not change) says, “Yelling at corporations to stop making profits and paying their employees accordingly does not count. If you have a leak in your ceiling, you don’t yell at the water to stop dripping, you find exactly where the hole is and you plug it”(The Guardian, 2011). Because of social media sites like Facebook which suggests yelling at the water to stop dripping, too many people are complaining rather than doing. The article explains that they are not asking for a financial transaction tax, elimination of proprietary/ speculative trading in financial institutions or segregation of traditional banks and investment banks (The Guardian, 2011). Thus, social media sites have encouraged too much complaining about others and do not focus on the underlying goals of how and what to do to change our society. The movement has posed no clear short term or long term goals besides occupying buildings, which is a big part of why the movement is losing people. In fact, the movement is quickly dying down and their accountants have claimed that they have no money anymore. The New York Post claims “New York's Occupy Wall Street group is warning it could run out of money by the end of the month, raising questions about the future of the movement that sparked nationwide protests against economic injustice last year. Donations to the group have slowed six months after it set up camp in a park near Wall Street, igniting the Occupy movement across the United States”(New York Post, 2011). The movement said the majority of their money went to bailing people out of jail and transportation costs. Because of this, the movement itself has not made any progress, and we cannot conclude that social media has exhibited change. While social media has shown to be inexpensive and wide-reaching, it continues to defer from short and long term goals of fighting social and economic inequality and focuses too much on gathering everyone to protest.

As the New York Post quoted, “Critics say the Occupy movement lacks direction and specific demands and has lost momentum. Occupy protest crowds in New York and other U.S. cities have tended to number only in the hundreds, despite the group's social media savvy” (New York Post). While it is clear that social media has been an effective tool for spreading news and sharing stories, in reality, it has caused unclear goals, unclear target audiences and has shown declining progress. Social media has made the movement so personalized, that even if anyone wanted to tackle and improve “social and economic inequality”, they wouldn’t know where to start. Moreover, the movement’s supporters are quickly declining. In a poll surveying people from San Francisco, one of the most liberal cities in the US, support has gone down 26% and 71% oppose “occupying” buildings (Hot Air, 2011). Clearly, the movement is loosing traction. How much is social media doing its job? Not enough. Just like other movements, this one will slowly fade and people will move onto a new issue. To all of the online protestors out there: at this rate, you’re probably better off using your time to find a job or reassessing your goals rather than sitting behind a computer screen complaining about how much others make. And that’s what I plan to do: get a job.

References

CNN Money. (2011).  Hundreds of protestors descend to ‘Occupy Wall Street’. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/17/technology/occupy_wall_street/index.htm

The Guardian. (2011). ‘Occupy’ anti-capitalism protests spread around the world. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/16/occupy-protests-europe-london-assange

The Guardian. (2011). Occupy Wall Street demonstrators march to protest against police violence. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/25/occupy-wall-street-protest-police

NYU Local. (2011). Occupy Wall Street is making noise, not change. Retrieved from http://nyulocal.com/national/2011/10/06/occupy-wall-street-is-making-noise-not-change/

USA Today. (2011). Occupy Wall Street shows diversity in age, politics. Retrieved from http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/11/occupy-wall-street-shows-politics-age-diversity/1#.T3fyWTGmhEI

New York Post. (2011). Occupy Wall Street could run out of money by the end of the month. Retrieved from http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/occupy_wall_street_could_run_out_7mKabGUk1AUg2PnPqfQBkN

Hot Air. (2011). Occupy support drops more than 20 points in…San Francisco? Retrieved from http://hotair.com/archives/2012/01/31/occupy-support-drops-more-than-20-points-in-san-francisco/

Occupy Wall Street. (2011). Occupy Wall Street. Retrieved from http://occupywallst.org/

 Ekoshyun Blog. (2011). Occupy Wall Street Meme-fied. Retrieved from http://www.ekoshyun.com/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-meme-fied.html

Know Your Meme. (2011). Occupy Protests. Retrieved from http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/occupy-protests

Out of the Mouth of Dave. (2011). This Site is Occupied! Retrieved from http://www.outofthemouthofdave.com/2011/12/this-site-is-occupied.html