YouTube: a tool for Social Activism

How effective is YouTube as it relates to social activism and

furthering social change?

Social Media

• A glut of information at our fingertips

• The world is moving fast

Statistics 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute, or one

hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second Over 4 billion videos are viewed day Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month on

YouTube More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than

the three major US networks created in 60 years 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US YouTube is localized in 39 countries and across 54

languages In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views or

almost 140 views for every person on Earth

Social Statistics

500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, and over 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute

100 million people take a social action on YouTube (likes, shares, comments, etc) every week

An auto-shared tweet results in 6 new youtube.com sessions on average, and we see more than 500 tweets per minute containing a YouTube link

What does this mean?

For the Social Activist:

You can reach a wide audience in a short period of time

Remember: YouTube is a tool

“Single most important thing to know about using email, Facebook, YouTube, and other electronic tools; they are exactly that, tools, and you use them to organize people.”[i] [i] Bobo, Kim, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max. Organizing for Social Change. 4th ed. Santa Ana: Forum, 2010. p. 175

How is YouTube used?

• Training and Education– New Organizing Institute

• History– Bull Connor and the Civil Rights Movement

• Inspiration– Saul Alinsky

• Promotion– Kony2012

• Documentation and Event Recording– Arab Spring

Example: Arab Spring

“Using digital technologies, democracy advocates created a freedom meme that took on a life of its own and spread ideas about liberty and revolution to a surprisingly large number of people.”[i]

[i] Howard, Philip N., Aiden Duffy, Deen Freelon, Muzammil Hussain, Will Mari, and Marwa Mazaid. Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media During the Arab Spring?. Project on Information Technology and Political Islam. Research Memo 2011.1 Seattle. University of Washington. p. 3

Example: Arab Spring (cont’d)

• 1.5 million views in first week • Emotional, inspiring• “As street protests arose in Tunisia and Egypt, then

Yemen and Bahrain, and eventually Algeria and Morocco, people across the region tweeted in real time about big events. This is significant because it reveals how the success of demands for political change in Tunisia and Egypt led individuals in other countries to pick up the conversation and talk about how it was relevant to their own lives. In other words, it helped cascade conversation about freedom across the region.”[i]

[i] Howard, Philip N., Aiden Duffy, Deen Freelon, Muzammil Hussain, Will Mari, and Marwa Mazaid. Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media During the Arab Spring?. Project on Information Technology and Political Islam. Research Memo 2011.1 Seattle. University of Washington. p. 15

The downside…

While YouTube can carry positive messages of change across the globe, it can send negative messages as well

The lesson to be learned:

Perception is everything and YouTube provides an unmanaged forum for any

kind of content. Activists need to “manage the message”

The future

• Continue to use social media sites such as YouTube

• Manage the message: create channels dedicated to your movement. Load only applicable and positive video to this channel

• More training/education video is needed

Summary

• YouTube, when used properly, can speed the process of recruitment, messaging, coordinating, and training

• Remember to “manage the message”

Photo Sources• All accessed May 13, 2012• Twitter, Facebook, YouTube logos courtesy of:

– www.twitter.com– www.facebook.com– www.youtube.com

• Slide 2: http://www.johnbendever.com/family/question/• Slide 3: http://www.angelo.edu/services/technology/mobile/• Slide 6: source unknown. Photo used from Tyson Kindstrom’s archives• Slide 7, Image 1: http://occupywallst.org/• Slide 7, Image 2:

http://gigaom.com/2011/02/03/gladwell-still-missing-the-point-about-social-media-and-activism/

• Slide 8: http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/plumbing/pipe-wrench.htm

• Slide 10: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/14/tahrir-square-tweet-egyptian-uprising

• Slide 12, Image 1: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/im-a-freedom-fighter-sfs-accused-may-day-occupy-brick-thrower-speaks-out/

• Slide 12, Image 2: http://www.almostzara.com/2011/08/london-riots-2011-websites/• Slide 15: http://www.bollyn.com/chicagos-elders-of-zion-and-obamas-war-for-profit/