Image: https://unsplash.com/@camstejim By Trinity Weir Everything we do is being monitored. It may not be through a webcam, but through every click, on our devices. We live under constant surveillance. How did this happen to our beloved apps: Snapchat, Instagram...
When looking at the ways in which social media helped to shape the March For Our Lives movement, we can view this movement as a ‘network movement’ (Manuel Castells p. 171), as social media allowed this movement to be viewed on a global platform.
In the media-soaked society we live in, the way we talk about radicalisation needs to change. Society today revolves around social media, most of the information we receive comes from these social networking platforms. Media are creating a way of looking and viewing certain members of the population, as often some people believe everything they read, especially when the information we receive is written by those in power.
For a long time, ‘radicalisation’ has been known as the term used to describe what goes on ‘before the bomb goes off’ (Sedgwick, 2010). However, as time has progressed, many more aspects of radicalisation have emerged, which are separate from terrorism. Unlike the majority of mainstream media would have us believe, the radical is not the same as the terrorist (Sedgwick, 2010); yet the terrorist is more than likely to always be a radical. Radicalisation has wormed its way into our everyday lives due to technological advancements and developments in social media, making extreme views appear more and more commonplace.
Radicalisation is an ongoing issue threatening the safety of our country and those within it. The difficulty is to know how the government and society can remove the threats radicalisation can bring. With the UK arresting more suspected terrorists than any other country in Europe in 2017, the question remains: are we doing enough?
Despite the very clear title of my article – which, for reference, I do not believe in – this topic is not simple. Radicalisation is an issue that we face in today’s societal and political climate, prominently since 9/11 and the Western world’s’ ‘War on Terror’. There are, however, many intricacies to an issue like this.
Today economic activities and power are globally concentrated in a few large corporations. An active civil society, powered with mass media and information and communications technology along with social media easily locates the social and environmental impacts of the activities of corporations. This way corporations can be held accountable for any of their adverse actions and complemented / incentivised for their responsible actions.
post by Zerhra ErkulThe internet could be the best asset society has.Protests are an expression of anger felt amongst individuals and are one of the best examples of communities uniting in an attempt to resolve local and global issues. They are a representation of the...
All across the globe, countries experience unrest and conflict between their leaders and the people. This has been evident since civilisation began. However, the form in which this conflict occurs has varied drastically through the ages. Protest in the past often consisted of strong, wealthy figures gathering numerous followers to usurp the current, undesirable power. In contrast, protest now is largely based on social movement groups, without clear, defined leadership and is able to remain inclusive through the use of social media. Social media also enables mass protest nationally and even internationally, in a relatively short time, enabling larger scale and therefore more effective protest. However, social media are also abused by some movements, who use the provided anonymity to organise terrorist attacks and hate groups. This blog will henceforth analyse social media’s presence in protest and determine its pros and cons.
By Finlay MilesThe last few centuries have seen the rise of truly geopolitical stakes in human relations and discourse. This move towards globalization in not only humanitarian concerns but in general has led to the description of the period we occupy as...
+44 (0) 161 306 6000
Recent Comments