Archive for the ‘Civic Participation’ Category
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
Lisan Jutras has an article in today’s Globe and Mail about how those pesky Facebook pages for “causes” don’t mean a thing. Labeling Facebook-style list joining as “slacktivism,” she writes:
While it feels good, it basically replaces other, more hackneyed expressions of what sensitive souls we are, such as “I like kittens and walks on the beach.” What it doesn’t replace is volunteer hours or money in the pockets of real charities.
For the sake making an argument, Jutras sets up a helpful straw man: you know, the one that isn’t volunteering or isn’t donating to charity because they’ve smugly done their bit highlighting a cause on their Twitter account.
If Jutras can find said straw man, I would love to see this person say as such in one of her columns. Some research would be nice. Recent DECODE research finds that, contrary to stereotype, people who engage in some form of online activism are, in fact, MUCH MORE likely to donate money or volunteer their time. Our recent Life Stage DNA study of those aged 15-39 found that 56% of those who are “digitally engaged” donated money in the last year. Only 32% of those who were not “digitally engaged” donated money. Similarly, 41% of those who are digitally engaged volunteered for a charity. Only 23% of those were not “digitally engaged” did.
This does not necessarily mean that participating in some sort of online engagement causes people to engage. We don’t know enough about what is likely a complex series of factors that encourage civic engagement.
A more likely explanation, however, is that those who are community-oriented are more likely to be active in both their digital and “real” lives. Joining a Facebook group doesn’t mean that you will also make a donation, or write a letter to an MP, or attend a protest as an immediate result. But it does likely mean that that issue is on your radar and that you might be more inclined – at some point – at least, to do something.
It’s a complex and emerging field of study. If only “lifestyle commentators” would treat it as such.
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
More troubling news from the U.K: one out of every six British people aged 18-24 is both out of work and not in school.
The British have a handy acronym for this group: NEET (not in education, employment or training), and it’s been a long-standing public policy concern for both the left and the right. The prescriptions seem easy enough to grasp. Government needs increase access to post-secondary education. Business need to invest more in jobs and training. But as we noted in our article in the Mark News, these are long-term investments that don’t seem to be major public or industrial policy concerns. The irony is that anti-deficit, short-term-growth-at-any-cost logic that prevents countries from treating these issues seriously creates nagging public lags on our economies and societies.
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Our thoughts on post-secondary spending in the world of a jobless recovery.
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
Fascinating/ horrifying stuff coming from the aftermath of Iran’s most recent elections, largely as a result of micro-blog posts, pictures and photographs being smuggled outside of Iran via Twitter. The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan has been covering the event in real time, posting tweets and videos. The raw, direct nature of this footage is fascinating, especially when you consider how it’s often only a few hours old.
Much is being made of the groundswell of action and protest stemming from Iran’s lyouth population. Thanks to the actions of an angry and engaged youth segment, we see a side of Iran that is far more secular and globally-oriented than is commonly understood. It seems to pervade the youth experience, right down to the street-level art protest.
Much will be made about the role of Twitter/ mobile phones/ You Tube/ Facebook as platforms for mobilizing these protests. Could this have happened without these technologies? I think Henry Farrell and Matt Yglesias get some things right in viewing the “Twitter made this possible” thesis with a more skeptical eye.
Still, it feels like something profoundly different is going on right now. It’s easy to criticize “Facebook participation” as some sort of easy, empty gesture. And yet? People in Iran appear to be gaining some comfort (and perhaps, motivation) in knowing that the world sees what they see. Communication is central to mobilizing protest.
No matter how this ends (and it may end poorly), it would be interesting to compare this to what little sneaked out during last year’s brutal crackdown in Burma. A few pictures snuck out, for a while there was some interest. But soon enough, Burma’s military leaders were able to choke information seeping out of the country. For some reason, Iran hasn’t been able to (or, perhaps has not chosen to) do the same.
*Updated: Twitter is the few fax machine: how Chinese students kept the world informed via fax.
Friday, April 17th, 2009
In the category of “not-so-surprising” and “surprising” you can now file the Pew Centre’s latest report on the 2008 U.S. Election. Unsurprisingly, the Internet was more likely to be source of election information than a newspaper. Remarkably, 10% of the population used Facebook or Myspace for gathering election information or to become involved.
Another nugget:
Politically-active internet users are moving away from news sites with no point of view to sites that match their political views, and this is especially true among younger voters.
What happens to a political culture where people are not exploring opposing viewpoints?
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
I just came across this term and while it is definitely jarrgon, there is something quite appealing about it. (I realise that my affinity is highly influenced that I fall into said categorisation). It does however open the converstaion around what role, if any, life-stage playes in the relative potency of said group. Empowered women – or those ages 25-54 who feel that the Internet helps them manage their family life — are highly influential as household decision-makers as well as among their peers.
Food for thought and do we have clues as what causal factors determine when / if a woman falls into this group?
Lisan Jutras has an article in today’s Globe and Mail about how those pesky Facebook pages for “causes” don’t mean a thing. Labeling Facebook-style list joining as “slacktivism,” she writes: