How Digital Tech Amplifies Global Voices
For many, social media is an echo chamber; we "follow", "like" and "subscribe" only to information and people that share our interests. What we see on a daily basis only affirms and repeats information that we already agree with, are aware of, and care about. But social media and digital technologies allow us to break free from these affirmations (if we choose) and open ourselves to hearing voices that we may have otherwise been deaf to.
American's live largely in a vacuum, we are often ignorant of people and events that happen outside our borders. But there is a vast and varied world of people out there, and social media and digital communication technologies have given these people a voice that we should want to hear.
"With Internet technology, social media platforms have made the communication process faster, interactive, user friendly, and enabling user-generated contents. All these make the influence of social media usage far reaching; with good sides and bad sides to it. Social media usage has presented another platform for the African voice to be heard all over the world so that with social media, African people have a medium to tell their story to the world. African people have [utilize] this platform to make global statements and promote causes the world over," (Epke, 2017).
Though the population of Africa is a whopping 1.216 billion (almost four times that of the United States), they are a continent whose global voice has largely gone unheard. Social media and digital communication technologies have contributed to giving Africans the ability to share their voices, their stories, their lives, and in doing so, change Africans expectations of the impact their voices can make.
"Social media are products of technological advancement via very powerful tools that can influence and shape human [behavior] and perception, and thus it has played a significant role in outbreaks of social protest and resistance. For example, the 2012 #OccupyNigeria, a socio-political protest movement that began in Nigeria on January 2, 2012 in response to the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government on January 1, 2012 [characterized] by civil disobedience, civil resistance, strike actions, demonstrations and online activism, with the use of social media services such as Twitter and Facebook being a prominent feature..."(Epke, 2017).
Everyone has a voice and social media is giving more people in more places the opportunity to ensure that their voices are being heard.
Reference
In this video, DK Osseo-Asare highlights how pairing scrapyard electronics miners in Ghana with technology professionals can lead to the creation of innovative communities of techies, teachers, and creators.
American's live largely in a vacuum, we are often ignorant of people and events that happen outside our borders. But there is a vast and varied world of people out there, and social media and digital communication technologies have given these people a voice that we should want to hear.
"With Internet technology, social media platforms have made the communication process faster, interactive, user friendly, and enabling user-generated contents. All these make the influence of social media usage far reaching; with good sides and bad sides to it. Social media usage has presented another platform for the African voice to be heard all over the world so that with social media, African people have a medium to tell their story to the world. African people have [utilize] this platform to make global statements and promote causes the world over," (Epke, 2017).
Though the population of Africa is a whopping 1.216 billion (almost four times that of the United States), they are a continent whose global voice has largely gone unheard. Social media and digital communication technologies have contributed to giving Africans the ability to share their voices, their stories, their lives, and in doing so, change Africans expectations of the impact their voices can make.
"Social media are products of technological advancement via very powerful tools that can influence and shape human [behavior] and perception, and thus it has played a significant role in outbreaks of social protest and resistance. For example, the 2012 #OccupyNigeria, a socio-political protest movement that began in Nigeria on January 2, 2012 in response to the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government on January 1, 2012 [characterized] by civil disobedience, civil resistance, strike actions, demonstrations and online activism, with the use of social media services such as Twitter and Facebook being a prominent feature..."(Epke, 2017).
Everyone has a voice and social media is giving more people in more places the opportunity to ensure that their voices are being heard.
Reference
Epke, Bassey Nsa. “Social Media: Towards the Realisation of a
Global Stance for the African Voice.”Africology:
The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol. 10, 2017, pp. 109-120.
In this video, DK Osseo-Asare highlights how pairing scrapyard electronics miners in Ghana with technology professionals can lead to the creation of innovative communities of techies, teachers, and creators.
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