Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
September 5, 2009
The State of Social Justice and Digital Media in Africa
1990s – Crisis and Opportunity
• Political Liberalization– Opening up of political space to non-state actors– Social disengagement of the African State and the
emergence of a civil society to fill the gap
• Creation of the World Wide Web– A major new avenue for freedom of expression for
individuals and organizations
2
Web 2.0 and Advent of Social Media
• Democratization of the Media– Grassroots or
Citizen Journalism
• Digital Civil Society – Appropriation of
social media by Social Movements and Civil Society Organizations
3
The Issues
4
Impact
Potential
Challenges
Weaknesses
Best Practices
Lessons Learned
What the Future Holds
Unwired Africa – Internet Users
• Only 3.4 % of Internet users are in Africa
• Only 64,153,900 Africans, out of a total 997,269,930 use the Internet
5
© from Internetworldstats.com
Unwired Africa – Internet Penetration
• Internet penetration in Africa – 5.6 %
• Internet penetration in the USA – 73.9%6
Unwired Africa – Presence on Social Networks
• Most popular social networks by country (2009) 7
African Civil Society Still at the Margins of the Digital Public Sphere
• 3 phases of Internet use
1. Experimental retrieval
2. Broadcast power
3. Interactive dialog
• Civil society in Africa is finding it difficult to move to 3rd (Web 2.0) phase
8
New Media Perpetuating Existing Inequalities
• New Media is recreating rather than reshaping offline – gender and class – inequalities– Women– Rural– Uneducated
• New media is repeating old patterns of domination and subservience between Africa and the West– Digital presence generally due to funding from the West– He who pays the piper…
9
African Civil Society and the “Digital Disconnect”
• Digital civil society dealing with a largely unwired audience
• The bulk of the digital activists are out of Africa
10
How do you engage people when the majority of them are not wired?
“It’s unlikely that most people living in Kibera slums are aware of the work that Kenyan bloggers are doing on Ushahidi.”
Ethan Zuckerman
“Track & Trace” – Example of a Disconnected Campaign
• Created by Cameroonian activists to document human rights abuses by the security forces and gvt. officials
• Great concept which failed because of digital disconnect
11
Overcoming Technology Determinants
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“In the context of political participation and social activism, fewer connections do not necessarily translate into limited
political impact if these connections are used effectively and creatively… “
Why Civil Society Needs A Digital Voice
Lobbying
Networking
Mobilizing
1. Disseminating alternative views
2. Creating a virtual public sphere
3. Organizing collective action
13
Cross-border Activism / Online Campaigns
The Digital Activist Toolkit
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Blogging Tools Micro-blogging
Mapping Podcasting Social Networking
BloggerWordpressTypepadLivejournal
TwitterAfrigator
Google MapsUshahidi
Blog Talk RadioImeemMyPodcast.com
FacebookMySpaceHi5 Ning
The Digital Activist Toolkit (cont)
15
Video Sharing Photo sharing Mapping Mobile activism Feeds & Aggregators
YoutubeVimeoDaily MotionAnimoto
FlickrSmugMugPicassa
Google MapsUshahidi
Frontline SMSFrontline FormsSixBlue Data
RSSFriendfeed
Don’t forget the power of the “boring” email! Design an email strategy for your organization
Mobile Phone/SMS
• Mobile penetration in Africa over 50%– average mobile penetration rate across West and Central
Africa about 74%
• Examples of SMS Use– Tracking domestic violence and land rights– Election monitoring
• Common SMS Tools– Frontline SMS– Frontline SMS Forms
16
“Arguably SMS and the mobile phone hold the answer to Africa’s digital neglect, of bringing African civil society fully into the new world.”
17
SMS in Action: The Village Diary Project
An open source web platform which integrates with FrontlineSMS to provide timely feedback to
community members
Custodian collects or creates source documents
Fieldworker using laptop with Village Diary platform enters information
Info uploaded to a web server or data repository
state attorneys, social workers, health officials and aid organizations. Updates sent to beneficiaries via SMS
• Crisis reporting
• Information
• Fund raising
• Mobilization
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Best used in conjunction with other digital tools
Printed Material is Still Important!
• Examples– How-to guides on AIDS prevention– A compilation of articles on digital
activism– Guidelines on organizing peaceful
protest in repressive societies, etc. – Collected essays on key political
and social causes
19
The papyrus is here to stay!
Best Practices – Avoid Tool Fixation
• A tool is neither a Strategy nor a Goal
• Our goals should determine which digital tools we use to promote our cause
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"How do we get to know and understand how a particular tool can help us meet our goals, but not let
the tool drive our decisions?“ – Beth Kanter
“If you don’t know WHY you’re using it, you’re probably not going to get much out of it.”
Best Practices – POST Framework
• People
• Objectives
• Strategy
• Technology
21
Use the POST framework to determine the most appropriate digital tool
Best Practices – Have a Compelling Narrative
Your digital media must tell a story!
22
Crafting an Online Narrative – The Mara Triangle
• Blogs, Pictures, videos, Facebook and Twitter, RSS feeds
23Source: http://www.maratriangle.org/
Crafting an Online Narrative – The Mara Triangle Twitter Fundraising
24
http://twitter.com/maratriangle/status/1001836796http://twitter.com/maratriangle/status/1002133440
Best Practices – Online Engagement is Not Enough!
What next after the revolution has been twittered?
What next after the violence has been “ushahidid”?
25
Source: Sokwanele
Effective online engagement must convert into offline collective action
Best Practices –Bridging the Gap between the Virtual and the Real
• Implement the “Two-Step Flow” communications Model
26© Christina Kirabo
Best Practices – More Collaboration between Digital Activists and CSOs
• The JimbiMedia example
27
Best Practices – The 4Cs Social Media Framework
Content Collaboration Community Collective Intelligence
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Let’s Go for the Transformational!
Information Community Action
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Thank you for your attention…
A Keynote Address by Dibussi Tande Blog: www.dibussi.comEmail: [email protected]
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