YouTube and Social Movements: A Phenomenological Analysis of Participation, Events and Cyberplace

Abstract

Web 2.0 studies position new social media as creating relational connections, yielding new geographies based on increased awareness. YouTube exemplifies these media, fostering relations between geographically and politically disparate people. Moving beyond the dichotomy between space and cyberspace, this paper expands upon Wellman's (2001) description of cyberplace, and argues that place and cyberplace form a continuum upon which filmed events can be located. Invisible Children, a non-governmental organization concerned with raising awareness about Ugandan child soldiers, illustrates the role of new media in this continuum through disseminating their videos of protests on YouTube. This analysis expands our understanding of both the links between the generation of awareness and movement participation, and media's contribution to geographies of collective action.We are displaced, because they are displaced (banner at "Displace Me" event)Thinking geographically is a key component of being aware

«smart Cities» of the Debt Crisis: Grassroots Creativity in Mediterranean Europe

“…Individuals and/or groups engaged in digital activism do not remain online: they take to the streets and piazzas; and movements generated entirely online may then be moving offline (Bakardjieva et al, 2012;Harlow, 2011). In fact, while the distinction offline/online may have some methodological validity, the two 'realities' tend to merge and should be examined in conjunction rather than in opposition (Harlow, 2011;Meek, 2012;Afouxenidis, 2014). People reclaiming the streets and piazzas carry their digital devices there and remain constantly online, sustaining the fusion of the virtual and the material in public spaces.…”

“…This has resulted in an evolving continuum of interaction between virtual and material spaces (Meek, 2012), which has extended from the space of places to the space of flows (Castells, 2012, p. 61) and has merged into hybrid spaces and spatialities. The debt crisis in Europe in the 2010s took place in such a hybrid realm.…”

“…Inversely, the capacity of cell phones and e-networking for instantaneous mobilization of people to materially gather in streets and piazzas creates uprisings in the most unlikely places. These spontaneous relatively impromptu social gatherings in urban spaces, which are organized using social media, have a name since the 1990s: flash mobs (Meek, 2012(Meek, , p. 1432.The hybrid public spaces emerging from this fusion constitute a previously inexistent public realm of trans-locality, where the interaction and constant interplay between material and virtual networks broadens the hybrid public spaces of communication, interaction and solidarity far beyond the local, flowing from the space of places towards the global.…”

“…The wide and massive dissemination of the digital 'revolution' started with cell phones and laptops, continued with i-phones and tablets, and has been revitalized with social media and Web 2.0 applications, 4 opening the way for digital interaction among individuals, collectivities and cities (Craglia et al, 2004;Meek, 2012;Gonzalez and Carril, 2013). iCt and social network sites are integrated into everyday life and practice for millions of people and organizations around the globe.…”

Asian Youth Cultural Expression, Creativity, and Innovation on YouTube

“…Globalization has also given a new fl uidity to the bounded notion of cultural and national identity (Ibrahim, 2004, p. 115-136 This study focuses on young people's involvement as a prosumer (Toffl er, 1980) or produsage (Bruns & Schmidt, 2011, p. 3-7) using YouTube. Chau (2010, 65-74) (Meek, 2012(Meek, , 1429(Meek, -1448. According to Burgess & Green (2009) Furthermore, creativity and innovation always in line with the pleasure of sharing creations of young people on YouTube.…”