An article by Huffington Post asks: “does social innovation equal social change?” This question comes in response to a few things: Occupy Wall Street, the Egyptian Revolution, and a recent Advertising Week event. At this Advertising Week event, a panelist suggested jokingly that they try to go an hour without saying the word “Twitter,” however in this hour they were discussing social innovation, resulting in a failure to that challenge.
Why could they not go and hour without mentioning Twitter when discussing social innovation and the world events of Occupy Wall Street and the Egyptian Revolution? Let me tell you. Occupy Wall Street and the Egyptian Revolution are two major events occurring and spreading around the world virally, through mainstream media spurred on by social media. The participants are calling for social change, and they are doing it through social media and these events have actually pushed social media in new directions; it has inspired social innovation. Social media is allowing the activists a way to spread their revolution (if you will), throughout the world and a way to communicate to meet up and do this. This has been accomplished through social tools such as Facebook, Twitter, meetup.com, other websites, and alternatives to Twitter and Facebook that have emerged to accommodate this social movement. Ben Rattray of Change.org claims that “social change is less about the tools and more about the application of those tools.” It is less about the innovation, but more about the application of that innovation. He claims that social media supports existing strategies and can also “spark something that didn’t exist.”
I think mainstream media is becoming more powerful because of social media, which draws in and gets attention of mainstream media. It builds community and brings communities together on the web and physically, as Rattray explains: "The best way to get people away from their computer is through the computer; you can't organize thousands of people in New York City [the way Occupy Wall Street has] without the web.” I think this is a great example of the social innovation sparking social change. I’m interested in what you think?
3 comments:
I definitely love Rattray’s quote about getting people away from their computers because it is so true! Most people find out about events going on these days on their computers. I think that this is the biggest social change of our generation. I think that it shows how prevalent social media is becoming in our society that such serious things like Occupy Wall Street and the Egyptian Revolution are becoming more viral from social media.
I definitely agree that social media can spark social change. Social media initially spreads ideas to a mass crowd. Then others that agree with that idea can use social media to organize ideas and plan events. It's a much easier way for people who share similar views to meet up, compared to the past. Tweeting about these revolutionary ideas attracts the news media, and even furthers your cause. Social networks definitely facilitates an audience that could expand present ideas and possible changes.
I think reading about the event on the news is one thing, but following a person's twitter account is something very different. You understand the story when it comes from people. For instance, feelings and emotions are published with twitter which can help convey the story better. Although people might not be able to attend the event, some are helping to spread the word across America talking about social change. Without Social Media, would we have learned about this event or would it have lasted as long as it has?
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