Abstract
The use of digital has shifted to a different format, especially with the prominence of interaction with Web 2.0-based social networking sites that developed after internet technology. These environments, which provide users with a platform independent of time and space, have transformed daily and professional life practices, and public spaces have been replaced by virtual communities. Historically, social movements based on class struggle have also been affected by this change. Although the use of media tools in social movements dates back to the 18th century, individuals can easily reach people who think like themselves and organize quickly through social media. Although digital activism, which is one of the trends of digital technology prevailing in the 21st century, has been exposed to criticism such as clicktivism, it has also become an effective force in the political arenas. In this study, changing social movements on the axis of digital technologies will be discussed in general terms to digital activism.
TopSocial Movements And Activism
Saint-Simon first used the term social movements in France in the early eighteenth century, as a feature of new political forces opposed to the status quo to describe the social protest movements that emerged in his country and later elsewhere. Nowadays, it is a term that most commonly refers to groups and organizations that are outside the main body of the political system (Marshall, 1999: 746; Tilly 2008: 29-32) states that the social movements that emerged with the eighteenth century were carried out as interactive campaigns by overcoming individual initiatives, and discussed social movements as a process that unites three different areas in the context of identity and stance, which includes the necessity of the movement on the one hand, and the necessity of the movement on the other. In general, social movements can spread through modeling, cooperation and communication channels. John Markoff (1996: 45) explains this situation in its most general form as follows:
“The social movements we know today began to sprout in England in the late 18th century and took root in Europe, North America and elsewhere in the 19th century. To understand why, we must consider many interrelated changes: strong government but weak king, people organized to claim government rights, political elites claiming to rule in the name of the people, developments in trade and transportation that connect people from far away, people living in the same places. new mass media and widespread literacy that combine it with a shared sense of action.” (As cited in Tilly, 2008: 25)
Key Terms in this Chapter
New Communication Technologies: The communication means for the simultaneous and multistrata interaction of the communication process that is based on the digital coding system.
Social Movement: It is a set of collective actions that seek to accelerate, prevent or reverse social change.
Technology: All tools and the knowledge related to them that is developed by man to control and transform his material environment.
Internet: A world-wide, continuously expanding communication network that consists of many computer systems linked together.
Social media: Web-based developments that bring in sociality to the media that is developed by the integration of technology and communication.