Motivation to be an activist, virtually and physically (WK4)

If self-narrative is something that is not invented, and rather something that encodes a way of seeing, being and knowing, then does the truth of our self really matter if it adds motivation to the movement of change?

The fact that a Care2 user could have never gone to a rally, volunteered, or even ever started a petition doesn’t change the fact that (at least virtually) they ‘stood up’ and joined in with the voice calling that ‘x’ social issue needs to be changed. Many people on Care2 I’m sure don’t even look at their profiles, or aren’t actively involved with the online community (like I was until a couple of weeks ago), but does that mean that their incorrect profile details change the power of their voice? I don’t think it does.

Chatwin states that, “Aboriginals could not believe the country existed until they could see and sing it – just as, in the Dreamtime, the country had not existed until the Ancestors sang it.” (Chatwin 1987, Pg  14) This belief that Chatwin is talking about, the idea of creating connection through songlines, can be applied to the virtual world of Care2.  Knowing that the website’s aim is to empower, encourage and motivate change, we can understand how it’s virtual platform can inspire and inform those unaware of the great power of uniting and creating change as a huge online community. Because lets face it, most people don’t think change can happen until they see it, “Seeing is believing” remember.

In the reading, ‘There is no ‘i’ in Network’, McNeill states, “… suggesting close connections between “real” and “virtual” selves, questions of what identity entails online have implications for rethinking the limits of the human in and through auto/biographical practices.” (McNeill 2012, Pg 102) Which raises the notion that perhaps constructing our virtual identity motivates us to make our physical one better. Maybe just the process of seeing other people online, fighting for a cause, rallying for social justice, is enough encouragement for us to join in. Engaging in online discussions about current social issues can inspire us to get off the computer and actively do something about it.  

Fighting for social justice can be contagious, and maybe just like the Dreaming we are given “a ‘drive’ to try to ‘make sense’ out of human experience and to find some ‘principle’ in the whole human situation” (Stanner 1953, Pg 23). That is, by understanding the drive behind those social activist out there, reading about their passions, being informed about their causes, understanding those who have seen injustice, places like Care2 can begin to reinstate that principal of justice, one petition at a time. 

References

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd.  Pg  14

James, Franke (2011). [Image] Retrieved from:
http://www.frankejames.com/images/32_care2petition564.png

McNeill, L.(2012). There Is No "I" in Network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. Biography 35(1), 65-82. University of Hawai'i Press. Pg 102

Stanner W. E. H. (1953). White man got no dreaming: The Dreaming. Canberra, Australia: National Library of Australia. Pg 23

- Jes Meacham