When we think about social movements and the mediums in which it has been historical demonstrated i.e. in forms of people gathering, physical demonstrations, rallies, etc. we know the positive effect those single mediums had and still do. How effective is online presence to social movements? Can social movements exist without conforming to the ideology of virtual mobilization and maintain the same impact? Can one exist without the other (traditional method versus the internet) in today's social movements?
Social movements are defined as 'a type of group action - a large grouping of individuals and/or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change.' Another definition is 'a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals.'
Social movements are now challenged to rethink the definition to include “virtual” in order to facilitate movement/countermovement on the Internet. Although greater financial resources may enable a group to create an online presence through the creation of a website, branding on search engines, advertising on-line, the potential audience and scope of reach is no greater than that of an individual with basic Internet access. Does this social movement now become a marketing strategy to attract followers? Does online social movement evolve to not only a large group of people focused on the achievement of goals, but now also includes how influential 'we' can be to attract people to 'believe' they have the common goal to participate in the cause?
For example, the Obama campaign successful utilized social media and networking to increase the scope of reach of their social movement for 'Change in America'. If someone else were to use the same method, would they achieve the same results? I don't think so. I believe that it is not so much the availability and access to online tools that make online social movement effective, but rather is the way the structure and content of internet media influences the experience of social movements for those who engage with it. The Obama campaign heavily used the fundamentals of social movements taken from his grassroots experience and on-the-ground methods of engaging people.
Online presence can only be effective to social movements for those who have access to it. It creates a social divide that may be contradictory to the purpose of social movements, thus forming limitations to people mobilization. I believe online utilization in social movements is more of a resource, similar to marketing, which is leveraged to communicate to people. Therefore, I disagree with the idea of 'online social movement' as a true concept, because it doesn't exist. Traditional methods of social movements can still exist and thrive in today's technological world without the presence of the internet for the reason that there is no one method to social movements. Online tools in social movements are used as an enabler to market and communicate a movement that already exists on-the-ground with people mobilized affecting change.
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