Tag: Issue 4

2011: Blogs, protest groups, online petitions, e-campaigns and e-activism are all the rage.

One of the earliest successful examples of internet activism was the class struggle in the early nineties by the indigenous EZLN Zapatista movement in Mexico. For an indigenous group, comprised of mainly of farmers from a low socio-economic status, internet communication in the nineties, let alone internet activism, was a foreign concept.  But, by aligning with social movements across the world, the Zapatistas became the symbol of a collective identity rooted in opposition to privatized and individualised capitalist endeavours.  The outstanding response that this rebellion generated was outstanding can be attributed both to the gravity of the issue and the manner in which it was communicated.

Though the face of the internet has greatly changed, the role of the internet in activism then and now is to circulate information and provide a space for the participation of a global audience. From piracy culture to terrorism, the internet has seen an aggressive evolution in virtual vices too. However, with its infinite expansion in cyberspace, the internet has shrunk the world into one robust information village. Bryan Appleyard once said that ”unlimited and uncensorable flows of information would spread democracy and undermine tyranny’. Since media has always been a key element to activism, the internet, as the biggest medium for communication today, is transcending the boundaries of traditional means of activism.

On the other hand, has internet just changed the face of media and not the cause and enthusiasm of the activists? Does internet just put together an army of people set to make a change or does it create a comfort zone where people join in because one: it is free, two: it is hip and three: everyone else is into it? Perhaps it adds a little colour and a little risk to your personal life or, simply it could be something just to add to your profile. Has crowd-sourcing enforced shallow and mostly random opinions on topics that require serious thought? Has the internet induced a bigger participation space at the expense of authentic activism? Even if it has, isn’t that what was expected of internet activism in the first place?

Social networking is getting all the more global. Technology has changed the essence of our social being and interaction with the booming rise of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Accessing people is as easy as accessing information. A number of activist organizations thrive on networking online- many a times simply through Facebook.

A protest is just ‘creating an event’ away and a petition is just ‘creating a page away’. But, the question is whether it is delivering.

Early June this year, Nepal Unites, a group on Facebook organized a peaceful protest in Kathmandu against the delay of the constitution writing. In a month and a half, the group and its cause had generated over 6500 ‘likes’. The group that constituted many known faces of Kathmandu city gathered in front of the Constituent Assembly with placards and the flag of Nepal. However, Nepal Unites has been criticized for being elitist in nature and looking through rose-tinted glasses at the number of people ‘Attending’ events as opposed to the number of people who actually turn up. Late July, Come on Youth, Stand Up put up a protest against the political deadlock as did The Red Revolution in early August in Basantapur, Kathmandu. It was Facebook that drew them together.

Unfortunately for them and us, the protests did not always manifest with the same enthusiastic gusto as portrayed online in the lead up to the event. They drew much attention, often save that of those whom the protests were directed at. It seems political activism (and sometimes the not political too) in Kathmandu is perhaps in need of deep thinking before gathering in a rush. The internet- an easy tool at our disposal is encouraging the latter as much as it is repressing the former.

The Saffron Revolution of 2007 in Burma collected 440,000 members on Facebook. The wall was then so crowded with useless and sometimes pointless posts that it became too easy to miss out a key point, message or an important event. Most of the members were assuredly, not committed or even serious activists. The group then, to retain its ingenuity of cause, moved the ‘serious’ activists to the website. The activism there has become more organized and effective. Also Facebook and MySpace have an application, most of us are aware, known as Causes created by Project Agape to use the networking towards philanthropic causes. The application has been known to raise a lot of support if not a lot of funds for different causes. The arrest of James Karl Buck by the Egyptian police was revealed by the American student himself through twitter. Last year, we voted Anuradha Koirala to be awarded the CNN Hero of the Year. People were encouraged to vote for her by her supporters through Facebook.

If internet were tangible- it would be made of rubber since it is so user-dependent. The point here is that web activism is not a failure, not at all. In fact, it is the biggest platform for dynamic activism to ever take place- only, the focus seems to have drifted from the cause that beats inside it to the limbs that pull it off. There are countless websites and forums for democracy, environmental, women, animals and homosexuality activism etc. that maintain blogs, debates and information exchange today. Digital activism should now synergize its abilities of speed, reach and cost towards improved efficiency and ethics.

Two essential words:
Communication and Interaction.
What do they signify?

— Pranjal Poudel

Perahaps it would be wiser to rewind the historical clock. To, well, the past. During all of time, the aforementioned two words have been the cornerstone of societies. Yes, there are other physical factors as well, but take a moment to sit back and think about it. Where would we be without either communication or interaction? Look at all the people around you, people you know. Then think about something else: words. We think in words, we talk in words, we express ourselves in words. It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that without words, we are next to helpless. Without words, without any universal means of communication and interaction, what we call a society wouldn’t exist. Of course, it’s all hypothetical, but that does not mean it cannot be true. Imagine a world without words. The thought that we can’t communicate with others. Or share our thoughts. At this point, you should really be thinking. Making use of that thing called imagination. Thinking in images. In words. Creating a virtual scenario within the confines of the brain.

Needless to say, communication and interaction have been continually evolving. A chronological listing seems appropriate. From the use of inanimate objects and gestures, we moved on to simple sounds and symbols. Although the order may vary, the meanings surely are the same. Onto more complex sounds and symbols. It was probably at this point that the alphabet came into being. The problem of communication seemed to be solved.

However, with expanding civilizations came the need for communication over longer distances. Along came the letter. Delivered by hand or pigeon and extremely slow. This went on for quite some time. Then came cable’¦

Time to cut out the foreplay. Enter the world of social networking. Gone are the days of the telegraph and email (partially, at least). This is the time of Facebook, Twitter, and more recently, Google Plus. And let’s not forget the et cetera at the end. No example is complete without an ‘et cetera’.  Based on guesswork, the primary role of social networking is communication over long distances. In this increasingly digitized world, we have witnessed the digitisation of words, images and sounds which, in turn, has been succeeded by the digitisation of complex combinations of the same things. Our world is shifting more and more from the physical realm to the digital realm.

This shift has brought about a lot of changes. Not least in communication and interaction. Since the initial purpose of social networking was communication, it comes as no surprise that usage is very high.  In Nepal it seems that Facebook is the most commonly used social networking site. Of course, this only applies to those who have internet access, which is roughly 2 percent of the population. Nevertheless, when you meet somebody new, and want to keep in touch, rather than phone numbers or email addresses being exchanged, it’s adding each other as ‘friends’ on Facebook. Something I have noticed, and I’m sure most of you have as well, is that interactions these days are mostly online. Ask somebody if he/she knows a certain person, the reply you get will be along these lines: I haven’t met him/her in person, but we are friends on Facebook. The whole concept of friendship has been distorted by social networking. Of course, it could be just as likely that notions of friendship have simply been redefined. Your call. Anyway, you can add almost any person as a friend, regardless of whether you know them or not. There are no boundaries, no limitations.

Ease of use is probably another reason why online interactions are so prevalent these days. You can talk to people from the comfort of your home, or any other desired place. Simultaneous interactions are another advantage. You can sound however you would like to sound. If you want to use some big words, you just have to open another tab on your browser and use a thesaurus. If you want to keep it simple, you have your brain.

That aside, I shall proceed to mention an interesting thing. On one hand, you have who you are. On the other, you have your virtual identity. What social networking has done is that it has created a new, digital world. Where you have a digital identity. There are no pressures of face-to-face interactions. It’s the world of chat, hellos and his, lols and hahas, brb and gtg. You can interact with anybody you like. And you can be whatever, whoever you want to be. The possibilities are endless. For example, my real name is Pranjal Poudel, and I live in Kathmandu. Nothing is stopping me from being, let’s say, Randall Martin from Johannesburg. I can project myself to be whoever I want.

For most people, social networking seems to be about the popularity thing, vying for likes or comments. Or for that matter, a larger amount of friends. Behind the safety of your screen and with innumerous resources at your disposal, there is almost no barrier. Another trend I’ve noticed is that many people are so different when you interact with them online, and when you actually meet them in real life, they are not what you expected. The extent to which interactions are based online would be well illustrated by the fact that we make friends online, and even start relationships online. And what’s even more fun is that you don’t even know who that person is. You can talk all you want, and if you don’t like that person, you can simple remove him/her. This rarely happens in real life. It seems that one of the reasons behind people resorting to online interactions is the sense of power it gives. You can choose who to talk to, who not to talk to. You can say whatever you want and not have to be answerable to anybody. And as mentioned before, you can be whoever, whatever you like. Not that everybody does it, but the option remains open.

And think again. Without words, where would we be?

 

— Anil Prd. Udaya

We are an open community of civilian-activists (especially youths) that believe in democracy and social justice. We believe that only by responsible action from every member of society shall we achieve a prosperous, progressive and peaceful society and nation. We originally came together to ensure the completion of the ongoing peace process and constitution-drafting as promised to the populace at a time when unaccountability and incompetence of the politicians had been well-established. We are a youth movement for instituting a culture of responsible actions directed towards the healthy survival and progress of society.

 

Our GOALS

1. Accountable and effective governance: A Nepal where the government and the politicians are accountable towards the people satisfying their duties with optimum efficiency.

2. A responsible citizen: A Nepal where all of us, citizens, act responsibly and fulfill their duties to the society. Each one of us needs to take responsibility for our actions in a democracy. Each one of us should actively voice for a proper progression of the society and therefore of the nation in its entirety.

3. A prosperous, progressive and just society: A Nepal where every citizen has right to decide for the regime to live under, where every citizen gets an opportunity to work for his/her survival and pursuit of happiness, where every citizen shall be treated equal in the eyes of law and not a single citizen shall be denied or delayed justice.

Our VALUES

This movement voices the frustration of common people, diagnoses the immediate and long-term problems of the nation, searches for their remedies and acts for getting them solved by pressing the responsible organ of society to act on it. We believe that the ultimate change has to come to the person in the mirror. Therefore, we also move to change our own behaviour while also motivating the same in others. We do not believe in perfection but in continuous progressive evolution. This movement is completely independent of political affiliation and donor funding. We raise our funds from the voluntary contributions of individual Nepalis.

 

Current CAMPAIGN

The ongoing campaign tends to demand timely deliverance of the democratic constitution by the CA and conclusion of the peace process by integration of the combatants in the society and provision of post-war justice. The campaign is also intended for pressing the political leadership to deal with the current issues of energy crisis, corruption and passive economy in a responsible fashion.

 

Responding to questions posed by Verse, Anil, truly utilising the medium of social media, posted the questions to members of the Come on Youth Stand Up (CYSU), Facebook page. Here is what the core group and active members had to say:

In what context did Come on Youth Stand Up emerge?

Diwash Pradhan: It was emerged as a frustration of the youth with the current scenario, a inner voice calling ‘It’s too much now, we can’t just sit down, we need to do something’. Our Slogan  – ‘अहिले नगरे कहिले? हामीले नगरे कसले?’ says it all. We joined hands initially to raise our voices for timely constitution.

 

What are the main aims of CYSU?

Udeep Shakya: The aim is to make youths and people to stand up and feel responsibility towards the state and start acting for it. There were about 2000 participants in the ground movement but about 10,000 supported the movement in Facebook. It was sure that they all wanted change but may be most of them don’t know how can they fulfill their responsibility to bring change. Then CYSU became a platform where people share ideas, read the information or comments and try to learn more. There are doers, who makes new friends of common interest and have started small campaigns like Cloth Bank, donating books to libraries and building audio books. These things can be done alone too. There is no need of CYSU. But I believe that this platform has given a slight push to those who came up with these initiatives.

How do you utilise social media?

Diwash Pradhan: Social media is utilised for the purpose to find people with similar views and share ideas and information. We share views, inform about upcoming events, debate and discuss. Different groups with different causes have come up, and we are always there to support them and encourage them.

Why do you choose to communicate in this medium?

Nischhal Pradhan: Social media has been an integral part of life for today’s youths. They pour down all their frustrations and share their happiness via social media. They can express their views regarding any matter because it is often easier for people to write their feelings rather than talking one on one. There are people from all over the country in this media and it has helped us create a sense of awareness and unity across the nation.

Would you consider social media integral to your success and overall campaign strategy?

Diwash Pradhan: Well it’s just the beginning, but a better Nepal is of course a better future for us all, and taking part in these types of campaigns is being responsible. With the popularity of the group we now have to act more accountable. We have hopes.

What do you consider the benefits of social media activism?

Pramod Pandey: social media have a free access, are transparent and most of all we can be in touch with large no of people in short period of time.

What do you consider the limitations of social media activism?

Umesh Ghimire: Social media is limited to only a segment of Nepali society. For a country like Nepal which lacks sufficient infrastructures social media is limited to only a portion of the population. As such activism in rural communities can be deprived of the valuable information being shared in networks of social media. One other limitation of social media activism is the collision of minds of people with varying thoughts. It is always challenging to bring everyone into a specific boundary of thoughts as you never know what kind of people are engaged in the movement.

Do you believe CYSU can really create long term change or just initiate short term protest?

Anil Pratap Adhikari:  We intend this movement to last decades. We’re here for a stable change that not only alters the superficial system but also the mindset of every individual. The rest depends on how successful we become.

What does CYSU hope to achieve?

Udeep Shakya: When all Nepalese people start thinking like a real Nepali, then it will be an achievement for CYSU. ‘Jaba Nepali harule mero pani yo desh tira kartabya chha bhanne kura bujhcha’ tyo huncha CYSU ko main achievement. Making a corrupt leader fall down is not an achievement if there is not another leader (who feels the responsibility towards nation) to take that position.

 

Nepal is not poor. It is just poorly managed. And to manage it better, Nepalis are finally getting a unique kind of help that comes in the form of ‘social media’. This time we citizens have a powerful ally, an amplifier. It is neutral, it is free and, in fact, it is inexhaustible and virtually indestructible. With its help Nepalis are uniting each other with resources, knowledge and action so together we can build a more prosperous Nepal.

So what is social media, you may ask? Simply it is the use of Internet based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialog on a massive scale. In the old days to communicate with someone you had to go to their very door to get their attention. Now we have reached the point where we communicate from our chair and actually open thousands of doors (virtually) at once! Social media holds thousands of attentions simultaneously. It expands our social circles and can strengthen our real life relationships at a much faster scale.

I believe social media may find ways for us Nepalis to finally help unite our citizenry to emerge out of this current state of chaos and into prosperity. Just over a decade ago there were no mobile phones in Nepal. Now, more than one in three carries one. Six years ago, there were no Facebook users in Nepal. Today, there are nearly twelve Lakh Facebook users inside Nepal.  In the next decade, each Nepali will not only be browsing the Internet but they will be doing so through their mobile phones. We will chat, write, talk, and organise events right from our palm of our hands!

A girl in Humla will answer within seconds a maths question posed by another girl in a village in Ilam. How? From this inter-connectivity. An old farmer in Janakpur will access the weather forecast and receive advice from a Facebook group on how to negotiate seeds for a bargain price with a seed bank in China. The seeds will be parceled to his village within a day or two and he would have never met those people who helped make it possible.

With social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, what you say can be seen, heard, and amplified to anyone around the world. That is a potential audience of millions of people. Your ideas can never be cut off from the rest of mankind. Even government services which now take months to contact and receive a response, will be within reach through your mobile. You will be able to track what progress your public officials are making on making your passports or how they are responding to your complaint about poor health service in your local hospital. You can check your local politician’s history and recheck whether they kept their promise or lied, when elections come around. All information will be online; facts and history will be within your reach and shared with many within seconds.

As with such great power comes a great responsibility. I believe we should harness this power so that Nepalis help Nepalis. Already social media is helping us do that.

Did you see photos of Jamuna, a malnourished child in Rukum recently? People created Facebook groups to support her, contributing hundreds of thousands of rupees. She is now on her way to recovery.

A group of friends started the Shanti school project to raise millions and built schools and libraries in Nepali villages. They remain connected to their donors on Facebook. Social media is helping unite us to help those less fortunate than us.

Maggie Doyne, an American working with orphans in Surkhet, manages to get on YouTube and share a video which immediately touches thousands of hearts. She raised enough funds to unite Nepali orphans together to give them a better future.

A Nepali youth, Sagar Prasain recently started building teams through Facebook to make audio books for the visually impaired.

A youth group, Paschim Paila, is launching a petition online for all to pledge for an epidemic free Nepal. Many of you may remember two years back when many hundreds died from a simple and preventable epidemic in western Nepal. This group wants to ensure it does not happen again.

A remote health clinic in Accham called Nyaaya, share their stories on facebook to notify well wishers and donors living seven continents away of the progress, big or small, they are making each week. Aren’t they uniting the less fortunate Nepalis towards a healthier future?

The unorganised here in Nepal are finally organising into platforms, thanks to social media. If you are tired of Bandhs, join an anti-Bandh Facebook group. Same goes for entrepreneurs, consumer rights protection groups, even bike modification groups. Overwhelmingly, Nepalis are working together for a positive change. Nowadays, previously disinterested ‘Facebook’ youths are gathering in huge numbers through social media to talk about holding politicians accountable, and being responsible citizens themselves.

Here are two campaigns that I am involved in that harness the power of social media. First is a citizen’s movement called ‘Nepal Unites’. Second is a blog called ‘Whynepal.com’. They are two of many examples of how social media and activism together has a potential to create positive changes.

परिवर्तनका लागि हामी नेपाली एक popularly known as ‘Nepal unites’, is a citizen’s movement working to unite Nepalis for a positive change. As citizens start becoming responsible ourselves, Nepal Unites believes we can also hold our leaders accountable to their actions. Only through this balance of citizen’s responsibility and leader’s accountability, will Nepal become prosperous.

100 days ago this movement didn’t exist. Today it has over 15,000 members who believe in the cause. It uses YouTube videos (viewed more than 70,000 times) to both disseminate information and inspire people with updates of positive events that are happening in Nepal. This is accessed by people in all corners of the world. As the product of a group of citizens who decided to take action rather than complain, it provides a platform for opportunities not yet used and for Nepali citizens who were previously disinterested to become involved.

Today 1200 youths leave every day to work abroad. 7000 women are trafficked to brothels in India every year. We were once prosperous. We built palaces like Patan Durbar Square long before countries like the United States were born. But how did we end up in such a situation where we now have to take aid from them to renovate these monuments?

The answer is simply we Nepalis now have become extremely divided. We no longer trust each other. That is why we Nepalis have to work together to make our leaders accountable. One of the campaigns of Nepal Unites is to get Nepal’s leaders to show their accountability by making our constitution on time. The campaign simultaneously rallies all citizens to unite responsibly and positively to help the leaders actually achieve this.

Nepal Unites is a forum for Nepalis to lead initiatives themselves. Here, anyone can share their ideas, learn from others, organise events, collectively find better solutions to social problems and rally around each other. By this, Nepal Unites hopes to achieve a just society where responsible citizens walk hand in hand with accountable leaders. To start on your own journey to unite Nepalis, try interacting in their website: facebook.com/nepalunites

Another way to spread knowledge and your cause is through internet blogs. Here is another example of my blog whynepal.com which carries a simple yet powerful vision, ‘Nepal doesn’t need to change. We do.’ My intention here is to provoke Nepalis to:

Act instead of talk

To listen instead of chat

To do instead of complain

Started in September 2007, it is a collection of my experiences, ideas and questions plus other inspiring stories of successful Nepali citizens. I use these to provoke readers into going on their own road to becoming an inspiration themselves. This blog originally started as a way to document my experiences in opening an IT business, but the entrepreneurial content soon evolved into a broader conceptualisation of leadership and management. This then evolved into more thought provoking ideas on change, progress and how to manage conflicts in Nepal. I use social media technologies, like Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, youtube and Google to spread my messages across. And the cool part is all these articles here are free for anyone to use anywhere! Knowledge is meant for sharing. The more one shares, the more one gains. I believe in this.

Whynepal.com provokes each reader into becoming a doer and to inspire leaders to be bold enough to take initiative. It is a style of communication that spreads through social media – as soon as an article is published, thousands will know about it, read it, digest it and then chose to share with another thousands of others. It also provides examples of how we can use social media to jump start citizen activism by thinking out of the box.

I hope you will also start using social media to form networks, platforms, groups to further the cause you are interested in. The world can be your close ally. In the end, remember Nepal doesn’t need to change. We do.