Social Media and the 99%
Our generation has the ability to have more of a voice today than ever before.
If you are reading this article there is a good chance you encompass the 99%.
The Occupy Wall Street Campaign is one example of our generation finding its voice.
With the entire world a few mouse clicks away we are more connected than any previous generations. This is how Occupy Wall Street came about, through the spreading of knowledge and information via social media.
What really makes me wonder is how the 99% still manage to have their views suppressed? One only has to look at the unequal distribution of wealth, the poor standard of living for many, whilst the 1%, a tiny minority, contribute nothing and live to excess, the underpaid and under-appreciated professions (nursing and teaching to name a few) are all a product of the 99% not speaking up and pushing for change.
Robert W. McChesney is an American professor. His work concentrates on the political economy of communication. He states that the global media market is dominated by only nine transnational corporations; General Electric, Liberty Media, Disney, AOL Time Warner, Sony, News Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi Universal, and Bertelsmann.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media_control_propaganda/GlobalMediaGlobalControl.html
The problem with these nine corporations owning the mass media, boils down to the fact that we, the people, get spoon food by the elite, the 1% if you will.
Control of the mass media equals power. The majority are heavily influenced by the mass media.
Some of you may remember a news piece recently. Sergeant Bales, an American soldier in Afghanistan, went on a murderous rampage, killing 16 Afghani’s.
The original reaction was one of shock and disgust, however over time it seemed that the mainstream media began to paint Sergeant Bales as a victim rather than a murderer.
“I just can’t believe Bob’s the guy who did this,” said Paul Wohlberg, a next-door neighbour who said his family was friends with the Bales. “A good guy got put in the wrong place at the wrong time … I never thought something like this would happen to him.”
The American military almost instantly began to paint Sergeant Bales as a victim due to their interest in the military campaign that is still ongoing in Afghanistan.
I did a little research and thought I would try and gauge the Eastern reaction to the murders. Whilst I did find an article on www.shahamat-english.com, which painted a picture of the anger and anguish of the Afghani citizens and relatives of the victims, when I tried to read further into the matter, following a link to the Taliban’s website I couldn’t access it.
This is just one example of media censorship. The 99% is fed exactly what the elite thinks we should be. We can change this through increased support of independent news and increased input and voice through the many forms of social media available to us.
Social Media is such a powerful tool for change. Use it! We don’t want future generations to look back upon the mark we left and shake their heads. So much power for change yet so little done.
