Where?
What did I do?
My action for the incubator program was to somehow inspire people to become more active in the community (or visit the actnow site). I decided to make a video that raised awareness about social issues with some very negative images, then contrast them with positive pictures of people making a difference, and enjoying it.
My Action
Collecting images and making the videos was probably the easy part of my task. Getting people to actually watch it was the real challenge. 10 years ago, getting heaps of people to watch a video you've made would be impossible, unless it was on funniest home videos. However, being in the "internet age" - my mission to reach a wide audience was made a whole lot easier. Through actnow, youtube, facebook, myspace and google, I was able to connect with people from all over the world.
Feedback for the clip was amazing! Friends, family, uni/work mates and complete strangers enjoyed it and many asked me how they could get more involved. This gave me the opportunity to tell them about actnow in more detail and refer them to the beautiful website!
My Reflection
My action showed me how powerful the internet can be. Some people have said "activism" has declined in general over the past decade. I personally think that with the internet and the increased panic about the global crisis, activism may surge again, in particular,
online activism.
I believe the internet is a powerful tool because it has the potential to connect thousands of people from all corners of the earth. The internet has made is so much easier to learn about issues and find out about action opportunities. The internet has made "making a difference" so effortless.
To everyone who reads this (I know you have access to the internet...unless someone prints this off and shows you, but I doubt it...), I encourage you to help raise awareness about social issues through the net. It can be something small like joining a "causes" facebook group (I think it's actually pretty trendy to be passionate about issues). Making a difference starts with a small step.
After completing my action and getting such a great response, I feel motivated to continue doing bigger and better things. I think this action has, for me, 'got the ball rolling'...
"You cannot plough a field by
turning it over in your mind."
Below: the video =)
This work is licenced under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.
© 2008. First published on actnow.com.au
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