There is a real dark side to social
media that needs to be considered, as in many cases we are always focusing on
the virtues of it. Extremist groups are among the many different types of
groups that are utilising social media to spread and disseminate their ideas
and knowledge. According to Gardener, extremism is a “dogmatic intolerance, expressed mildly or
violently, and inclines toward an inflexible obedience to an accepted
authority, shaped by a common ideology or sense of group unity” (gardener, 1997).
Increasingly, this idea of extremism is being carried out over platforms such
as Facebook and blogging, and it’s interesting to note that groups such as
these were some of the first to use these networks by utilising early internet bulletin
boards.
Extremist groups, with the use of social media now have the capability
to reach different and existing audiences. The internet allows these groups to
gain a new kind of following and recruit new members over these networks. Not
only can these groups communicate with people in their own areas, but also
overseas, where new societies are being made aware of these groups and of their
ideology. Without social media ideas would not be able to spread on such a mass
scale so quickly and so easily.
Networks such as Facebook are being used by extremist groups and hate
groups to spread their ideas. The use of a page, where any Facebook user can ‘like’,
enables anyone to post an idea or image and creating a following. YouTube is
also used by groups to create ‘how to videos’ where anything from how to make a
bomb to mobile detonators can be found. As well as this, YouTube is full of
hate groups towards Politian’s and political groups, where videos are created
mocking particular person or group are often seen.
Again Rheingold’s view of a virtual community can be considered when discussing
this topic. The utopian discusses how social networking has enabled the
formation of ‘virtual communities’ where people can interact over message boards,
Facebook and twitter, in turn creating a sense of a community online. Much the
same as Rheingold’s view, extremist groups have the capability to form virtual
communities around their ideologies. Online hate communities could also been
seen as a virtual community and are able to spread their propaganda to others
within that community.
With more and more people joining these social networks every day and as
well as in increase in internet capabilities, the future of extremist groups
and hate groups influence needs to be considered. It’s more than likely that in
the near future these groups will be able to gain more influence and countries
that have limited access to the internet now, will be able to access it more easily
with new technologies. Another major
problem relates to the government and those actions that they will take to stop
or influence these groups. Government control leads to human’s right to free
speech being damaged, but it can also be positive as it will stop potential threats
to human lives. In terms of these social
networking pages shutting down these threats, the relationship with users and
those who control the pages will also become a problem and according to With governments keen to cut them off, the social-media
platforms will have to make the hard decisions of where to draw the line.”
(Kjuka, 2013).
The future of social media and extremist groups is both ambiguous and unpredictable.
Farrell C, 2013, LSM208, Lecture 10 eExtreamists, Swinburne University of Technology, 15th of May 2013, viewed 27th of May 2013
<http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/02/when-terrorists-take-to-social-media/273321/>
http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2011/02/26/racist-groups-online-off-what-the-research-tells-us/splc-hate-groups-chart-2010-3/
http://www.inspiringblogger.com/2012/12/blog-like-star.html
http://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-13-arabs-urged-to-use-social-media-to-fight-extremism
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