WikiLeaks and Social Media vs Government Corruption

“Wikileaks is a global, not-for-proft organisation which publishes secret information, classified media and news leaks from anonymous sources” (The Bear Essential 2013).

WikiLeaks might be defined as a secret spilling website, but at the end of the day the information that they’re sharing is the truth. When I was little, my mum used to tell me the old Chinese proverb “if you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it”. Perhaps the corrupt government and corporations could take heed of my mum’s advice and either fess up to their actions or stop doing what they don’t want the world to find out altogether.

Surely back in the day such confidential government information was shared between colleagues over knock off drinks, or with wives over the dinner table long before the creation of WikiLeaks. Anyone could have spilled the confidential information, but it’s likely that the traditional media would have opted against publishing content challenging the government or large organisations. The difference now is that the Internet has provided a platform for the rapid dissemination of the secret information, and the act of dropping the monkey off your back is now deemed as illegal whistleblowing, terrorism or ‘hacktivism’. 

The government and corporations can no longer hide behind the bullet proof vest of traditional media, and it’s time for them to face up to the skeletons in their closets. Although the information shared by WikiLeaks is illegally obtained, I find it hard to view Julian Assange and his colleagues as anything other than a team of passionate ‘hacktivists’. Ultimately I’m of the belief that they’re using their technological skills to bring to light and combat the issues of both government and corporate corruption.

I think it’s fair to assume that what we read in the media owned by large corporations is not always the whole truth, and can often portray a biased viewpoint of news and events (The Bear Essential 2013). With this in mind, the knowledge that exact, unbiased, transparent information is available through a source such as WikiLeaks is quite refreshing. Additionally, social media is the fastest spreading news source on the planet (The Bear Essential 2013), and provides a platform for honest accounts of exactly what happened, without the usual corporate spin. The news information available at our fingertips through both WikiLeaks and social media platforms is opening the world up to a far more honest, un-corrupted account of breaking events.

WikiLeaks is a prime example of Jenkins’ participatory culture, as the team behind the dissemination and publishing of sensitive material are using technology to act as ‘prosumers’ – people who both produce, contribute and consume online content (The Bear Essential 2013). I would be interested to discover what Jenkins truly thought of WikiLeaks however, as I cant imagine he would be in full favour of the illegal activity.

Reference:

The Bear Essential 2013, ‘WikiLeaks and Social Media – A Tool for Anti-Corruption’, The Bear Essential, 23 April 2013, viewed 18 January 2014, <http://thebearessential.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/wikileaks-and-social-media-a-tool-for-anti-corruption/>.

#politics

I’m embarrassed to admit that I honestly don’t know the first thing about politics.

Nothing.

Nada.

And I bet that many of my Gen-Y peers are much the same too.

I’m of the opinion that the younger generation doesn’t value the importance of politics. Perhaps it’s too convoluted for our short attention spans to grasp.

Based on this generalisation, I’m not surprised to see political campaigns and messages shifting towards social media platforms based on a number of reasons. First, political speeches and debates are often lengthy, full of political jargon and challenging to comprehend for people with little political understanding. Summing up a campaign message in 140 characters on Twitter is a sure-fire strategy to communicate a clear, succinct message to the masses. Second, in Australia there are over 12 million Facebook users, over 2 million Twitterers, over 1 million Instagram users, and YouTube receives more than 11 million unique visits each month (Godfrey 2013). Australians are all over social media. We know how to use it, it’s easy and it’s fun. So, given learning about politics is the exact opposite – complex and boring (in my opinion) – social media seems like a much more stomach-able approach for us Gen-Yers.

It’s clear that Obama’s successful campaign for office perfected the convergence of old and new media, with the inclusion of user-generated content, social media, game-based ads and the overall use of digital media (Jenkins 2014). Jenkins questioned whether the social media presence would come to an end after the election (Jenkins 2014), but it’s pretty apparent that Obama isn’t going anywhere. He is the 4^th most followed person on Twitter after all.

Source: Brunker 2013

After the election, it seems as though social media is a great platform to keep the political conversation flowing with what Jenkins would deem as participatory culture. Social media would easily provide an open forum for the leaders of tomorrow to conduct national discussions about the main issues faced by the country (Jenkins 2014). Encouraging Gen-Yers to join the conversation, hold a political opinion and become actively involved with politics through social media platforms is imperative, as we need to know what is happening in our country, and social media makes it easier to learn.

That said… It makes me wonder where politicians will draw the line though, and to what extent the use of social media is actually appropriate. Politicians are people chasing our respect, support and trust at the end of the day, therefore a social media no-no could lead to all sorts of implications.

I wonder if Kevin Rudd’s cringe-worthy Tweet could have had anything to do with the loss of the 2013 election… 

Source: Leys 2013

References:

Brunker 2013, “Yew we can!”, Sunday World.com, 18 December 2013, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/columnists/amanda-brunker/yew-we-can>

Godfrey 2013, “Facebook checked by 9 million Australians every day”, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August 2013, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/facebook-checked-by-9-million-australians-every-day-20130820-2s7wo.html>

Jenkins 2014, ‘Obama the candidate for all platforms, November 13 2008, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://henryjenkins.org/2008/11/whew_i_am_still_trying.html>

Leys 2013, “Kevin Rudd – selfie-obsessed PM misses the mark”, The Australian, 10 August 2013, viewed 7 January 2014, <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/kevin-rudd-selfie-obsessed-pm-misses-the-mark/story-e6frg996-1226694575617#>