Theorizing Promise and Pitfalls of Social Media and its Implications to Social Justice and Democratization

Theorising social media and social justice requires an understanding of the human condition in late-stage capitalism. This chapter seeks to situate this communicative space that has opened opportunities to most citizens in an economic and political context where most citizens feel disenfranchised. Amidst deep social, economic, and political challenges, most of which have been exacerbated by neoliberal economic policies, there has also been a paradoxical growth and development of communication technologies that provide ordinary citizens with opportunities to not only tell their stories of injustice and triumph, but to organise themselves into social movements that can challenge some of the inequities that characterise late-stage capitalism or surveillance capitalism as Zuboff (The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Public Affairs, 2019) puts it. This chapter seeks to provide theoretical insights that address the contradictions of the human condition where abject material poverty and despair coexist with the latest technologies whether it is fast speed internet, latest smart phone, and the unlimited communicative spaces of social media. The chapter will show that the openness of social media platforms as spaces to engage with issues affecting ordinary citizens allows social justice issues to come to the fore in a manner that would not have been possible prior to the advent of internet. On the other hand, the same openness of social media can also be used by groups and institutions responsible for undermining social justice. These range from repressive authoritarian governments to hate groups. The chapter argues that the use of social media by different groups takes place under conditions of economic precarity that are largely driven by neoliberal economic policies that governments across the globe have been pursuing for more than three decades. The chapter draws on the work of Arendt (The origins of totalitarianism. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1973, 2013) in clarifying the human condition in a global environment that is characterized by rapid growth of inequality, human rights abuses, and unresolved historical traumas that continue to raise social justice issues.