*A simple thought turned into a blog post… Be ware! 🙂
I love technology and I get so annoyed when fellow activists for any cause talk down about it with things such as “having an iPhone or smartphone is sellling out” because it supports corporations and other humanity issues. Fair enough, I see where they are coming from, however…
If we didn’t use the technologies before us, if we didn’t use smartphones, we shouldn’t use laptops or computers, either. With that, social networking on a huge basis would fall. Social networking gives activists and advocates alike a chance to link together research, share happenings and brutalities live with the world, share and spread information as well as organize events. Obviously, that’s just the tip of that ice berg.
What brought me to this random blog rant is mobility & not wanting to take for granted what I have been blessed with. Sure, there are flaws and I do not believe corporations to be anything positive; however I believe it tobe massively ignorant to turn one’s back to the use of a smartphone for any reason. They help us stay connected, keep us informed and help us inform others in real time. I know people also note that these devices are made by cheap, forced labor, harmful and sometimes fatal. I do not support that, obviouslyz All I am saying is these devices will be here whether people protest or not. Conditions are horrific but why not use that against them? The technology we have should be used as a tool-not rejected because it is corporate or even as horrible as it is, not even due to outsourcing. I am sorry, in my eyes all this ranting over smartphones in particular being something an activist of any sort must “sell out” to use is insanity.
I have been able to keep up with news, blog, tweet & network for a hopefully better future thanks to my smartphone. If the poor & middle class -activists- do not use this important technology it won’t vanish nor will the people who companies source them to. Rich companies alone buy enough to keep these devices alive- why? Because for one, just like with advocacy, networking is KEY. So is keeping up with current affairs related to their company & keeping all employees organized and in close contact while on the go. I truly believe smartphones are vital to helping the world, and again, yes we are paying a rich company to own one; but if you are so against corporations, unless you’ve built your own pc from nothing (a skill we do not all share), you are still feeding a corporate machine!
So why not use what we have to achieve our goals? This sets us apart from past activism. We can be national, global even.
What sparked this random rant was simply me wanting to write a blog (which I will write next as I have already written a mass post) and realizing how lucky we are to have the ability to do so-at home or out and about. That is a gift I do not believe we should give up or ignore- it’s a technological advance which may just be what the people need to finally get heard and make positive change and actions happen.
Ahem. Alright! Rant over, back to writing about the original topic after a nice morning photoshoot! 🙂
Balance=vital.
Truth- A Right to Fight For... 