Effects of Social Media Culture in Venezuelan political and civic engagement

In recent times, civic and political interactions through social media have become powerful and influential. These phenomena, is not only happening in the United States and Western nations, but also in less developed regions of the world like Latin America. Among Latin America, a country that has an intense use of social media for political purposes is Venezuela. Having said, what effects is the social media culture having in the Venezuelan political and civic engagement?

It has been widely discussed around the United States and other Western countries, the effects that political and civic interaction in digital media, can have in the political scenario of a given nation. Investigations has proven that in recent times the forms of political participation and civic engagement, are drastically changing, especially for younger segments of the public. The rise of the digital media age has a direct impact that explains this reality. However, when we think of the influence that the digital and social media culture may have in a given political atmosphere, we do not usually consider that this may also cause an effect in countries in which most of the population does not have a regular access to technology. The Latin-American region is full of examples that support this theory. The Yo Soy 132 movement in Mexico, and social mobilizations of Mayan groups in Guatemala, are some examples of this. It is arguable, that segments of the population are interacting with social media for political purposes because they feel like their voice is not being heard in traditional mediums. Among the Latin American countries, one that exemplifies the massive use of social media for political purposes, and that has caused effect in the political atmosphere of that nation, is Venezuela. To understand the case of Venezuela, and the effects that social media culture is having in their political participation and civic engagement, we must first define these two concepts.

Authors have different definitions, and through the years many have defined voting as the principle act of political participation. However, a concept like political participation should not be resumed to a single action. Scholars, Gisela Delfino and Elena Zubieta, argue that all forms of collective actions are political actions; therefore, political participation includes different forms of collective participation and actions (Delfino, Zubieta, 213, 2010). The authors also explain that these collective actions, include all forms of collective actions, even violent demonstrations (Delfino, Zubieta, 213, 2010). Delfino and Zubieta do not categorize them as valid actions, but do believe they should be considered political participation, because, it is aiming to affect the function of the government (Delfino, Zubieta, 214, 2010). In general, the authors define political participation as all the forms of collective action that seek to make a change in the functions of the state, this also includes violent actions (Delfino, Zubieta, 214, 2010).

Civic engagement or civic participation has a different definition. According to Joakim Ekman and Erik Amna, the concept of civic engagement does not have a clear consensus among academics. However, they develop a new typology to explain this concept and argue that civic engagement refers to all type of activities that are possible inside the civil domain of citizens (Amna, Ekman, 296, 2012). Moreover, the scholars claim that civic engagement includes different and collective actions (Amna, Ekman, 291, 2012). Some of these actions go from simply having a personal interest in politics to even organizing a manifestation (Amna, Ekman, 292, 2012). Along the entire paper, the academics point out the declining forms of traditional civic and engagement and the fact that it is changing.

So, why are the forms of traditional civic and political interaction changing? Many believe that it is due to the rise of the digital age, and that this intense political interaction in social media, by some segments of the public, could be having direct political and civic effects in a given society.

Some authors like Karolina Koc-Michalska, Darren Lilleker, and Thierry Vedel, expose that the digital age is providing an entire outlet where people are expressing political and civic interactions (Koc-Michalska, Lilleker, Vedel, 1, 2015). Although they claim, that traditional forms of civic and political engagement such as demonstrating, contacting representatives, and joining political organizations, remain as a vital aspect of the system of government (Koc-Michalska, Lilleker, Vedel, 1, 2015), they also believe that these new forms of interaction are different and do have the power to cause an effect. To mention an example, the scholars mention the case of the 2008 and 2012 campaigns of Barack Obama. Authors suggest, that the engagement that the candidate/president had with different forms of communication lead the example of how to positively engage with these medium (Koc-Michalska, Lilleker, Vedel, 1, 2015).

Moreover, Bruce Bimber goes further in his analysis and suggests that the internet, and the digital media is a context, just as in person interactions is also a context. Being digital media a context, it is therefore, a political context where people, using technological tools, engage in civic and political interactions (Bimber, 3, 2016). However, digital media is a new context in the world, this makes the messages that millions of people are receiving to be different. Because of this, the effects in this medium have a different reaction than through traditional mediums, according to Bimber. Nevertheless, the author does not deny and even affirms that the civic and political engagement through digital media has the elements to cause an effect in society.

The arguments and definitions made by all the authors mentioned before are very valid and create a clear path to understand these concepts. However, most of the scholars cited, have a point of view that is very connected with the American and Western context in general. Although valid, this point of view should not be considered an absolute because it does not analyze different societies and different contexts. For example, a different context can be a large region of the world in which most of its citizens do not have a regular access to technology, unlike the United States, and the industrial Western countries. A region of the world that matches these characteristics mentioned, is Latin America, very close to the United States, but significantly less developed and with less access to technological tools. Nonetheless, evidences show that in different areas of Latin America, social media has been used to express political and civic engagement. Segments of the population, in different Latin American countries have turned into social media to express political views because of a sense of lack of recognition in traditional mediums. These expressions have created, mobilized, and organized, different movements across Latin America. The social mobilizations of Mayan groups in Guatemala, and the Yo Soy 132 Movement in Mexico are some examples of this, as mentioned before.

First, authors Karina Garcia-Ruano, Alejandro Pacheco, and Dessiree Suazo, discuss that information and communication technologies had the potential to organize and mobilize socially marginalized groups. The authors use the example of a Mayan socioenvironmental movement, that was against the construction mineral mines in Guatemala, specifically the Marlin Mine in the department of San Marcos. A project that was being developed by the transnational Goldencorp Inc. (Garcia-Ruano, Pacheco, Suazo, 1, 2013). Through different methods and studies of diverse Mayan communities that participated in this movement. The authors concluded that the movement could use the technological tools to create an effective communication toolbox capable of mobilizing the communities. The studies found that the movement used these channels to spread their voice and put their demands in the front line of the country. Using techniques like information sharing, and civic journalism, spread through digital media the message of this movement had a positive effect for their demands. Moreover, these tools also served as ways to strength the network of the community. All of this was possible because their voice had more relevance through these channels than on traditional mediums. Even though these people, face difficulties to access these tools, they proved how to use them for their advantage (Garcia-Ruano, Pacheco, Suazo, 8, 2013).

Another example is the Yo Soy 132 Movement in Mexico and the effects that political and civic manifestations through social media channels had in this specific movement. In this case the subjects are university students. Using social media channels, they showed discomfort for not being taken into account by traditional media and expressed desires of real democracy and freedom of speech. In other words, the democratization of mass media (Candon, 2013). But what exactly happened that initiated the Yo Soy 132 Movement? In May 11th of 2012 at the Universidad Iberoamericana de Ciudad de Mexico, some students protested against the presence of candidate, now president, Enrique Pena Nieto, member of the Partido Revolucionario Industrial (PRI), for his actions as governor of the State of Mexico in 2006. The manifestation went viral through social media. Moreover, protesters also complained about how the traditional media reported the events. Televisa group, the biggest media conglomerate of Mexico, and allegedly close to the PRI, and Enrique Pena Nieto, headlined “Success of Pena despite of attempts of boycott”, to describe the manifestation. Moreover, the protesters were accused of being payed by opponents of the candidate Pena Nieto, to boycott his presence at the university. Following these accusations, 131 students of the Universidad Iberoamerica de Ciudad de Mexico, made a video and a press release explaining their reasons for the protests, showing their credentials as students, and rejecting the coverage by the traditional media of Mexico. Subsequently the hashtag Yo Soy 132 became trending topic in solidarity with the students. The trend also went viral in many different mediums.

After these initial reactions, several marches against Pena Nieto and the media conglomerates, occurred in 30 Mexican cities and extended for several months, even after the presidential election, that eventually choose Pena Nieto as president of Mexico. The difference in the results was tighter than expected in polls, and many suggest that the movement had an effect in this outcome. The movement, also lead to the birth of other movements that also showed interaction and organization through social media (Candon, 2013)

In both of these examples, we have the context of two countries, Mexico, and Guatemala, in which most of the population does not have a regular access to technological tools. In both cases the subjects are different. In Guatemala, is a movement lead by Mayan indigenous groups. In Mexico is a movement lead by University students. What joins these two different cases and subjects together, is the fact that they were capable of using the digital and social media tools to organize and mobilize their movements and put their demands in the front line. In both scenarios, the sense of lack of recognition in traditional mediums, lead to political and civic manifestations trough social media that created an effect in these countries.

Having explained these precedents, why is the case of Venezuelan political and civic engagement is interesting and/or also similar to the mentioned cases? First of all, Venezuela is also a Latin American country, in which most of its population does not have regular access to technology, but this is not the only reason. In the last decades Venezuela has been going through a process of communicative hegemony, that the state exercises through the public and private mass media of the country with few exceptions. Authors Juan Carlos Centeno, and Gerardo Mata, argue that this hegemony is not only political but also cultural, moral, and conceptual (Centeno, Mata, 37, 2016). In other words, this scenario in Venezuela, has a direct effect in the lives of the majority of the population.

With these reality, one of the few windows of independent and uncensored communication in Venezuela, has been and is the use social media. In a nation so politicized as Venezuela, the political and civic expressions through social media are daily, intense, and have proven to cause and effect in that country. In a study related to this topic, Carmen Fernandez discusses the impact and usage of twitter in the Venezuelan political atmosphere as of 2012.

Fernandez, explains that even though less than in other, and more developed areas of the world, internet has the power to penetrate 1 out of 2.5 people in Latin America (Fernandez, 11, 2012). The author also claims, that social media and specifically twitter, is a proven useful tool for politicians (Fernandez, 13, 2012). Going deep into the Venezuelan context, the author uses a graph of the trend in twitter of January 15th of 2012, to show how they were mostly related to politics (Fernandez, 13, 2012). Moreover, author reveals how 18 % of the electorate population in Venezuela is connected and politicized, in contrast with the 15 % that is mediated and politicized (Fernandez, 14, 2012). This stat is significant because it shows that more people are politicized in the internet than in traditional mediums, as of 2011, where the study was done. After conducting a survey, the results showed some interesting statistics. 82 % of the people in the survey claim to follow politicians in office and 60 % claim to follow people who are running for office (Fernandez, 15, 2012). Another very revealing statistic is the fact that 3,3 out 5 surveyed expressed their willingness to answer a call of a politician trough twitter (Fernandez, 18, 2012). Finally, 43 % of the population views the internet as a better and more effective place for political contact in Venezuela (Fernandez, 19, 2012). These numbers, reveal the profound impact that the use of a social media medium like twitter is having the political and civic engagement of Venezuela. Nonetheless, the arguments and results gathered by Carmen Fernandez, give a general overview of the phenomena, but do not reveal how it may have influenced a given event.

To understand how social media could have had an effect in a specific event in Venezuela, authors Lugo-Ocando, Hernandez, and Marchesi, give a productive overview of the 2014 students protests and the role that social media and virality played in it. Before analyzing these protests, it is necessary to give a full picture. After the death of longtime president Hugo Chavez, his successor, Nicolas Maduro, won the election in 2013 by a close margin and with wide accusations of electorate fraud. After this event, the country was heavily polarized and tense. In February of 2014, some opposition leaders of Venezuela, like Leopoldo Lopez, Maria Corina Machado, and Antonio Ledezma, started to promote a movement called La Salida, in clear reference to the government of Maduro. The political leaders were aiming to use the commemoration of the Youth day of February 12th, to join the march that was already called that day for the university students, with the promoted movement of La Salida. The political leaders in general, were trying to show the great discomfort that large segments of the population had against the government of Nicolas Maduro in the streets of Venezuela (La Patilla, 2014). As said before Venezuela has been in a process of censorship and communicative hegemony. Having said, before, February 12th, which marked the first day of these protests that extended for two months, political leaders commonly promoted and transmitted their messages by using social media. It was an effective way of communicating with people due to the lack of coverage of opposition leaders in Venezuela.

Although these tweets date of 2017, the same methods and the same hashtags were used by these political leaders in each of their accounts to promote the movement. Leopoldo Lopez has 5.3 million followers in twitter, Maria Corina Machado has 4.42 million followers in twitter, and Antonio Ledezma has 2.24 million followers in twitter. If you include these numbers, to the tweets of these leaders’ political parties, other politicians, organizations, and citizens in general that supported the movement, the impact is significant in a country with the levels of censorship in private and mass media, as Venezuela. The interactions of the trend, La Salida, the days following February 12th were even higher due to the arrest in February 18th of the main leader of the movement, Leopoldo Lopez. But what exactly happened during and after February 12th and what role or effect did social media play? Authors Lugo-Ocando, Hernandez, and Marchesi, argue that during this movement, social media was used as a collective non-geographical space for a wide imitation of messages. Authors, also claim that the effects in social media were powerful for mobilizing the citizens (Lugo-Ocando, Hernandez, Marchesi, 2015). A clear point breaker during these events was the death of the first protester on February 12th, Bassil Da Costa, in downtown Caracas. The video of him being, shot, and carried, combined with images of his face after the shot, immediately went viral (Lugo-Ocando, Hernandez, Marchesi, 2015).

The image of Bassil, and the message he posted in Facebook previous to the march in February 12th also went viral soon after the event, causing a massive impact in social media. The national protests that initiated that day lasted for about two months. The intense usage of social media during these events, was mainly because of the lack of coverage by the traditional media controlled and censored by the government. Social media, showed significant politicization during these events. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter, were used by many Venezuelans to expose police brutality or dismiss the manipulations of state media that categorize protesters as terrorists, and the movement as seditious. (Lugo-Ocando, Hernandez, Marchesi, 2015).

In summary, during the digital media age, the forms of political interaction and civic engagement, show uncontested signs of change. Gradually, people are showing more political and civic interaction with new mediums available through technological tools, than traditional forms of civic and political engagement. This is not the case only for the United States, and the western industrialized countries, in which most of its citizens have a regular and more frequent access to technology. Evidence has shown, that in regions of the world such as Latin America, in which most of the population does not have a regular access to technology, the social and political interactions in these mediums are intense and have the elements to cause an effect, like the example of the 2014 protests in Venezuela. Moreover, it is arguable that the use of some segments of the population of social media, for political and civic interaction, is due to the state of censorship by the traditional mass media, like the case of Venezuela. So, it is possible to say, that social media serves as a valuable tool for citizenship empowerment. The secret for the future will be to find an adequate way to engage with this powerful technological tool, for the common good.

References

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