Social media: The last great hope of democracy

When I first joined Facebook three years ago, with the goal of seeing photos of my great-nieces and great-nephews, I never thought I would someday hail social media as the last great hope of democracy, but that's what's happened. I went from looking at adorable photos of the little people in my life (below) to reading about the power of social media to create the Arab Spring.

My great-niece, Alena, sporting a matching cast and boots.

But even then, the real power of social media seemed far away. It wasn't until we entered another election cycle, in which corporations are now seen as people, and stratospherically wealthy individuals can ban together to buy elections, that I really came to appreciate the powerful opportunity social media presents for the "99 percent" to be heard.

We already had a chance to see its power last fall, when Bank of America (BofA), which already boasts $3 billion in annual profits from its debit-card business, was forced to rescind its proposed $5.00 monthly fee on debit card customers who had less than $20,000 with the bank, because of a social-media inspired "Bank Transfer Day." This grass roots movement, begun by one person on her Facebook page, went viral and resulted in BofA abandoning corporate greed rather than risk tarnishing its brand even further and losing customers to credit unions.

 

An ATM that "Occupy" protesters covered with yellow crime-scene tape in

downtown Los Angeles, Oct. 6, 2011, Chris Carlson / AP Photo.


As the 2012 election approaches, social media seems to be the only tool the disenfranchised have to make their views known and they are embracing it with a vengeance. In a world where the masses are steamrollered by the concerns of big business and big government, and a dysfunctional Congress cannot serve the American people who elected it, sites like Facebook and Twitter are cutting through all the noise and giving entrenched interests a run for their money.

When I start to feel hopeless about what has happened to our country, I take heart in the voices of the people I hear so powerfully through social media, and I still feel that democracy has a chance.