Digital Political Literacy? How Three Community-Based Organisations in Inner-City Johannesburg Miss the Mark on Social Media

ABSTRACT

Social media has been highlighted as a tool for social justice organisations to access networks, increase their visibility and thereby increase their power. However, using social media platforms for political ends requires both technical skills and political know-how. Drawing on Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s (1983. Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press) concepts of desire and desiring-machines, this study used participatory action research, ethnographic observation, and content analysis to explore how three community-based organizations in central Johannesburg used social media to further their political aims. The study revealed that low digital political literacy hampered their political impact, notwithstanding access to technical skills, fluent English, and regular data access. Their social media posts noticeably failed to elicit interaction or to build their networks; instead, they experience similar exclusion and inequality as in the offline world.

KEYWORDS:

• political communication
• social media
• community-based organizations
• inner-city Johannesburg

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the Wits University’s School of Governance and North-West University’s School of Philosophy for the fellowships that made this work possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics clearance

Ethics clearance was provided by the Human Research Ethics Committee (non-medical) at the University of Witwatersrand on 14 September 2018. The ethics clearance number is H18/06/29.

Notes

1 Artificial intelligence software deployed to send propaganda messages to create the impression of the message having more support (Grimme et al. 2017; Woolley 2016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by North-West University: [Grant Number Post-Doctoral Fellowship]; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: [Grant Number Life in the City Project].