Pearson - Week 14

he Pearson article is said to examine the changing nature of divisibility activism through the influence of social media. One of the quotes that was significant to me within this article said, “the Paralympics, the anger and sense of betrayal felt by thousands of disabled people, and mostly contained within social network sites and aon blogs, has erupted onto our streets and is refusing to be quiet. (Poulton, 2012)” The internet and social media platforms together have allowed people to get more connected and organized which has served well for the active movement in the physical rather than the digital space. Pearson then goes on to mention the spike in DPAC online activities, and later fell but nonetheless the engagement helped to spread awareness of the organization which I think should be considered a success in its own right. DPAC’s reliance on sources other than print media was an advantage to the movement especially as it existed in the 2010s as tech emerged more ever presently within people’s possession. I thought it was also significant that Williams highlighted the value in ‘speaking out,’ citing that personal stories composed a significant portion of DPAC’S claimants and articles. So from this I think that digital activism permits you to get more personal stories, and create connection points between orgs to amplify the broadness of the issue which is beyond valuable and objectively impactful.

DPAC had a multi faceted strategy which I think was an absolute necessity in today's day in age because there is so much noise to cut through. And the shifts made in the disability movement rightly shows how political activism is changing and disability activism serves as a model of what channels now need to be relied upon to get a more effective yield.