Examining online and offline community perceptions of social media activism in Zimbabwe: a case of a Facebook campaign against ‘child sex work’ in Epworth, Zimbabwe.
Loading...
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Zimbabwean activism is migrating from physical activism to new media platforms. Noting
these changes, this research seeks to investigate the perceptions of the online audience as well
as local offline communities on the use of social media as a platform for activism, using Doubt
Chimonyo’s Facebook campaign against child sex work in the high-density community of
Epworth (Zimbabwe). Social media activism scholarship tends to prioritise seminal case
studies such as the Arab Spring, while leaving out relatively small-scale case studies that show
contextualised social media practices at the local level.
However, there are multiple factors that pose as challenges for the Zimbabwean populace to
fully utilise social media. These include the digital divide and retrogressive laws stifling social
media use. In the context of this study the extreme poverty in Epworth is attributed as a main
driver of child sex work in the area. Scholars have noted that efforts by both government and
NGOs to curb the practice are not producing desired results. Consequently, social media
activism attempts to fill the gap as exemplified by the Facebook campaign under study. This
study contributes to the understanding of the perception of social media activism within the
complex specificities a high-density community within Zimbabwe. More specifically it
presents findings on, 1.) the principles and practice that constitute someone as a social media
activist, 2.) the ways in which Facebook, as a participatory platform, mediates activism in
Epworth (Zimbabwe), and 3.) if/how social media activism resonates with online and offline
communities, using Chimonyo’s campaign as a case study. These findings are analysed in
relation to Henry Jenkins (2006) theory of participatory culture.
Data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions, comments from the online
audience in response to the videos presented on Facebook, and literature from key scholars.
Two focus group discussions were conducted with a sample of Epworth community members
in order to gain an understanding of their perception on the campaign against child sex work.
A semi-structured interview was conducted with Doubt Chimonyo as the creator of the
campaign against child sex work with the purpose of establishing the preferred reading of the
campaign in order to draw comparisons with the Epworth and online responses. In comparison to other online campaigns discussed in this study, such as #Thisflag campaign
(2016), #ZimbabweanLivesMatter (2020) this study concludes that political campaigns have
more potential to create resonance offline unlike social campaigns such as the campaign against
child sex work. Considering that the campaign set out to involve the Epworth adult community
in finding solutions to curb child sex work in the area, the choice of an online platform is
questionable as it effectively excluded the Epworth audience thereby rendering this particular
campaign not successful.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.