A new year means new beginnings in many ways. A few weeks ago we asked you about your predictions on digital activism trends for 2012. Below are the winners of our contest who will be receiving a Flip UltraHD Video Camera.
“I think citizen journalism will begin to be seen as just as valuable and legitimate as mainstream journalism in the new year. When you look at all the movements from [the previous] year like Occupy and Arab Spring, much of the news was coming from protesters reporting from the ground with pictures and Tweets. If it weren’t for the brave protesters in Syria recording the atrocities being committed by the government on YouTube, nobody would know what was really happening there. I can see more professional journalists wanting to collaborate with citizen journalists on reporting stories.”
– Anjula Bhratt, Bangalore, India
“I am exciting about the growth of mobile technology and how it can help those of us in the developing world. I have seen how mobile entrepreneurship has really taken off in my community, and online business in the developing world will only grow in 2012. It is so easy for anyone to start their own business today with the lowered barriers for selling products and services. For the past year I have been thinking about starting my own pocketbook business, and after doing the research, I realized how easy and inexpensive it would be to manage my website, social media and online purchases. I will be officially starting my business later this year!”
– Lelia Rye, Paramaribo, Suriname
“I think more collaboration will happen in 2012, thanks to tools like cloud computing. I use a lot of Google products like Gmail and Google Docs and Drop Box to collaborate with other activists in my local community. But the recent global movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Egypt protests have made me think out loud why can’t activists worldwide collaborate more in the cloud on the same issues more often. We can organize our own movements without the help of already established NGOs.”
-Fikru Abate, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
“The digital divide will become smaller in the new year. I am excited about the development of tablet devices like the Aakash. These tools make technology more accessible to everyone. I am excited about the new developments in bringing this technology to Africa and Asia and young students being exposed to ideas they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. I would like to see that world governments see the investment in supporting more mobile devices for our youth. People need to understand that a digitally literate world is a better world for everyone.”
– Hugo Batko, Kiev, Ukraine
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