Ghetto Digital Native
- Name(s)
- James Mlambo.
- Location
- Harare, Zimbabwe
- Age
- 29
- Profession
- Telecommunication System
Video Proposal
As a digital native living in a developing country, I have carried out a series of both online and offline projects, which have always striven to benefit Zimbabweans in a number of ways since 2000. These projects have greatly increased my interactions with computers. I might say, I got married to a computer in 2000 when I bought my first PC; in a way, my relationship with my computer is intimate. Even though this computer I bought is an old 386 machine made obsolete by the faster Pentium III models, this did not change my love for the computer. My video will focus on a dream-like moment of my digital life.
- Video Genre
- Film and video
Interview
What do you understand by the term Digital Native? Do you consider yourself one?
Being a digital native is a point in time and space when reaching for technology becomes second nature to you. A digital native pushes a step further from using ICT for his personal needs to a level where he or she uses it in a creative way that is beneficial to people near him, the community and society at large. Digital natives transcend socio-economic-geographical boundaries. Even in poor and remote places, a digital native can be seen. Along the glittering streets of Brooklyn, New York, a digital native can be seen working on his IPAD 3 on a climate change app and in the dusty streets of Chipinge, Zimbabwe another one can be seen running an SMS info alert service using old GSM phones.
What sort of an impact do digital natives from developing countries have on society?
Digital natives from developing countries can create an impact with digital activism. However, for it (their campaigns) to have a greater impact, the right technologies and appropriate strategies need to be employed. What works in one country does not necessarily work in another country. Developing countries have different levels of technological advancement. For example, in Zimbabwe, YouTube is not popular because of bandwidth constraints as well as high broadband charges. Very few people watch videos let alone upload videos. As for Twitter, unofficial estimates of resident Zimbabweans on the social media platform are less than 10,000. And most of these are not active accounts. Facebook is the most popular site in Zimbabwe. To reinforce this fact, one ICT commentator once said, “For a lot of people in Zimbabwe, the Internet is synonymous with Facebook”, hence Facebook is the right platform to use for any successful digital activism effort. However the current prosaic “STOP CHILD ABUSE, NO TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE” Facebook campaigns need to be revised, repackaged and redeployed if they are to make significant impact.
How effective are digital activism campaigns in raising awareness about an issue in comparison to street campaigns?
The only time I saw digital activism work is when subscribers to a certain private Zimbabwean telecom company launched a campaign on Facebook egging this telecom company to stop profiteering on call charges as well as to improve their service. This campaign received enormous backing and eventually this telecom company was forced to reduce its charges a little bit.
Are digital natives taking the easy way out by creating Facebook pages to “Save the Environment”, in what critics refer to as ‘clicktivism’?
Digital natives are not taking the easy way out by creating Facebook pages. They are in fact responding digitally to offline problems. People online don’t really know each other. So the focus on likes, clicks and shares is important to gauge whether online activism has got enough support before the issue is taken offline.
A recent example of online activism is the Get Kony video campaign created by US-based NGO Invisible Children. What are your thoughts on the campaign?
I first saw the Get Kony video on France24 before watching it on YouTube. The video is a classic example that erases the widely held view that a digital native is not concerned about social issues and causes. This Kony 2012 video topped more than 84 million views on YouTube alone prompting the African Union to act when it made a statement to the effect that it “plans to deploy 5,000 troops to hunt down Joseph Kony”. In an unprecedented move, the African Union was forced by digital natives to act as a result of views, likes, tweets and shares of a simple 30 minute video highlighting Joseph Kony’s atrocities. For the first time, an African problem did not require special envoys or plenary sessions to get the immediate attention it deserved.
Are we seeing a trend where digital natives are more involved with local (neighborhood) causes than with global issues that are not immediately related to them?
In my country many digital natives identify themselves with global issues rather than local issues. This might be due to the fear of possible persecution if they get involved in local issues. There is a big amount of evidence that suggests so on Facebook. Local Facebook group pages on democracy, human rights etc., have very few members. Even likes or shares on news articles along such themes are few. The fear to get through what Zimbabwean Vikas Mavhudzi went through might be one reason to explain this phenomenon (Read).