Guest speaker Sarah Worley

Last class Sarah Worley a communications professor at Juniata came to our class to talk to us about the use of technology in the pursuite of social change and non-violence practices. One of the first points she touched on was that of the Digital resistance. She said that is was a movement that uses digital technology as a form of protest by ecploiting infromation as a medium. I found this really intersting because it raises so many question about the "virtual" world and whether or not what goes on "on line" counts as non-violence.
For example does a vietual march count and a protest march? How many people do you need for it to be effected because it is online and it is harder to see the vast number of supporters. Also brought to my mind is whether not it can be as effective as the non-violent practices we had been talking about in class.
When I was comparing the differences and similarities in the movements, it really only came down the the fact that one was on line and the other was off line. Yes, there are obvious differnces, however both take coordination and organization. Both types of movements take skill a cause and people who support that goal. Also for both on line and off line protests and acts of non-violence there are people who are in the opposition.
The world that we are living in today is taking such a mondern turn, everything is run by technology and is electronically based, for example our very own college stopped printing bills it only uses "ebills" now which can only be accessed from and online account. This increase in the use of technology leads me to the conclusion that on line or virtual protests can be just as effective as off line protests.