The Role of Social Media in Social Activism of Kurds of Iran

Digital activism refers to the use of digital mobile technologies and Internet-based devices for political and social change. In the struggle to change the world, social activists have embraced new communication technologies. Since 1990s, debates about Internet activism and how new media have been used by social movements have increased. From the Zapatista movement in 1994 and the WTO demonstrations in 1999 to the Arab Spring and the global occupation movement in 2011, the Internet has proven its role in mobilizing, organizing, informing and communicating internationally to protest. The main purpose of this article is to study the social activism of Iranian Kurds in cyberspace. The data of the present study were collected by means of a combination of virtual ethnography and in-depth interviews. According to the findings, the main benefits of the Internet and social media for Kurdish activists include the use of social networks to express ethnic identity, the use of the Kurdish language by Iranian Kurds, the use of the Internet as an alternative media, and intra-ethnic communication with Kurds in other countries. According to cyberspace activists, there are disadvantages such as their lack of the skill necessory for making use of cyberspace, spread of slacktivical activities, and being illiterate in respect to mother tongue.