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Monthly Meet-up of Community Leadership Circles Islamabad Chapter
(Photo Credits: M.Z Productions & Photography) |
It is heart-warming to see many individuals being serious about community development and uplift. Thanks to various social media platforms, participating in community development activities is not limited to social workers of NGOs now.
This generation of online activists, Facebook thinkers, online entrepreneurs, trolls, YouTube comedians, and Twitter politicians may have their flaws and failings but they have also managed to renew and improve the civilian responsibility towards active community participation. Among many attractions and monetisation benefits of having an active presence on social media community work continues to remain popular not because it promises loyal followers, likes and shares but because it creates a deep ripple effect and makes community work doable and accessible for others.
Online campaigns such as tree plantation, clean drives, financial assistance, free food distribution, justice for victims of abuse, violence, rape and corporal punishment are some of the popular issues sensitized through dedicated pages, groups and viral videos made by online activists and/or online influencers. Since the last couple of years some of these campaigns (in the form of viral hashtags, mobile videos, CCTV recordings, screenshots) were taken up by law enforcing agencies to catch the offender while others sparked social debate and support. However, most of these made way to optimistic vibes, they instigated the sense of responsibility rather than blame, the sense of positivity rather than criticism and the sense of human ethics rather than religious divide. That was where the seeds of community ownership-leading-to-development sprouted.
Food distribution drives increase each year, acceptance regarding mental illnesses have led patients to seek out help and get treatment, tree plantation drives are now being endorsed nationally and victims of abuse and violence are being shown mass support through viral hashtags and posts. In short, these powerful campaigns bring hundreds of like-minded people together. It also brings diverse people together to form small groups and circles and work towards community development. It is making negativity, injustice, bullying and shaming disrespectful and intolerable.
The fact is that we are raising a breed of generation that will be aware, will speak-up against injustice, will be socially responsible and willing to help to make a difference. Taking this empowered awareness to the next level, social media giants have started endorsing and promoting such online activities and bringing such citizens offline.
Such is the power of social media and utilizing this empowered awareness Facebook’s Community Leadership Program is providing a platform to online community leaders to become influencers and change makers. This program has removed taboo around many social and domestic issues and made them accessible and acceptable to talk about.
Another initiative by Facebook, Community Leadership Circles is more focused around creating city leaders. A city lead brings city admins of Facebook groups together and impart the leadership in the form of holding talks and activities around issues that are close to that city group. The idea is to provide opportunity to members to speak on a topic that is close to their heart. In a way, Community Leadership Program is a knowledge sharing hub. A hub that keeps on updating with every comment and post being uploaded. A hub that is preparing future leaders who in turn can lead their communities.
