For centuries, only governments ran the world. If two countries had a problem, important officials would hold talks and meetings and work for months on the issue to solve it. Today, the world has changed. A single video posted on social media or an issue brought to attention by an activist is changing global politics. One viral video can cause an argument between countries or raise millions of dollars of charity faster than every government ever could. Power has moved from big government buildings to mobile phones.
Before social media, if a small country was in need of something, they had to beg other governments for help; it took forever. Now social media holds the power. For instance, if something negative happens and it gets posted on TikTok, millions of people see it and demand change. Regular people can force world leaders to pay attention. We don’t have to wait for politicians to notice. Funds can be raised more easily.
A major YouTuber or social media star can raise funds in a single weekend to dig wells, build hospitals or ship food to a disaster area. They get their job done faster. There have been a lot of examples where YouTubers and activists helped communities that weren’t getting attention.
But there’s a major setback. Traditional politicians tend to be cautious. They choose every word carefully and wisely because a mistake can cause a war. Influencers and social media stars, however, work differently. Their one post can cause a global issue. They care about likes, views and comments. They can also use careless wording about a specific culture.
For example, there was an incident when Trevor Noah, a famous comedian and writer, joked about Indian accents and stereotypes. This incident caused a backlash as it offended Indians by being racist. This caused him to get criticised by Indian officials and caused his shows to get affected. This shows how influencer humour can strain cultural relations between two countries.
There’s no undo button on social media. Once your post starts a fight between nations, it becomes hard to stop. Influencers generally do not understand these proceedings, which is a problem.
Embassies are generally not going away, but their power is. This shows that people in power aren’t just the people in suits but the people behind the screen too. A fast internet connection and a big number of followers can move the direction of diplomatic relations.