In 2010, the world saw the rise of social media activism when Twitter erupted during the Arab Spring. Then last April, Facebook unrolled a new Facebook Live feature, adding a new multimedia element to the crowd-sourced journalism mix. This tool, like Twitter, can be used for more than just activism of course. At any one time, viewers can watch a concert in India, a videogame tutorial in Vietnam, or a church festival in Ghana – connecting local cultures instantaneously.

The power of this live interactive media showed itself this week when Native American protestors at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota demonstrated their message to 26 thousand people worldwide. This is especially significant because this small, relatively accessible piece of technology allowed a marginalized group to have a global voice. Social media like this is empowering, bringing the community that will be effected by government policy into the decision making process and into the eyes of the public. Although traditional news media were able to cover the story as well, the citizen journalism seen here was extremely effective.

As communities like this one start to utilize this new medium, local cultures and will continue to grow their international presence in policy-making.