This research project undertakes a critical analysis of the use of new media technologies by community activists engaging in local and global communities. Increasingly, community organizations are using digital media to augment their various activities and conduct campaigns. This development is considered with regard to WorldPulse.com (WPc), a global organization whose aim is to foster and facilitate civic engagement. More specifically, the website attempts to function and serve as a global public sphere and vehicle for the expression and discussion of political, social and cultural issues relevant to women. The analysis conducted in this study focuses on the website’s digital action campaigns on gender-based violence, girl child education, and women’s access to technology between 2012 and 2014, and its ‘Voices of Our Future’ citizen journalism training program.
WorldPulse.com has the capacity to function as a micro public sphere for marginalized groups. One of the ways it does this is by combining online and offline tools for the civic engagement activities and events that its members do. The most common tools for engaging the platform’s members in civics are the digital action campaigns and the ‘Voices of Our Future’ citizen journalism training programs. The platform is not completely autonomous but this is not a necessity for it to function as a public sphere.