Social Media for the Individual Corruption Fighter

You can have an impact on corruption. 

But many people are overwhelmed by this idea.  Many of the comments I receive in How to Fight Corruption reflect frustration and a sense of hopelessness about the idea that corruption can be brought under control.  Indeed, its seems to be a basic assumption that the behavior of people cannot be changed.

I don’t believe that is true.

And I offer two simple activities that people can take that will increase the pressure to improve things in their communities and countries.

In the course of my own lifetime I have observed the increasing decay of the political process in the US.  And I have seen an increase in responsibility by parents about the behavior and education of their children.  Both are long term cultural changes that occurred INTENTIONALLY. 

Indeed, in nearly every country I have visited, parents are working harder to raise their children differently than was done by their own parents. (See We Can't Fix Corruption - It's Part of Our Culture.)

This is an ongoing effort to improve things.

Corruption and Anti-Corruption are no different.

One individual can inspire change by simply being willing to point out things that are not right. 

The most basic first step on the gradient scale of imposing justice is to observe that something is not right.  In anti-corruption, this should seem obvious.  But many people simply accept that “this is the way things will always be” and the stop seeing the wrongness and begin to accept it.

Thus, the first activity for any individual corruption fighter is to see that something is not as it should be.

Here are two things that one person can do that begin the pressure to change the status quo:

1.              Take pictures of things that are not right.  

Evidence of corruption is found in many forms.  Sometimes it is as simple as the cars driven by the family members of government employees.  Posting a picture on a Blog site with a short comment about who’s car it is, and what their government salary is . . . creates some small pressure on the situation.

In East Timor, the Minister of Finance was building a $5 Million home on Embassy Row.  Journalist took the pictures and wrote the story, and publishers were afraid to publish the pictures.  They understood that the pictures added power to the story and would increase pressure on the government to explain why a public employee, even a minister, would be allowed to spend $5 Million in government funds on a personal residence.  But the pictures leaked onto the Internet and the story was picked up and some pressure was brought upon the entire government.

2.              Start a blog – write stories and publish pictures.

In many countries passionate young journalists, despite their education and youth, believe that the local print media is the only way to have an impact.  They believe that they need permission from a publisher in order to let their voice be heard.

The same is true of the individual corruption fighters.  They do not take full advantage of the free tools available on the internet to let their voices be heard. 

Secondly, people sometimes believe that the internet is “too big” and that their voice will be drowned out in the noise of the global conversation. 

I have responded to that in another piece I have written on Social Media in the Fight Against Corruption.

The global online community is like any other community.  You begin to talk with people in the community and eventually people find the opinion leaders in their areas of interest. 

These are two simple steps that the individual corruption fighter can take that will create some pressure for things to improve.

Brian Pinkowski

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