Playing the online game “Darfur is Dying” was a requirement for my
international studies assignment. The crux of the interactive
simulation is to give participants an idea of the challenges Darfurian
refugees face to survive. Each player takes on the role of a refugee
and has to leave the camp to forage for water.
He or she then navigates through the terrain while avoiding capture by
the brutal Janjaweed militias. While a novel idea, the online
simulation doesn’t do justice to the horrors Darfurians face; it
trivializes the terror in Sudan just like Scrooge McDuck makes a case
study against thrift.
Nevertheless, the “Darfur is Dying” Web site is a powerful example of
how the Internet has truly changed the dynamics of social and political
advocacy. These days, anyone with Internet access can partake in
signing online petitions, communicating via instant messaging about
political rallies and social movements, sharing political videos,
playing online simulations, blogging about issues and, very
importantly, donating to causes. The ways social movements can utilize
the Internet is nearly limitless. The scary part, however, is that
anybody can use the Internet to propagate his ideas whether
substantial, spin or completely warped.