Activism and participation in the 21^st century has changed. Citizens are increasingly living horizontal, connected lives, whereas governments and large institutions function vertically. The rapid advent of technology has afforded new forms of volunteer participation to a wider section of society – including crisis-affected communities and global volunteer networks. This poses a challenge to the traditional linear approaches of information sharing – as emerging technologies are democratizing information access, participation and agency.

There is a surge in the way citizens and communities are self-organizing and self-mobilizing. Not only is it an issue of citizen led mobilization, but it is also witness to citizen practitioners and citizen vigilantes who demonstrate a shift in power and decision making. Self-organization amongst and between non-traditional actors is accelerating, which can at times sideline humanitarian organizations that are not as quick or adept in applying these new technologies. For example, during disaster responses many citizen-led groups, coordinating through social media – and, enabled at great scale and pace by these technologies – self-mobilise and respond to people’s needs independent of formal institutions, and they sometimes do this more effectively.