Introduction

This chapter examines the rapid rise of ‘digital humanitarianism’ in international development, specifically the expanding role of various digital platforms as a means for everyday citizens to interact with various humanitarian causes. The chapter analyses efforts made by evolving digital models towards creating greater space for horizontality in typically top-down aid structures. The concept of digital humanitarianism refers to the suite of digital technologies that allows swathes of individual people to contribute towards humanitarian action (Burns, 2019). While digital humanitarianism can take many forms – for example remote volunteering, coalition building or more recently as forms of virtual mutual aid – crowdfunding platforms and social media-based humanitarian campaigning have become increasingly prominent since 2010, particularly in the years before and certainly during the COVID-19 pandemic. These latter models feature heavily here in Chapter 7, as they form a core example of how virtual platforms aim to create neutrality and egalitarianism among users, whether they be digital humanitarians or those seeking support.

Crowdfunding platforms are a particularly interesting model of digital humanitarianism, as they often combine several aspects of the phenomenon including digital fundraising and virtual campaigning via social media outlets. Crowdfunding platforms specifically for international development projects – such as GlobalGiving and Kiva – provide an opportunity for individual donors, or ‘microphilanthropists’, to immerse themselves in the humanitarian process, creating ‘feelingful ties’ (Moodie, 2013) and social bonds between donors and recipients through digital connectivity.