Media activism is a broad category of activism that utilizes media and communication technologies for social and political movements. Methods of media activism include publishing news on websites, creating video and audio investigations, spreading information about protests, or organizing campaigns relating to media and communications policies.

Media activism is used for many different purposes. It is often a tool for grassroots activists and anarchists to spread information not available via mainstream media or to share censored news stories. Certain forms of politically motivated hacking and net-based campaigns are also considered media activism. Typically, the purpose of media activism is to spread awareness through media communications which sometimes leads to action.

Media activism gives disadvantaged groups the ability to have their own voices heard and organize in bigger groups allowing for more autonomous activism to enact social change. As well as disadvantaged communities, media activism allows younger generations to have a voice in situations where legally they cannot - for example when they are too young to vote. The internet allows for these individuals to avoid feeling helpless when they cannot vote. This is a free way for leaders to organize and allows more individuals interested in engaging with certain movements online rather than in person to speak up. On the other hand, this is also a common form of activism for celebrities to use and there is debate on how effective it really is. One criticism of Media Activism is that since everyone has a voice radicals sound as loud as the average whether it's one person or not which can undermine the movement entirely.

Social media is often used as a form of media activism. Because of the interactive features and widespread adoption, users can quickly disseminate information and rally supporters. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter can reach a much larger audience than traditional media. Although often only a small percentage of people who express interest in a cause online are willing to commit to offline action, social media interaction is viewed as "the first step in a ladder of engagement"."Social media has helped us organize without having leaders," said Victor Damaso, 22, demonstrating on São Paulo's main Paulista Avenue on Thursday night. "Our ideas, our demands are discussed on Facebook. There are no meetings, no rules".

Live streams applications or websites such as Livestream is another media form which can replace TV when there is a kind of censorship. The protests in Istanbul can be an example of this way of broadcasting in terms of the lack of the objectivity of the actual media and the television. On the other hand, a lot of protestors used WhatsApp or the Walkie-Talkie application with their smartphones in order to improve communication between protestors during the manifestations thanks to its quick and instantaneous sharing of information. Moreover, the usage of applications such as WhatsApp can improve organization among protestors with added features such as group message. Similarly, YouTube is another efficient tool of spreading information and is generally used with other social media forms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Culture jamming, another form of media activism, is a subversive strategy of protest that re-appropriates the tropes of mainstream media "in order to take advantage of the resources and venues they afford".

Media activism has expanded its scope to include fields of study such as journalism and news media. Media activism additionally educates the audience to be producers of their own media. Media activism to be expanded to facilitate action through media production and involvement.

Social Media has become a primary organizing tool for political and social movements globally. They serve to strengthen already existing networks of political and social relationships among activists offline. Media activism among youth can be linked to the way youth protest and create communities online over specific issues and social connections.