#activism

10.20.14

    In December 2010, videos of a Tunisian fruit vendor setting himself on fire went viral on Facebook, spurring the wave of online outrage that sparked the Arab Spring.

    In May 2014, the Colbert Report’s Twitter account posted a punchline that offended many and led to #CancelColbert becoming a trending topic.

    Both of these events fall under the umbrella of “social media activism”. This refers to the use of platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and YouTube to promote social and political movements.

    Because social media is a central part of today’s society, it makes sense that it has become a way to communicate our thoughts on important matters. Social media is easily accessible, captures our attention, and makes us feel like our voices have the power to affect global issues. Indeed, hash rag activism has become so popular that scrolling through posts on the Internet feels like flicking through news channels on a Sunday night. Some people, however, criticize it for its lack of success and promotion of laziness. After all, it just takes a click to retweet something--can that really be called activism? How far can a hashtag go when it comes to making real change?

    Social media didn’t create the Arab Spring. These revolutions resulted from the buildup of tension and frustration in the Middle East for a variety of reasons. But Facebook served as a rallying point and a means of organization. It may have been “weak activism”--the easy kind, that only requires Wifi and your phone--but that doesn’t mean it should be dismissed.

    Social media offers a voice to the silenced. After the horrific UCSB shooting, men took to the Internet to protest that not all men are misogynistic like the shooter. In response, feminists started the #YesAllWomen hashtag to assert that even though not all men are predators, yes, all women are prey. This created a space for women to share their own stories of facing sexism and get support from people around the world. It taught me and many others why we need feminism.

    Social media also makes the “breaking news” feature of conventional media redundant. While news channels had yet to provide news about Ferguson this August, #MediaBlackout was already going strong online, with people sharing their outrage over Mike Brown’s shooting and eyewitnesses keeping the rest of the country updated with photos, videos, and personal accounts that Ferguson officials were trying to keep from leaking.

    The accessibility of this platform also has its dangers. ISIS is currently using propaganda to recruit people worldwide to join their ranks, and it’s working. While social media can--and often does--educate the ignorant, it can also hand them weapons. So, social media activism may not always be effective. For example, #StopKony went viral in 2012 and I’m still not sure whether Kony has been stopped or not. But significant social changes come from changes at a personal level, and by creating a middle ground between serious issues and pop culture, hashtag activism makes those changes possible. Whether we like it or not, millions of people see hashtags every day, so we might as well try and use them as a catalyst for change.