In an age where social media has allowed us to be consumed by the latest dance craze, the Kardashians, and Taylor Swift’s newest boyfriend, social media has also transformed activism.
But things were not always so instantaneous. At the height of the civil rights movement in 1960’s America, getting the news out about a beating in the south was dependent on how fast you could connect to an operator—who was probably white and likely to block the call—so that you could be connected to one of the major civil rights organizations. Word of mouth played a major role and protests could only be organized as fast as flyers could be printed.
With the rise of social media, every facet of communication has changed. There is now an instantaneous sharing of news to a greater number of people as well as access to news free of the filters and biases of major news networks and government censorship. It has also empowered people who lack the ability to speak out through conventional means. Nonetheless, social media activism does have its downsides: the lightning fast rise of a movement is also accompanied by its thunderous fall from our psyches.
In its infancy, social media was used simply as a way to connect with friends and family. One would check up on their relatives, harvest their Farmville crops, and maybe play a game of online checkers with their cousin. But as technology expanded and became viral, people started to gain hundreds of thousands of followers. Soon, these people became “instafamous,” and being a YouTuber or a Vine star became a lucrative career. And with the sheer number of people available to these stars, new audiences that were not previously accessible by conventional media were now readily available. With a single tweet, status, or video an army of people could be raised in seconds. A single picture that has gone viral is enough to spark the beginning of a movement; it is as simple as clicking a “share” button. And with that click, protests, strikes, and even vigils could be organized overnight.
Furthermore, social media has made it easier for people to get unbiased and unfiltered news. In countries where the populace is spoon-fed propaganda or for those that tune in to today’s entertainment centered “news networks,” this could open people’s eyes to a whole other world. For example, as governments around the globe branded the African National Congress (ANC) as a terrorist organization in South Africa, journalists showed the world the truth about what was happening in this apartheid country. Whether it is on Facebook or Twitter, there is a plethora of independent journalists ready to shed light on various issues.
However, bias still exists and fellow Facebookers and Twitter users are more than happy to point that out in the comments section. As a result, the news provided on these social media platforms is constantly being scrutinized, almost like the peer-review process in scientific journals. One important implication of being able to freely follow anyone is the fact that people now have unprecedented access to both sides of a contentious issue. They can learn what each side preaches and on what grounds not only anonymously, but from the comfort of their own home. They no longer have to depend only on what they heard about the issue in question.
In previous decades, activism was reserved for those able to show up to rallies, sit-ins or protests. There was no way for people who couldn’t leave their homes to actively participate. Similarly, for people in countries with no human rights, activism could get them arrested or killed.
With social media activism is no longer reserved for those that can leave their homes. It has been instrumental in empowering the oppressed, which is evident in the online censorship of social media. This censorship is a testament to the perceived power of activism by social media. And of course, due to its far reach, social media allows people from all over the world to engage in important conversations and call out injustices, misunderstandings, and misrepresentations of cultures, countries and religions.
Although social media activism has come far, the majority of people will still only resort to sharing or clicking the “like” button. That is perfectly fine. In fact, these social media “enthusiasts” are needed to spread the message of the activists because they allow for the rapid spread of a movement. Combine that with the fact that social media enables anyone, even those who previously could not, to share news at a much larger scale and have unbiased and uncensored access, it can be concluded that social media activism has allowed for social movements to progress quickly on a global scale. Social media has undoubtedly strengthened pre-existing movements while giving birth to others.
By Hussein El Khechen
Please note that opinions expressed are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
