Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Timeline of social activism
2
Social media's impact on activism.
Elisabeth Fee
Defining "Social Activism" & other key terms
Social activism is defined as, "an intentional action with the goal of bringing about social change."
Social Activists are "people who consider the larger picture, by examining how they can find ways to create strong communities to end injustice, and encourage economic, social and psychological health."
Key Terms
an Activist is "anyone who is fighting for change in society"
Social Justice can be defined as "the belief in an equitable, compassionate world where difference is understood, valued and respected. The goal of social action work is to meet the goal of social justice."
Social Action "looks more at the root causes of the needs of individuals, and tries to find ways to eliminate them"
Engaged Observers -- individuals who are attentive to movement writing and activities, and express moral and even financial support for them, but who take no other action.
College, Amherst. “Social Activism.” Social Activism | Public Interest Careers | Amherst College, www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/amherst-careers-in/government-nonprofit/picareers/careers/social_activism.
History
Social media has fundamentally changed the landscape of communication, for better or for worse. Now more than ever, it is easy to communicate with people from all over the world, and spread a message.
Social media, since it has been around, has been used as a platform to spread change, and bring together citizens who want to unite under a common agenda, to fight for a certain cause.
History
It is a powerful platform open to anybody and everybody to express their thoughts. opinions and feelings as well as to connect with others and form a community. People have been using social media and the internet in general to bring together groups of people and organize for years now. For example, in 1998, two silicon valley entrepreneurs wanted to send a message to the government, saying that they were tired of Congress spending more time and resources on Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky in the form of a petition. What started off as being sent to family members, quickly;y gained attention and gained the signatures of over 100,000 people within the first week. The platform they created, titled MoveOn.org is now a website for people to propose ideas for political change.
How the Internet has made social change easy to organize, hard to win
Media
Exploring the idea that protests are thin in terms of action, they're loud in the moment, but their voice fades overtime. People are more relaxed to reform.
In today's society, we have begun to attribute activism, to a hashtag, which can be used widely all across the world. It is very important to note that activism must go beyond the hashtag, and it should be supported by concrete actions, donations and/or genuine commitments to change. When someone engages with a movement online, its important that they must be able to distinguish performance activism, from real activism. For example, simply posting a black screen, with a hashtag #BlackLivesMatter is not activism. Yes you are demonstrating that you are aware of the movement and that you support it, but that's as far as your support goes. This does not mean that in order to be an activist you must post your hard work and contributions, it simply means that you must educate yourself before attempting to educate others, and by posting a screen with no information, no resources, and really no other content, you are apart of the issue, and quite frankly it is the equivalent to being a bystander.
Modern Day Examples of Social Media Activism.
Another important hashtag was #BringBackOurGirls, which was a campaign started in 2014 after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 female students from a Government Girls school in Chibok, Nigeria. The First Lady (at the time) Michelle Obama tweeted the hashtag which gained over 2 million retweets, along with the voices and support of many different celebrities and influencers. As a result of the campaign, 57 of the schoolgirls were rescued in the first month, along with 102 more girls escaping over the following next 6 years. Unfortunately, 112 girls are still missing.
Another very popular example was the #ALSIceBucketChallenge which dominated the internet, as it brought awareness to the disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. by taking a video of yourself dumping a bucket of ice water over themselves , and then nominating friends to do the same, and/or donate to the ALS Association. The online campaign gained much attention and support, and helped to raise over $220 Million dollars for the association within a year/.
Considering we have more people on social media now more than ever, it is increasingly important to use the platform for good, for change, and for organization. We all have these online presences, so we should be using them to band together and fight for the change we want to see in society, because if we don't, who will?
Images
The Women's movement began as an attempt to protest the "societal pressure put on women to marry, have children and remain at home to raise the children, and the prevailing view that women's abilities in the workplace and in public life were limited by their physical fragility." which was typical in the 1950s and 60s.
In 1963, Betty Friedan published her best selling book, The Feminine Mystique which reinforced women's dissatisfaction with their role society expected of them, and encouraged women to work for change.
At first there was celebration of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on gender, but this was rarely enforced by government officials. Thus leading Friedan to form the "National Organization for Women in 1966 to demand that the government prosecute cases of job discrimination against women."
Women's Rights Movement
"Many women in the generation that attended college during the 1960s have reported that they were influenced by the social movements of that era, even women who did not participate in them."
(Stewart, Abigail J.)
Pictures
This is how Women communicated with each other, in order to form the movement- there was no Twitter! Communication happened through word of mouth.
Women's reproductive rights are begin threatened again, after Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the supreme court by Donald Trump
Her confirmation was expedited, and was completed only 30 days after her nomination on the night that Justice Ginsburg had passed. As you can imagine, being the feminist and liberal icon she was, the internet was outraged. Twitter was a mess., because that's where Donald Trump had announced the nomination.
If you'd like to help, you can donate to ...
National Abortion Federation
National Network of Abortion Funds
Women's Reproductive Assistance Project
Northwest Abortion Access Fund
Modern Day
She was voted in by all but one Republican senator, and her vote was boycotted by Democrats. Barrett will be the turning point of a very sharp ideological turn on the court, in addition to Republicans assuring a 6-3 majority.
"Experts say it will be the most conservative Supreme Court since before WWII. "Her addition could solidify the right wing advantage on issues such as campaign finance and gun rights, as well as threatening progressive issues such as abortion rights, voting rights and health care regulations.
What began as a hashtag, the #BlackLivesMatter movement which can be traced back to 2013, began on Facebook, with a post talking about the outrage of the death of Trayvon Martin, and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network is registered in the US as a non-profit organization, able to get grants and pledges from foundations and corporations.
Today the hashtag and movement have gained so much attention, that they have also gained a false negative connotation, as well as blurred their original message.
Black Lives Matter Movement
"It was really about police brutality and the effects of that on black people." (bbc.com)
The hashtag has seen record levels of usage this year during the global protests over the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor , Walter Wallace Jr., Eric Garner and many others.
Social Media's Impact on Activism
Without social media, we would have no way to unite today youth and social media presence in general, under the common goal of bettering tomorrows society. Social media is a tool to grow traction for social activism movements, and the ease of the use and accessibility allow anyone to join and be an activist- all you need is an account.
Conclusion
Not only can people become activists through social media platforms, but they are also used to bring awareness to disparities, or causes that need attention. Social media is also a form of education, and used as a way to spread information, and awareness.
Sources
College, Amherst. “Social Activism.” Social Activism | Public Interest Careers | Amherst College, www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/amherst-careers-in/government-nonprofit/picareers/careers/social_activism.
Stewart, Abigail J., et al. “Women and the Social Movements of the 1960s: Activists, Engaged Observers, and Nonparticipants.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 24 Oct. 2003, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/0162-895X.00093.
Defining "Engaged Observer" and how it relates to social activism. Provided background to how women were impacted by ongoing social movements during the 1960s.
“Protests in the 1960s .” Protests in the 1960s, www.lessonsite.com/ArchivePages/HistoryOfTheWorld/Lesson31/Protests60s.htm.
Understanding the Women's movement, and how it began as a result of societal pressure put on women- quoted on the ‘1960s Social Movements slide’.
Kapur, Sahil, et al. “Senate Confirms Amy Coney Barrett, Heralding New Conservative Era for Supreme Court.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 27 Oct. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/amy-coney-barrett-set-be-confirmed-supreme-court-monday-n1244748.
The nomination and confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and how she is flipping the court and could make for "The most Conservative Court since WWII"
Maqbool, Aleem. “Black Lives Matter: From Social Media Post to Global Movement.” BBC News, BBC, 9 July 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53273381.
"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53273381"
https://www.pcmag.com/news/blacklivesmatter-hashtag-averages-37-million-tweets-per-day-during-unrest
Graph image