Even Antarctica.

Immediately following our most recent presidential election, a new Twitter and Facebook group popped up on the internet called @womensmarch. Just 3 days later, 44,000 individuals committed to attending the first Women’s March, scheduled in Washington D.C. for January 21, 2017, the day the president was inaugurated. Ultimately, almost one million people showed up! But it didn’t stop there. Almost every major city in the United States held their own march in protest of the patriarchy and in support of women’s freedom around the world. In fact, there were marches on all seven continents around the world. Even Antarctica. 

I am not looking to get political here, however. I am looking to shed light on the impact of social media on the insanely quick spread of information and organization of mass demonstrations. This includes everything from the actual organization of a peaceful protest to the start of a new movement with a single Tweet. 

A woman named Tarana Burke had been advocating for rising above sexual harassment for about a decade. When actress and political activist, Alyssa Milano, caught wind of Tarana’s efforts, she tweeted to her followers: 

Thus, the beginning of a brand new movement that you would have to be locked in a cave with Kimmy Schmidt for the last 2 years to avoid: #MeToo. Within seconds, social media launched Americans into a new wave.

Imagine a time where things were much worse off than we have it now, in a world where there were no laws against racial discrimination and no laws protecting women (to name just a few), but rather schools had segregated bathrooms and women were not allowed to vote. People were clearly outraged and this was evident in their protests and demonstrations that ultimately lead to major lawful and societal change. But also imagine how these protests and demonstrations got organized. They took time. People had to go to meetings and plan out how they would reach mass amounts of people. They had to really dig into their resources to reach people. 

But today, with the push of a send button, you can hashtag a new movement to organize millions of people around the world. (You can even use the word hashtag as a verb, like I just did.)

It is clear, however, that social media is just the tool with which we use to our advantage to reach people. The movements and ideas are not created by social media, rather they are created by human beings who have something to say. Social media is merely our tool to facilitate that. 

I picture myself living 50 years ago and wondering what I would have done to voice my opinion. When statements are made on television by the POTUS, today’s people are able to instantly respond. Some may say this is a bad thing since there is a prevalence of bullies hiding behind their computer screen with the ability to say (mostly) whatever they want without consequence. But it is my opinion that social media does more good than harm and it is evident in how people are coming together in solidarity, supporting issues they feel are important. 

Just days ago, a dance teacher in Texas wrote a song in response to the patriarchy who said that it’s a hard time for men in today’s society. It instantly went viral and she now has 75,000 followers on Twitter and performed her song with a chorus of women on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show. It would have taken much longer to get her message out there if it weren’t for social media. I will conclude and leave you with Lynzy’s video: https://twitter.com/LynzyLab/status/1049215347025465344

1 comment

  1. I really enjoyed your post!

    I think at times it is difficult for individuals to find their voices and the internet and social media does help to encourage others to speak out about their thoughts and situations. As with anything, social media has positive effects and negative effects. I like the idea that through social media, others can not only connect with each other, but can also have an equal voice. As you mentioned previously, it was difficult for people to voice their opinions and now-a-days people can come together to support issues that they feel strongly about.

    The one negative effect that has been hard for me to move past are the false articles that people post. Unfortunately, people tend to believe everything they read and as a result, they spread it from one individual to another. However, lucky for us-the internet gives us the ability to research and gain knowledge on pretty much anything we wish to learn about and that is extremely valuable!

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