Throughout the past several years, there have been many movements toward social change. We have seen the start of the Black Lives Matter movement, the #MeToo movement, the Schools Strike for Climate, and the progression of the LGBTQI+ movement. Whether or not someone agrees with what these movements stand fore, they have all had some great success through different media channels.
Years and years ago social movements used television, newspapers, and radio to spread their messages and oftentimes had to pay money and the information would only be able to reach a limited number of people unless those movements became national news. Today, however, social movements and social change can happen more quickly as they have access to many media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram, Reddit, and plenty of others. With these channels being free and everyone having access to them, it gives anyone the option to spread their message (no matter the message, good or bad).
Popular media channels such as television, radio, and newspapers pick and choose what they want to post and can have biases in what they share, therefore what people can see is limited and what is interesting and news to someone could mean nothing to someone else. Social media channels are great because they allow anyone to share what they think is important or what they think needs attention and those that are interested can engage if they would like to. I know that for myself it’s quite possible to see things posted on social media before the news channels even get ahold of it, which shows how essential social media can be at getting information out quickly. Especially when there was a lot happening during the peak of the BLM movement, I was seeing so many things on Twitter and Instagram before I saw them on the news a couple days later. I remember the first stuff I saw about George Floyd was through Twitter and many people were posting the police officer calling for him to be fired.
Social media plays a major role in the development and progression of social change. People are able to communicate and share things quicker than ever before. Without social media and other channels that give everyone access, there could be so many things we would be unable to see because newspapers and radio channels don’t want to discuss it for whatever their reasons may be.
I agree wholeheartedly that social media has had a profound impact on the spread of social justice movements. I also think it’s a double edge sword that has made it so much easier to disseminate hate and find others who can amplify negative feelings. Also, it can be very easy to come to quick conclusions without understanding context with social media. I remember when Trayvon Martin was killed. I would never look at some of my co-workers the same after hearing them defend the unprovoked murder of a 17 year old boy. I would love to see researchers create a social network, or have more influence over social networks, in such a way that they can help communities become more deeply engaged with issues they don’t understand instead of hoping from hot topic to hot topic. Social media has a great potential to help people overcome their biases by learning from people in communities different from their own so long as they are willing to spend more time “listening” and learning instead of projecting their moral code on a group they’ve made no meaningful attempts to understand.
Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory Action Research: Psychology and Social Change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4). 657-666