There are countless ways people have used cell phones to participate in protests and engage in political or civic action. Handheld technologies play vital roles in the lives of the majority of Americans today, and have recently crossed over into the political sphere – their effect on issues around the nation and the world have proved very remarkable. One way to get involved is by being active on social media platforms and joining in on movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, utilizing the hashtag of the respective movement and voicing your opinion on the matter. In both of these examples, the goal is to bring attention to injustices done to people of color (particularly by police officers) and to women who are sexually assaulted or harassed. The #MeToo movement in particular has had a major impact in Hollywood after dozens of women accused film director Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, abuse or rape, though he denied all allegations. actress Alyssa Milano asked on Twitter that anyone who had been sexually harassed or assaulted should reply to her Tweet with “#MeToo”, to demonstrate the scale of the problem – half a million people responded in the first 24 hours. After this, allegations began to emerge against high-profile men in entertainment, the media, and politics, undoubtedly shifting Hollywood’s power dynamics.

 

Another way people can use their phones to engage in civic action is through signing petitions. Change.org is a website where anyone can create a petition to support a move or change that they believe in. They set a goal for the number of signatures they would like to reach, and to sign the petition, someone just needs to input their full name and email address. These petitions have proved to be effective in several cases, such as in 2012, when the Boy Scouts came under heavy scrutiny for their controversial exclusionary policy against gay scouts and leaders. Their biggest corporate funders – AT&T, Ernst & Young, Intel, UPS and Verizon had to choose between continuing to fund the Boy Scouts and facing consumer backlash, or pulling their funding entirely. At first, each corporation chose to continue funding the Scouts, only to face petition after petition signed by thousands of angry customers demanding them to stop.

 

Many movements that have taken to social media in the past few years undoubtedly owe their success to social media platforms and how accessible cell phones make the internet to us. Though many people argue that cell phones have taken over our lives and we rely on them way too much, nobody can say that they are completely useless or detrimental to society.