Blog Prompt #9: Changing the World One Click at a Time?
Social media definitely has both negatives and positives when it
comes to the role it plays in contemporary social movements and activism.
On the one hand, yes, it is a
useful tool to quickly spread information to a large group of people, but
"weak connections" are formed. When communicating over social media,
no one really has the opportunity to make strong connections because it's not a
genuine way to communicate. You can't see the other person's emotions and
reactions without talking with them face-to-face, so how do you expect to make
a change or a difference when sitting behind a computer screen? Social media is
the easy way out for people who prefer to avoid confrontation (people like me) because
they feel the screen can protect them from angry activists. Expressing your
opinion online is much safer for most people compared to meeting on the streets
to make a difference. Using social media in this way is ineffective when trying
to make a meaningful social or political change because you never know who is
on the other side of the screen and what their real intentions are when it
comes to the issue at hand.
On the other hand, though,
social media is a great tool to bring people together. Take, for example,
something as simple as a birthday party. If someone wants to invite all their
friends and family to their birthday party, they just use Facebook to create an
event and invite everyone to that event. Facebook events have replaced the idea
of paper invitations. Pretty soon people will be inviting people to their
wedding by setting up a Facebook event, (dear Lord I hope not!) but my point is
that social media has helped many groups of people come together to make a
social difference. How do you think the Women's March in Chicago had such a
huge turn out or the Black Lives Matter Movement has made such a huge impact?
People rely on social media to get the most recent updates about current events
and to learn the ways of how to become a part of certain social issues.
So use social media to bring
people together, but not to communicate about social and political issues. Once
you have them all in one place and can speak face-to-face, then that is when a
social difference will start to occur.
I think your example for social media bringing people together is great on a smaller scale (I, too, hope wedding invites don't start popping up on Facebook!). I feel the events on Facebook for social movements are great for disseminating information, but just because people see these events doesn't mean they come out. I'm super guilty of this; I'll see an event for a cause and I'll mark "interested," only to forget about the event until it's a day or two out. By then, I'm either busy or no longer interested. However, I think it depends on the person and the event/cause—if it's something someone is REALLY invested in, they won't forget to show up. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
ReplyDeleteYou do make a great point.; posting events for people to see doesn't always guarantee a huge turnout for that event. I think what I meant by bringing people together is that it is the start to getting people informed about an event/cause (someone can't be forced to become interested in something). I would have to say I am guilty of seeing different events that are shared to my timeline on Facebook (so they did manage to get my attention), but the downside is that I receive so many 'event invites' that I get annoyed and tend to ignore the actual event and information about it. I would need to be super invested in a cause or event to actually become interested in it on Facebook because in all honesty, Facebook has become a way to pass time for me. I find myself aimlessly scrolling through my newsfeed without really taking in what I am seeing or reading. Personally for me, I obtain information about an event or cause by taking the initiative to search out information about it (without being prompted with an 'event invite' on Facebook) because otherwise, I am too busy with work and school to carve out time to take part in extracurricular events that I may not be interested in next week. So yes, I agree with you in saying Facebook (well social media as a whole really) is a great way to disseminate information, but that is probably as far as it will get.
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