It’s easy to argue that the various outlets of social
media are powerful tools for activism, but their capacity to create radical
change is questionable.
Social media provides opportunities for individuals
and groups to raise awareness to issues quickly and efficiently. Indeed, social media posts reach huge
segments of the world’s population often in real time with subsequent shares
making those numbers quickly grow exponentially. The Women’s March held in
January is just one example of social media’s enormous, impressive reach.
Without social media, the marches held across the world most likely wouldn’t
have been so well-attended, but has life somehow changed for women because of
the march? There certainly was a renewed sense of unification concerning women’s
rights for a time, but the public’s focus quickly shifted to science as April’s
Earth Day approached, and a new round of marches popped up. Therein lies one of the pitfalls of social
media as a means to radical change.
Because anyone with internet access has the ability to
spread the word about social causes, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of
them all. And with the 24/7 news cycle
moving at its increasingly fast clip, particular causes remain on a person’s
radar for shorter periods of time. It’s
hard to rally the troops long enough to illicit change when the troops are
constantly being pulled in so many different directions. Consider Go Fund Me pages: how many
charitable causes can a person involve himself in? No matter how kind-hearted
and giving a person is, he can spend only so much time and money on worthwhile
causes and today’s disaster is always quickly replaced by tomorrow’s
devastation.
There’s also the problem of causes getting hijacked by
others for their own ends. Let’s call it
“social media telephone,” modeled after the telephone game. Who’s to say that as
a social media blitz for climate change is shared, some crusaders won’t use the
platform for their own agenda? Before social media can move the public to fight
for a cause, it may take on a new life.
Malcolm Gladwell makes a worthwhile point that for
real revolution, individuals must have a real vested interest, which oftentimes
will be a personal connection to the cause.
It’s easy to sign an on-line petition, send a few dollars to a worthwhile
cause, and even show up for a big march.
But what comes after the signature, the check, and the protest? With social
media churning away, I bet it’ll be the another urgent, life-altering
controversy that must be addressed until that is forgotten for the next.
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