The Media’s impact on activism
When it comes down to pushing your opinion on things activism is a great way to do it, but an easier way to do it is online activism. Online activism is the use of technology to push for things that they believe in. Online activism comes in many forms such as online petitions, blogs, social media posts, etc.. In article called, “Activism in the social media age” the author say, “ This month marks the fifth anniversary of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag”. Without inline activism I think that the Black Lives Matter movement wouldn’t be as popular as it is today. You can always just search up black lives matter and post something on social media and then the movement will start gaining popularity fast. Doing this without being online is a little harder to do because people will be reluctant to buy in. This helps spread information very fast and effectively. This relates to digital leadership because they both are leading a group of people to a goal that they are both trying to accomplish through technology.
Sitting behind a keyboard will help influence change for people, but you will have a greater influence on people if you go out an influence through a march or protest. People will realize the severity of the problem because it takes a lot more energy and time to go out and do it in person. I think there are some things online that are mistaken for activism but they really are outrage, but I think most of the things are really about things that people want changed. The internet has accomplished many things in my lifetime and I think that pushing for social justice will soon be solved by the media because the media is only going to get larger and more people will have access to everyone’s thoughts.
There are many ways online that you can make a difference in your community. You can use social media sites such as snapchat, twitter, instagram, etc. to push your opinions on things and you are able to see where other people stand on those situations. An example will be the way the #BlackLivesMatter movement went viral and made a huge impact in the world. There were different countries posting videos of them agreeing and protesting for the movement also, so this shows you the impact that the media has on online activism. A case example that I can share about online activism is when in my hometown there was a gang war going on and members of the community started posting things on social media about how things should end before too many people got killed or went to jail. After a few months of serious online activism the gangs came to an agreement and they came together and agreed that they would live in peace with each other.
