There are tons of amazing examples of how social networking and media have helped people find and share their voices…sometimes leading to positive social change. For example, way back in 2011, we were able to follow the Arab Spring movement because of social networking and media…and social networking and media was used intentionally to support the movement (see Egypt five years on: Was it ever a ‘social media revolution’?). In case you want to revisit this powerful example, here are links to a BBC series, How Facebook Changed the World – The Arab Spring: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4.
Do you also remember what happened when the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization decided to no longer provide funding to Planned Parenthood? This Huffington Post article — Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood — is a helpful recap.
Another example — the Paris attacks were reported, updated, analyzed, and painfully shared with us via social networking and media. Social networking and media allowed us to be exposed to firsthand accounts (see this CBS News commentary), and to express our support for victims and their families (see this BBC video).
Social networking and media was also a vehicle for pointing out how selective media coverage had been of other attacks and other tragedies in other regions of the world because it allows non-commercial media sources a voice for sharing (although, as we discover over and over again, we still don’t hear or have access to all voices); for example see this piece on social media responses, and this article on a Muslim-driven anti-ISIS social media campaign. This is came up again related to Zimbabwe, with many articles regarding the role social media played in terms of change.
Other social-change activitism efforts — such as the Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter), Occupy Wall Street, and sexual harassment (#MeToo) movements — have used social networking / media to share, document, and bring widespread attention to important social issues requiring change.
Social networking and media has also been a tool for coordinating various charitable support efforts during crisis and need. For example the National Compassion Fund setting up a way to donate after the Las Vegas shootings, and the many social networking/media-driven relief funds set up for victims of the November 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California.
And, of course, social networking and media is used increasingly in politics — it certainly was a big component of the 2016 presidential race, and more recent mid-term elections:
The Game Changer: Social Media and the 2016 Presidential Election
2016 Presidential Election Circus: Is Social Media the Cause
Social Media Faces Another Election Test
How to Hack the Midterm Election with Social Media
And those are just a few of the articles on the topic.
With all of this in mind (including our civic-engagement readings last week), please watch the following TED Talk from Ronny Edry (an Israeli graphic designer) — Israel and Iran: A love story? Even though produced in 2012, it is still very relevant today, and to our conversation.
Reflecting on our civic-engagement readings last week, and the above — What are your thoughts about the use of social networking and media to allow people a voice for social change, and as a platform for social change? What are the ways in which people are using social networking and media for social change? In what ways is social networking and media supporting civic engagement and activism? In your response, please feel free to share examples from the current headlines and/or your own experience.
Although you are welcome to respond to these prompts by adding a comment below, I recommend you try something different — if you haven’t already added a new page under the Our Individual Pages menu (if you have, you can add your response to the above to that page), or add a new page to the menu*.
*As editors of this site, please try adding new pages so you may begin working with the features and functionality of pages and menus in WordPress.