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Social Media Activism: The Civil Rights Movement

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Social Media Activism: The Civil Rights Movement
Since its creation, social media has caused considerable changes in society. It allows people to connect, create, and learn. Since social media allows people from all over the world to connect, it allows people to share different ideas and promote causes that they may not of heard of before. Social media has become a platform for activism. By sharing, liking, and tweeting the people of the world have become activist of all sorts of causes. Often this sort of activism has been compared to the glorious Civil Rights Movement. Recent debate has quite different views on if activism through social media is as influential in publicizing far-reaching causes. According to Malcolm Gladwell, social media may assist people in becoming aware of certain …show more content…
Gladwell discusses the high risk activism going on during the Civil Right movement (Gladwell). Supporters went out and risked their lives for a cause they believed in through boycotts and sit-ins. Social media cannot provide the same high risk activism seen from back then. I agree that social media cannot provide the same high risk activism; my experience in activism through social media confirms it. During the summer of 2014, the “Ice-Bucket Challenge” was a massive phenomenon online. It was done to raise money for the ALS Association. So many trying to escape the summer heat dumped a bucket of ice water on their head and posted it on social media in support of the cause. Some did donate money to the foundation, but most people simply just did it to pour cold water on their friends head. There was no actual risk, but people felt as though they were making a difference. Social media makes people feel better about themselves thanks to the support a certain cause, but in reality users of social media are not real …show more content…
He contributes a compelling argument that social media is a limiting platform and real activism involves actual risk holds true today. Clicking a button does not make one an activist. Despite these claims, I think Gladwell is mistaken regarding the weak and strong ties social media can create. Social media is a way for people to connect and become closer. Social media has grown to be a controversial topic and it continues to be debated. Hopefully, we can find a way to make social media a more effective platform for change in the
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