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Author	Topic: #BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism

canadiansc-
holar2015

Novice Their American
Posts: 8

#BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism
on: December 6, 2015, 08:39

Twitter has turned into a platform for social justice, with Twitter users being able to catch the first whiff of a headline and start trending things worldwide. The first time I came across the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was in August 2014 when Michael Brown was shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer from Ferguson. I got all of my information from Twitter, not even bothering to turn on the news. The information I needed was at my fingertips, simply by clicking the hashtag and looking at what people from Ferguson and people from across the world were saying.

The situation in Ferguson had created global outrage, causing people to flood into the streets and march for the end of police brutality against black people. Chanting things such as "hands up, don't shoot." Black people felt marginalized, and they took to Twitter to voice their anger. After that, stories of other black people being murdered at the hands of police officers started to erupt, a video of Eric Garner being choked to death by a police officer while being arrested went viral, stirring another wave of protests. The Black Lives Matter movement is one I've seen the most on Twitter, people putting the hashtag in their Twitter bios to show their support.

The movement also explored the rights of citizens who run into police officers and don't know what to do. Pictures titled "What to Do When Stopped by Police," circled around on Twitter. Situations where a police officer asks to check your car or bag without any kind of warrant can be answered with, "I do not consent to a search. I believe in my constitutional right to privacy and I do not consent to a search." Asking the officer "Am I free to go?" and "Officer, I want to speak to a lawyer." It also says to be polite but assertive.

Twitter is shaping the way people gather their information. In September, Ahmed Mohamed was detained for making a clock that his teacher and principal had mistaken for a bomb. The hashtag #IStandWithAhmed started trending worldwide, exploring the hashtag brought up photos of people from around the world holding clocks, usually with the caption, "are you going to arrest me, too?"

Most of these situations start in America, with racial profiling being the main cause of these occurrences. Twitter has changed the conversation by giving everyone the chance to talk. People have organized rallies on Twitter, shared personal stories on Twitter and other people have listened. Twitter users use hashtags, they demand to be heard, and because of the extent to which they fight for justice, a lot of leaders are forced to listen.

Amanda-
Bourikas

Novice Their American
Posts: 8

Re: #BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism
on: December 7, 2015, 19:05

I completely agree with your statements! I was on tumblr when I first heard about Ferguson and #BlackLivesMatter movement that it led me to do further research to understand what was happening. With this being said, social media is a way that anyone can get their voices heard, and in terms of social justice movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and #IStandWithAhmed, it gets everyone involved in starting conversations about these issues. I believe that social media played a significant role in beginning the #BlackLivesMatter movement that it sparked another wave of the civil rights movement.

icedcoffee

Novice Their American
Posts: 7

Re: #BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism
on: December 7, 2015, 22:34

Although I admire your positive outlook on the power of social media, I do not feel it is actually as influential as one might think. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook definitely have the ability to spread news and information quickly due to their large audience, or user base. But to what extent does this really affect the world offline? People hear about all kinds of events and can react by paying their respects or sharing their own opinion on the situation at hand. There is reaction but not a lot of action. There also lies the factor of reliability and authenticity of the information being spread; social media is not necessarily a reliable source of information. Often I find that people do not check their sources (if any are provided) or verify the information they come across.
However, in regards to your argument, I would have to agree that social media has definitely changed the game. A huge part of social activism is dedicated to simply creating awareness about issues (for obvious reasons) and for that platforms such as Twitter should be given due credit.

Gia Ting

New Member
Posts: 4

Re: #BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism
on: December 7, 2015, 22:37

I definitely see the positive aspects of social media when it is able to turn the #BlackLivesMatter movement into a national and even international phenomenon (at least as existing even here in Canada). Another class of mine tuned me in to Ta-Nehisi Coates' book Between the World and Me and provides a really in depth look into the subject for both outsiders and insiders. His moving letter to his son not only traces back the history of America as embedded in slavery and its continued effects in today's society, but also speaks of the continued struggle and perseverance of Black Americans despite their unfair treatment in society. Regardless of the good intentions of this movement, change will be defined by the actions of a larger collective, and I must agree with Coates when he references that it must be those in the dominant position that should be the ones to stop themselves. This brings me to the negative side of social media when an opposing movement such as #AllLivesMatter is able to gain traction and decreases the work of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. It should be obvious that all lives matter and that the need to draw attention to black lives in particular are clearly found in the statistics. However, it is worrisome to see such a message adopted by people who do not realize that its foundation is clearly politically motivated in playing a role against the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Ultimately then, it is really up to the users of social media to be activists and, even as it speaks to the power of platforms like Twitter, social media can be both a positive and negative force to social activism.

LianaDavid

Novice Their American
Posts: 9

Re: #BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism
on: March 28, 2016, 20:13

I think the use of social media and popular hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter have definitely helped in raising awareness regarding issues such as racism and police brutality, however as icedcoffee said, it creates more reactions than action. I have seen many viral videos and tweets relating to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and while many people have gotten more vocal on the matters at hand, I have not seen as much being done to improve any situation. That is not to say that there hasn't been any improvement whatsoever, as awareness is at least a step up. But I think many people get too caught up in the hashtags and viral videos as "trending topics," as pieces of pop culture to hype up rather than a means of opening a door to stronger social movements and acts of social activism.

nicoleland-
ry

Novice Their American
Posts: 6

Re: #BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism
on: March 30, 2016, 22:19

I must to agree with icedcoffee as well; in Like Liana, I must agree with icedcoffee as well. Definitely prevalent in America, but also with movements over Facebook such as changing your profile picture to “support” the victims of the recent Paris attacks so that it has a watermark of the French flag. That is not action. Of course, I am not trying to minimize the victory there is in getting the word out and having stories told, I am merely saying that there is something to be said for being well-informed versus well-equipped to make change.
Returning to canadianscholar’s original point, I agree that it is astounding how quickly news can be transmitted through avenues like twitter. I recently took a trip to New York with a friend of mine, and as we were travelling back to our apartment in Brooklyn one night we came upon countless emergency vehicles outside of our apartment. We hustled up the stairs and took to Google to see if there was any word on what was going on, fearful to go and check it out ourselves. Sure enough a police officer had been shot 100 feet from our apartment, and the information had been leaked via a tweet by an another officer (perhaps unprofessional, and perhaps a testament to the corruption within the police force in America). But the fact of the matter is, news is communicated far more rapidly through social media because there is something so casual and uncensored about tweeting news, as opposed to having it reported and waiting for it to be cleared by various people before it can actually be broadcasted. Twitter works because it is fast and there are no rules, and no ones job is on the line for reporting something their shouldn’t have. People can be completely candid.

Shahrazad-
A

Novice Their American
Posts: 6

Re: #BlackLivesMatter: How Twitter is Changing Social Activism
on: April 8, 2016, 22:38

I believe that in today's society, social media is very important for social activism. Just like the previous posts mentioned, I also get most of my news from various social media websites. This is because I am constantly on my smartphone throughout the day which makes social media the easiest way to get the latest news. Due to Twitter’s easy layout and organization of trending topics and hashtags users are able to get the latest trending news. They are also able to upload and trend their own news so that millions of people around the world can view it. This is why I believe twitter is essential for social activism and movements such as #BlackLivesMatter. This is a topic that I personally believe has been neglected from main stream media and TV news outlets, without twitter topics like police brutality against Black youth would not be discussed on a global scale. Before the hashtag become popular I did not see any news media covering shootings of Black teens by police officers on the news, and if they did it was never given the proper news coverage it deserved. After social activists began trending it on twitter news outlets had no other choice but to cover it because the entire world was now discussing it. Not everyone can physically take action after reading something on social media, but there are a lot of things twitter has done for the #BlackLivesMatter movement and that is pressuring mainstream media to recognize police brutality in America as a problem.

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