In
these days, it seems like everyone is always connected to the world around him
or her. Whether it is events like the “Left-Shark” or the FIFA world cup, we
are bombarded with a constant flood of information due to the fact that we are
now more connected than we have ever been. Although many people complain about
the fact that social media has made us more desensitized to the world around us
and causes us to lose the ability to interact with each other on a
person-to-person basis, social media has sparked the idea of change. One of the most
famous hashtags on twitter during 2014, was #icebucketchallenge. This hashtag
refers to awareness about the disease ALS which affects many people around the
world. A lot of people, from celebrities to everyday people, posted videos in which they poured ice water over themselves. There were 2.4 million videos of
this challenge posted on facebook, 2.2 million mentions on twitter, and this
ultimately led to $100 million dollars in donations towards finding a cure for
ALS and providing support to people with ALS. This hashtag is just one of many
that have sparked awareness and change around the world; hashtags like bringbackourgirls
and blacklivesmatter have sparked outrage on social issues around the world and
have helped put pressure on the world for change. Although social media was
initially created to interact with other people, I believe that it has opened
up a new door to promote change in a way that many young people can get
involved.
