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.
The first thing that strikes me about the ALS program is that it required action of people, but also action that was (practically speaking) limited to the interwebs: meaning, the actions were meant to to resound only within the twittersphere. I wonder whether social media in the US can inspire actions that are more outwardly-directed?
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with Meghna. Social media has helped promote good things, but it also has promoted negative things like hate speech against women. I wonder to what extent social media is more harmful than it is helpful?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that social media has helped spread awareness for issues very easily. Social media has also allowed us to stay more connected with the happenings of the world than we have ever been before. I do agree with Fatima when she says that there are also negative drawbacks to social media, but what humans have developed today is really neat I think.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you on this topic. Social Media has caused many good things to happen such as the ALS ice bucket challenge, but I would say that it has caused many negative things to happen as well. Examples of negative impact on social media would be by posting things that are offensive to other races. Social Media has created this idea of change in the society, and I would say that this can be an argued topic.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what Meghna said about how social media has become a new medium to express positive social change, this is also what I discussed in my most recent blog post. However, I also agree with Fatima and Rachel that social media also has very negative affects and that people can just as easily spread the word of hate rather than change. Overall, what I think is the most is the most important to understand is that the evolution of technology has drastically changed the way we spread our ideas to the world, whether positive or negative.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that social media can be used to express positive change. However, I also think that social media is the cause of negative effects on teenagers like us. Social media is the famous location for cyber bullying which severely effects one's emotional health. Though I think that social media and technology allows us to positively expresses our concerns, it is also the location to be bullied.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that social media can be used to express positive change. However, I also think that social media is the cause of negative effects on teenagers like us. Social media is the famous location for cyber bullying which severely effects one's emotional health. Though I think that social media and technology allows us to positively expresses our concerns, it is also the location to be bullied.
ReplyDelete