Social-media-enabled activism’s relevant history starts in 1991 with the first “online protest” when internet users used primitive message boards to organize a protest against a company called Lotus that was collecting data about them without their consent. Since then, social media has enabled activists and their movements across the world, and it has spawned several “hashtag movements” such as #MeToo, #JeSuisCharlie, and #BlackLivesMatter. While these are some examples of “good” activism, there have also been several instances when social-media has enabled terrorists, racists, and homophobes to spread their messages.
There are many examples of both the benefits and the damages that activists enabled by social media have caused. Each individual who uses social media has a unique worldview to themselves, and, as such, the individual experiences people have with social media vary greatly. It is difficult to attempt to compare the positive or negative consequences that social media activism has had on different individuals, but it must be decided what to do about the growing effect of social-media-enabled activism. There are several different steps that various social media platforms can take to affect the influence of activists on social media, but what action is necessary if any at all? The question this online forum addresses boils down to: does activism on social media cause more problems than it’s worth?
Social media has become a powerful tool for activists to spread their messages and influence people. This kind of social-media-enabled activism’s greatest yet most troubling feature is that it is open to everyone. That everyone encompasses wildly different people, cultures, and ideological beliefs, and social media affords social justice advocates and terrorists alike the ability to reach billions of people. Global social media use is growing, and, with it, the number of people activists that utilize social media can reach and influence is growing.