Social Media As A Voice

I am not a huge newspaper/magazine reader type of person.  Most of the information I gather on current events is through social media platforms.  Whether it be Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even Snapchat -- I can count on any of those four to inform me on important events.  Many of those posts are accompanied with photos that will grab a reader's attention, getting more views and attention.  The images are usually what makes me click a tweet/link to read more about the story, or if it is just a photo that speaks for itself, it automatically get a retweet/repost from me.  The post made myself aware of a situation, I repost it in hopes others will see it also, and be made aware of whatever situation is rising at the moment.  

Most of the time, my feed is filled with nonsense and it is only when something major happens does anyone retweet the news.  I rarely saw any talks of politics on my Twitter feed until the day of the election where many young adults were sharing their opinions of the results.  Many of the young adults on my Instagram feed, when DACA was signed off, posted many photos relating to the subject, and that certainly bring awareness, but without actualy providing information to help those effected, I do not see how effective the posts are.  

If I were to tweet something on any matter that is slightly important when nothing has transpired, it would more than likely get ignored without retweet/repost.  I once had used my Instagram as a tool to better educate my followers on subjects such as the importance of recycling and prevention of teen pregnancy and those two posts alone received little to no feedback in comparison to another person sharing picture of her/himself going out over the weekend.  So it is hard to become a voice of educating and resisting if the people who view your posts do not feel passionately for the matter at hand.  

Overall, social media does have a great influence on the population.  If a great amount of people are passionate about the same subject, it can make a huge difference in sending the resistance message out into the public.  The Women's March that took place in January 2017 primarily took place in Washington, D.C. and as it was streamed across multiple platforms it influenced others across the country, even the around the world started to join into the movement.  Added on the well known celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, made it more "appealing" to those who were not aware at the time to take the time to learn about the issue.  I feel if a celebrity has a strong belief in a matter that is relatable, those who are fond of that person will take on the same perspective.  The more voices the opposition have, the greater force in fighting for the cause. 

Scarlett Johansson at Women's March January 2017

                                          Source:  The Cut