Examining the Stages of a Social Movement in the Post-Aughts Digital Era
A public can only reform the actions of a government or media establishment if it actively holds every rung more accountable. Now that we’ve worked through the hashtag wars surrounding the Black Lives Matter Movement in Part I, this section will address how you can approach the movement in a meaningful, effective way.
Core principles of social movements generally stay the same through the ages, but their mechanics evolve hand-in-hand with technological advancement. In turn, the post-aughts digital era faces its own built in advantages and disadvantages. I address (i) the importance of individuals analyzing sources to create informed decisions (ii) the merits and shortcomings of social media protesting (iii) ways to effectuate actual policy change. Though written in the context of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile reigniting the Black Lives Matter movement, this framework can be applied to any movement during this time period.
i. Become a conscious consumer of information.
The first step is a mental one. Part 1 of this article has already discussed the dangers of disinformation. Tier 1 thus calls for conscious consumption and rigorous analysis of information. We might be consuming more information everyday, but we’re also becoming less critical of our sources. We have to expend the energy into researching diverse, reliable sources — even if it’s hard, even if it’s more expensive.
Profit centered media consolidation makes it even harder to get the full picture of current events. It doesn’t help that we have a cognitive tendency of seeking out people and perspectives that are similar to us at the expense of learning. Clay Johnson points out the dangers of circular research and taking sensationalist journalism at face value, likening them to processed food manufacturers in his book The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption.
“Just as food companies learned that if they want to sell a lot of cheap calories, they should pack them with salt, fat, and sugar — the stuff that people crave — media companies learned that affirmation sells a lot better than information. Who wants to hear the truth when they can hear that they’re right
- Close the gap between you and the source by expanding your consumption of primary sources — aka drop the pundit and read the actual bill, law, court case, press release, etc.
- Raise the quality of research with reliable studies, peer-reviewed journal articles, and well-cited research.
- Follow the money to find out who owns the publication or funds the studies.
- Read opposing views to see information bias. Study a cross section of articles on the same issue to glean the scope of coverage itself. You’ll start to see patterns in reporting, and sometimes we can learn more from what writers don’t say.
- Break down the language and notice how publications on either end of the issue phrase headlines. Many papers desensitize and sterilize both actors when they write about a cop “involved” in an “officer related shooting” of a “black male with a criminal record.” Does it strike a different chord than an officer who “murdered a loving father that was beloved in his community?”
- Get out there to directly observe and accurately record what’s going on in your community.
- Keep up to date on Twitter and Reddit. Though not completely devoid of algorithmic censorship, Twitter and Reddit are the go to digital venues for crowdsourced breaking news. Here you will also find information that may generally not be televised on major broadcasting or even be blocked on Facebook.
ii. Keep sharing and speaking up.
Our generation is good at talking. In fact, maybe too good. Tier II is the easiest to accomplish and the easiest to criticize — usually because for most people, the participation tends to end here. Facebook users preemptively disclaim and apologize for politically charged posts in fear of looking dramatically no-chill, or even worse, standing out as a lazy protestor. It’s fair. Profile picture filters and hashtags seem to be the half-hearted weapons of choice for a privileged millennial class.
But I do believe they are effective starting points in raising and aggregating awareness. We already know that crowdsourced voices on Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook have pushed media networks, public figures, and other corporate entities to directly respond. One could argue this climate of public outrage has probably made it easier for an entire St. Louis police union to get together and speak out against their Commissioner.
And then yesterday, I began to consider another complex fold in the shortcomings of “social media protest.” When do graphic videos cause more harm than good? By sharing, are we devaluing the bodies of African Americans by encouraging desensitized voyeurism?
I found myself torn as I scrolled through heartfelt cries on Twitter and Facebook feeds to stop sharing the footage.
While others, rightfully voicing exhaustion.
I duly note the importance of treating these deaths with grace; equally so their capacity to inflict widespread emotional distress. However, I find the value of sharing still outweighs the benefit of censorship. It’s the censorship of such footage that has allowed these accounts to remain anecdotal hearsay. Despite what the First Amendment promises, censorhip has been an integral tool in perpetuating disinformation. Encouraging Facebook to increase censorship in the name of “community standards” is dangerous for future social movements, considering the feature has already been used to stifle marginalized voices. (For an hour, they “accidentally” censored this one, too.).
As Americans ask in sympathetic agony, “what is the world coming to?” I cringe at the idea that anyone equates the visibility of these harms with their actual prevalence — as if the world was a more just place during the 1980’s through the aughts. The only thing “new” is who is being exposed to what information. Previously insulated sections of society are forced to face uncomfortable truths in a centralized, digital sphere. To suggest we are witnessing a novel trend only confirms the sad reality that the black community’s words have not been enough for people to believe.
To contrast the glare of digital overexposure, Bengali Americans felt the poignant silence of underexposure when almost no one spoke up against last week’s ISIS attacks in Dhaka. Where were the green and red tinted Facebook photos? Where were the longwinded statuses about Baghdad as the death toll continued to mount? Or are we used to staying quiet about certain types of deaths? It was in that uncomfortable silence that I started to appreciate the rallying power of a hashtag or a disturbingly graphic video.
Ultimately, the American public’s capacity to weigh in on issues concerning people’s lives seems severely limited when we try intellectualize them. On a massive scale, we’ve demonstrated that with written facts alone (when we even have those), we don’t empathize, neither here nor abroad. This is why we have to keep talking about, sharing, and humanizing the difficult issues our minds can’t grasp.
iii. Do something (peaceful and effective).
Tier III combines the consciousness of Tier I and the community aggregation of Tier II to manifest organized action. Though the following (non-exhaustive) list susbstantively leans towards “Black Lives Matter” issues, this can be a preliminary framework for any social justice movement.
- Donate: To any organization you feel is doing an excellent job organizing local events or spreading information. Supporting victims’ families (re: Alton Sterling / Philando Castile) with a donation is a great place to start, too.
- Join a campaign or organization: Stay Woke makes it very easy to stay involved by connecting you with activist events, research, and mentorship opportunities. It is directly affiliated with Campaign Zero, an organization that spells out comprehensive policy agendas from top to bottom. Justice in Policing links to five campaigns you can get involved with, including decriminalizing minor offenses, implementing municipal court reform, immigration detainee reform, community oversight, and police demilitarization.
- Protest with Knowledge: If you’re getting out there to demonstrate, make sure to check your rights (and limitations) here
- Record and share injustice: Mobile Justice is an app that streamlines recording and reporting interactions with police. If you use the app, your footage will upload to your local ACLU affiliate.
- Contact representatives and sign petitions: Campaign Zero also uses a widget that gives you the contact information of your local representative along with a list of past and upcoming bills pertaining to enforcement issues.
- Meaningfully engage in local politics: Use Vote Smart and On the Issues to stay informed of your politicians’ and candidates’ platforms before you check the box. You can donate to campaigns you believe in or start getting involved directly by running for office.
- Send letters to editors. Call out irresponsible journalism.