Social Movements in a Social World
Social movements are a basic part of modern society. They take issues that are found in everyday life and bring it to the fore front of the public’s attention. Using word of mouth, newspapers, magazines, and broadcast news, social movement leaders let everyone know what is going on and how it can be fixed. But in recent years a new method of igniting social movements has come into use — social media. So what makes social media so attractive to social movement leaders? Is social media more effective at advertising causes than other media outlets? And most importantly, how has social media changed social movements?
Social media has many branches that connect individuals from all over the world. Facebook gives instant information, YouTube provides instant videos, and Twitter bequeaths instant blurbs. Notice the common word used in any description of social media — instant. In the case of social movements time is of the essence. You do not have time to waste for people to learn and research the problem and the cause, and maybe think about getting involved. Social movements require swift action to get off the ground. The leaders of the movements want you to see the issue in your timeline and click, and that one click will take you to a place that will tell you everything you need to know. What’s going on, what’s being done, where is this taking place, does it affect me, how can I help, what do you need — that one click will answer it all and hopefully convince you that the movement is worthy enough to join. This immediacy is what draws social movement leaders to social media, the ability to reach millions of people in exactly 3.2 seconds, all at the click of a button.
Social movements cannot function without people, but today’s society is not like it was in the past. People don’t necessarily respond to posters on telephone poles and fliers being handed out in the street, mostly because there are not that many people there. However most people are online. They have it at home, at work, in their hand most of the time. And when someone pulls out their phone to go online most of the time they don’t go check news websites, they go onto social media. Nowadays most news sources are on social media because that’s where the people are. So if a movement leader wants to reach people the best place to do that is on social media. It consolidates all the early forms of media into one common forum allowing people to find out more about what they see.
The interesting thing about social movements on social media is now social movements are more personalized to each individual on social media. For instance if you follow feminist bloggers and female empowerment organizations on Twitter, you’re likely to see information about women’s rights movements. American republicans are more likely to see details about anti-abortion movements. So even though social media has broadened the reach of social movements, social media has also made it more personal. Think of this, if I post this article to Twitter and Facebook, I could very well have the basis for starting a social movement on social media about social movements on social media. How’s that for irony?
