Say what you want about social media, it’s a powerful tool for bringing people together. Not just to talk about the latest celebrity gossip or share some funny videos of dudes doing dumb stuff in public. It has helped bring the people together for the betterment of the world, and I believe that it is a crucial tool for shaping its conflicts.
Social media gives everyday people the opportunity to express how they feel about issues that are impacting society. It gives them the opportunity to express their opinions and come together for discussion about said issues. When it’s something most people agree is morally wrong, like apartheid or police brutality, social media allows them to do something about it.
In the pre-social media era, people’s main news sources were through newspapers and broadcast channels. While local news was more geared towards what was going on in towns & communities, the bigger outlets covered bigger news. They had the resources to do so, which made it easier to spread a message. The same is still true today, but social media helps shake up potentially false narratives.
It is able to do this almost instinctively due to the sheer number of people who have access to it. People all over the world use social media. When a natural disaster, invasion, or conflict of some sort happens in their area, they are quick to post what is actually happening. This makes it easier to spot shaped narratives. Since people have real, timestamped, first-hand accounts from a good number of people involved in a conflict, they are able to draw a more accurate conclusion about the truth (with context, of course).
Social media makes organizing easy, too, as it brings people together in a way that society has never seen before. The biggest issue with this, however, is that since it’s so big, it’s easy for people to get caught in echo chamber. If you find yourself stuck in an echo chamber, my best advice is to get off the internet and touch grass. Seriously, get off your phone and go outside.
Although these drawbacks can have consequences of their own, like the storming of the U.S Capitol on January 6th, 2021, when it works it really works. Companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks have been feeling pressure from boycotts organized on social media because of their support of Israel during its colonization and subjugation of Palestine. Social media was also the main vehicle for spreading awareness and proof of George Floyd’s murder, which prompted people across the world to protest in the midst of a pandemic. It has also educated people about the silent genocide in Congo and the extensive history of Israel’s colonization of Palestine.
If I haven’t said it enough, social media is an incredible tool for spreading awareness and organizing around different causes. When people use it to organize for just causes, it can help ignite change. It can put pressure on politicians and those with power to act, a big reminder that power is in the hands of the people.
Allowing that power to be exercised more easily has made for situations where those with questionable morals can come together. Considering social media is in its infancy in the grand scheme of history, I believe protections against those with questionable morals will come. With time, organizing, and of course, social media.
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