The Impact Of Social Media On Black Lives Matter. Media Essay

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON BLACK LIVES MATTER.
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The Impact of Social Media on Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter movement is an anti-discrimination group launched on social media. It is an essential example of a lobby that has found effective intensification by way of social media. It is an excellent and partisan involvement in a world whereby black lives are deliberately and systematically battered to death. Social networks have influenced the movement since its inception, and its hashtag has been used approximately 17,003 times per day on Twitter, which is nearly thirty million times (Simon, 2018). Social activism has been encouraged by social media by enhancing collective awareness, taking action, and the provision of support to the groups. In multiple countries, blacks are treated dishonorably and discriminated contrary to everyone else. Frustration due to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in 2013 after shooting Trayvon Martin led activists and the black community members to require a platform that they could use to initiate and call for change (Simon, 2018). The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and its social media activism became the representation of contemporary racial discriminations.
The group is meant to be an assertion of the black peoples’ input to humanity and society and their ability to recover and remain robust in fighting vices such as discrimination. Black lives matter is crucial as it encourages universal public awareness and its availability on social media has influenced its participation worldwide. The ability to act on issues even though it is just by furthering a post on social media enables individuals to feel involved. Although furthering the hashtag unlike demonstrations is seen as less significant, it allows engagements on social networks, which expands the matter and sensitivity to new audiences. The technology advancements have promoted the growth of the black movement because through it; communities have started paying attention to the issue of discrimination against blacks. The involvement of different communities has resulted in more black individuals joining the internet community, fighting and supporting the initiative against black violence. The media has also encouraged the groups through their willingness to report and track the discrimination cases because it is a just and popular course. The social media movement Black Lives Matter aims at getting people to realize that black people deserve equal and fair treatment. These social networks influence the campaign because they are the perfect platforms for individuals to speak freely about the topic of letting anyone interested in following and joining. The influence is significant because the platforms are popular sites that attract millions of digitally connected users, which have made them public spheres. The promotion of free speech on social media has been well elaborated by the way the mainstream media follows stories online.
Additionally, the fourth estate uses information online in discussions of problems in the society that are meant to impact political action (Simon, 2018). Therefore, social media is an excellent method to publicize thoughts and call for rehabilitation. The Black Lives Matter movement caused consciousness on social networks, organizing individuals all over the world to introduce actions and account on similar occurrences.
Since the shooting incident in 2013 when the Black Lives Matter label appeared on the internet, the number of participants in social media has grown, with Facebook and Twitter being the most used (Simon, 2018). In five years, the tag has been used approximately thirty million times. The rapid growth of social networks is mainly because the movement has remained consistent since its inception. Due to its popularity, the hashtag’s modest opinion was found imperative, and it passed its message concisely in a moment where there was a noticeable rise in violence and killings among the black population (Simon, 2018). Social media plays a growing role in activism as it offers a platform for mobilizing people in a fast manner. It gave the people of color a platform to voice their views on social issues like how political institutions and mainstream media fail at representing them. However, social media was only the beginning, which aimed at promoting awareness and support that has resulted in making the movement significant and a key aspect of current discussions around race. The coming together has moved beyond the hashtag; activists have progressive agendas that have established methods, detailed policies, and ways of tackling police brutality against the black community. Cultural workers, designers, artists, and techies put their effort and passion in furthering the Black Lives Matter on social media. Most activists and feminists use social networks to spotlight continued failures and discriminations (Hobson, 2016). Because of the platforms’ technology that can pick communities dedicated to the movement, it has become a space to make visible the Black Lives Matter movement, to give the silenced a voice, and to organize for those dehumanized as well as a place to challenge those offering support.
On the other hand, individuals believe that social media makes people think of something but not necessarily change. Seventy-seven percent think that they can divert from the main issues, which then translates to seventy-one percent approving that social media gets the public to be sure they are causing change when in actual sense they are not (Hobson, 2016). The social networks are believed to have furthered optimism that antiracism has ushered in a new moment. However, Janell (2016) explains that although there have been assurances that mainstream feminism and antiracism is getting better, no proof has been provided to support the claims. T...