Social media impacts on activism Communications & Media Essay (Essay Sample)

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Social Media and Activism
Social media has become a powerful virtual interaction platform in the 21st Century. Society uses it to grow businesses, advance charitable courses, cultivate new relationships, and find long lost friends and family. We also use the platforms to voice opinions to a broader audience at speeds that the traditional media cannot provide and influence policy in various global governments and organizations. However, social media's most significant function is, arguably, the platform that it offers to stir up conversations that end up being prominent topics of discussion worldwide. As such, it shapes people's perceptions of a particular issue, thus influencing their behaviour. Social media has some demonstrated impacts on activism, which affect everyone through the policy and social changes it brings about. Besides, a voice amplified by social media is more powerful.
How Social Media Influences My Perception of Activism
With social media, I believe that a more comprehensive community shoulders the burden of championing for a social or political change instead of few elite activists who would steer traditional activism forms. Since social media facilitates quick access to news and information, people can read about a problem, understand the background story, contribute to the conversations around it, and put forth solutions that they see fit. All these happen at the click of a button by searching for a common keyword(s) in the conversations. The keyword(s) is known as a Hashtag (#). Users can also invite their virtual and real friends to participate in the discussions or join virtual communities to unite people with a common cause. As information spreads, participation (by ordinary people) in activism increases.