Norah Barry

Jesse Miller

12/5/23

ENG 110

Activism at its Finest

Our world is constantly changing. People change. Technology changes. Politics change. The overall structure of humankind has gone through massive amounts of change that has greatly impacted the way people live their lives. With all this political and social change comes a need to stand for what you believe in, activism. When looking back on activism we see passion, bravery, and honor through the acts of people. Today, I believe we can look at activism and say the same thing. Though many may disagree, the power of passionate in person activism is still very much alive. To be an activist to me means to contribute to help those without power that are experiencing something harmful that you believe can be stopped. When we bring technology and social media into the conversation with activism it’s easy to get caught up in the argument that social media activism is taking away from real, in person activism. I have grown up in a time where I can confidently say that real, in person activism still exists. Whether it be the Black Lives Matter movement protests, the raiding of the capital, or the protests for and against Roe V. Wade. It lives. Social media has only added to these movements by organizing protests, coordinating accounts to educate people, and spreading the word about important topics that people wouldn’t otherwise know about? Though these forms of activism may be different than the sit ins in the 1960s. It is yet passion being shown in a real-life form. Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Small Change,” brings light to the conversation of activism in the south during the 1960s. Sharing the heartfelt stories behind the brave people who protested for civil rights and how activism today cannot compare. Kevin Kelley, author of Technophilia, shares his thoughts on what it means to be in love with technology and be able to use it for the greater good. Social media, used in a meaningful way, can leverage a powerful advantage on the dynamic of activism, but we must be open to see it.

As a constantly growing and changing society we should take advantage of technology and social media by using it as a tool to empower change. Just like any other tool, we can use social media to help us fix an issue or a problem if we use it in the right ways. As we move forward in the world of technology, we advance beyond just doing things in person but also online. Kelley explains to us, “As the scale of technology outgrew the hand, machines became a communal experience. By the age of the industry, lay folk had many occasions to encounter complexifying technology larger than any natural organism they had ever seen, and they began to fall under its sway” (Kelley 1). Essentially, as technology became more present in people’s day to day lives it began to take over things that once were done by hand that can now be done online. By describing it as a communal experience, Kelley puts emphasis on the fact that people are brought together because they all went through the same advancement of technology together. To back up the use of technology in activism Gladwell includes in his writing, “With Facebook and Twitter and the like, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns” (Gladwell 3). I agree with these thoughts because the platforms of social media provide opportunity for people who don’t usually have a voice to share their opinions loud and clear. As someone who has multiple forms of social media like Instagram and Snapchat, I can say that I have seen people advocate for issues over social media when they would have never of had the confidence to advocate in real life. An example of this is given to us in Gladwell’s writing when he describes the power of social media and the effect it had on the Iranian people, “Without Twitter the people of Iran would not have felt empowered and confident to stand up for freedom and democracy,” Mark Pfeifle, a former national-security adviser, later wrote, calling for Twitter to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize” (Gladwell 3). Having Twitter receive a Nobel Peace Prize, in my opinion, is a bit extreme. However, seeing people come together over an app to make such a significant amount of change that it is wanted to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize is quite remarkable and I don’t think it should go unrecognized.  

Social media activism is what you make it. To me, it’s not taking over in person activism but adding to it. To others, it could be completely taking over in person activism. Gladwell shares his opinion on what he believes social media activism is, “In other words, Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice. We are a long way from the lunch counters of Greensboro” (Gladwell 9). This quote expresses his view on social media activism and how it’s essentially the easier and lazier way to engage in activism. I agree with Gladwell that technology and social media make things easier and people lazier, but I also believe that it’s unfair to claim all people who use social media activism are not motivated enough to go out and make a sacrifice. Yes, there are people who post just to get recognition so they can fit into a social standards box that checks them off for being a good person. For example, social media influencers and celebrities tend to do this. They will post things and support things without ever talking about them or showing any real interest or concern for the issue. By doing this they make it crystal clear that they don’t really “care” about the issue but care more about what their fan base thinks of them. However, I believe there is no doubt that some people who use social media activism are also involved with in person activism. Based on personal experience, posting an issue you feel strongly about on your Instagram story will not make great impact on the issue or by no means help to solve the issue. However, by posting it on your Instagram story you know for a fact that at least one of your followers will see it. What if it interests them and they decide to check it out? Maybe even get involved, donate, or volunteer their time to this cause? On the flip side, if they don’t (which they most likely won’t), they probably still read it which means that issue is now buried somewhere in their brain, and they at least have awareness to it as before they probably didn’t know it existed. To support this, Kelley shares his personal experience “In dreamtime you jump from one page, one thought, to another. First on the screen you are in a cemetery looking at an automobile carved out of solid rock, the next moment, there’s a man in front of a black board writing the news in chalk, then you are in jail with a crying baby, then a woman in a vail gives a long speech about the virtues of confession, then tall buildings in a city blow their tops off in slow motion. I encountered all those dreamy moments this morning within the first few minutes of my web surfing. The net’s daydreams have touched my own, and stirred my heart” (Kelley 6). Kelley’s experiences of getting touched by what he sees on the web are a common occurrence for most. Which is why I believe that it doesn’t hurt to post things you feel strongly about even though it most likely will not directly contribute to the cause. To contrast these thoughts, people may ask, if an individual is so moved by an issue, then why don’t they go out and find time to get involved to make a difference? My defense to this is that not everyone, realistically, has extra time on their hands. I know for me as a college student I am juggling many different things at once, as many college students are. Not only college students but the average adult who works every day to support a family might not have the extra time to dedicate to a cause. With these cases it’s nice to have a platform to express how we feel and share topics that are important to us. That way we can get the word out about an issue that people may have never known about.

People use technology in many ways for many different purposes. These purposes can be for good, for bad, and everything in between. In the case of activism, we see people using their social media platforms on all these levels. Admitting that social media can be used to go around participating in real in person activism, I feel strongly that we can also admit it is not all bad. Social media activism has been labeled as something that is negative and I believe that we need to open our minds and realize that social media can help us if we focus on using it positively.