Ferguson. Trans equality. Feminism. Where have you heard these words before? Maybe you’ve heard some floating around day to day, but most likely you’ve seen them mostly on the internet. Today, people everywhere are able to learn about these issues with just a few taps and a click. Twenty years ago, these issues would’ve barely been heard about even on national television. Teenagers today have become increasingly more aware about social injustices – some more than their own parents. So what’s the reason for this? Has social media brought more awareness to teens about social injustice? Rae Paoletta wrote a lengthy article on MTV News about “8 Inspiring Teens Who Are Using Social Media to Change the World.” Sylva, a 17 year old feminist, is included
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When you go on a website such as Twitter or Facebook, most likely you’re checking your friends’ statuses and pictures to keep up with their daily life. “I got on [Facebook] to keep in contact with friends when I went off to high school,” Jasmine Franklin tells Lolly Bowean in “Using Social Media to Promote Social Justice.” Although the main use of such social websites were originally for just that, socializing, you can use it to your advantage with such a huge following. “Facebook and Twitter will never replace voting or marching, but it’s a tool to organize; a way to convince your friends to register to vote or be aware of a cause,” Celina Villanueva, an avid event speaker that encourages teens to spread awareness through social websites, …show more content…
“If you’re a civil rights activist in 2015 and you need to get some news out, your first move is to choose a platform. If you want to post a video of a protest or a violent arrest, you put it up on Vine, Instagram, or Periscope. [To avoid trolls or snooping authorities], you might chat privately with other activists on GroupMe. If you want to rapidly mobilize a bunch of people you know and you don’t want the whole world clued in, you use SMS or WhatsApp. If you want to mobilize a ton of people you might not know and you do want the whole world to talk about it: Twitter.” In this day and age, people everywhere, especially teens, have many options at the tips of their fingers to spread information. Not only will that information come out quickly, but it will reach a much bigger audience than what a complex phone call in the mid-1900s could. “The thing about King or Ella Baker is that they could not just wake up and sit at the breakfast table and talk to a million people,” DeRay Mckesson, a former school district administrator who’s become one of the most visible faces of the Black Lives Matter movement, tells Stephen. “The tools that
When you go on a website such as Twitter or Facebook, most likely you’re checking your friends’ statuses and pictures to keep up with their daily life. “I got on [Facebook] to keep in contact with friends when I went off to high school,” Jasmine Franklin tells Lolly Bowean in “Using Social Media to Promote Social Justice.” Although the main use of such social websites were originally for just that, socializing, you can use it to your advantage with such a huge following. “Facebook and Twitter will never replace voting or marching, but it’s a tool to organize; a way to convince your friends to register to vote or be aware of a cause,” Celina Villanueva, an avid event speaker that encourages teens to spread awareness through social websites, …show more content…
“If you’re a civil rights activist in 2015 and you need to get some news out, your first move is to choose a platform. If you want to post a video of a protest or a violent arrest, you put it up on Vine, Instagram, or Periscope. [To avoid trolls or snooping authorities], you might chat privately with other activists on GroupMe. If you want to rapidly mobilize a bunch of people you know and you don’t want the whole world clued in, you use SMS or WhatsApp. If you want to mobilize a ton of people you might not know and you do want the whole world to talk about it: Twitter.” In this day and age, people everywhere, especially teens, have many options at the tips of their fingers to spread information. Not only will that information come out quickly, but it will reach a much bigger audience than what a complex phone call in the mid-1900s could. “The thing about King or Ella Baker is that they could not just wake up and sit at the breakfast table and talk to a million people,” DeRay Mckesson, a former school district administrator who’s become one of the most visible faces of the Black Lives Matter movement, tells Stephen. “The tools that