400 word draft

Activism is how you make an effort to make change in society, and it has definitely evolved with the presence and popularity of social media. People are more comfortable sharing their opinions on social media because they do not have to deal with the backlash of people disagreeing up front.

“Like-minded people in the social media communication environment can easily come together and facilitate collective action to change society or social problems. “

“the Arab Spring protests in Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011 were considered social media–inspired protests, and even called “Facebook revolutions” (Tufekci & Wilson, 2012). During the evolution of the Arab Spring movement, social media such as Twitter and Facebook were indispensable for citizens who used them to share their expressions of dissent and to disseminate information (Youmans & York, 2012).”

“The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaigns, which originated in the African American community to protest police violence and racism, also used social media extensively (Freelon, Mcilwain, & Clark, 2016). Since the Twitter hashtag #Blacklivesmatter was created in July 2013, it has been used to diffuse and share information related to BLM activism.”

“I’d like a cup of coffee, please,” one of the four, Ezell Blair said to the waitress. ‘We don’t serve Negroes here,’ she replied. The woolworth’s lunch counter was a long L-shaoed bar that could seat sixty people, with a standup snack bar at one end. The seats were for whites. The snack bar was for blacks. Another employee, a black woman who worked at the steam table, approached the students and tried to warn them away. ‘you’re acting stupid, ignorant!’ she said. They didn’t moce. Around five-thirty, the front doors to the store were locked. The four still didn’t mv. Finally, they left by a side door. Outside, a small crowd had gathered, inckuding a photographer from the Greensboro record. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow with A.& T. college,’ one of the students said.”

“by the next morning, the protest had grown to twenty-seven men and four women, most from the same dormitory as the original four.”

“by the following Monday, sit ins had spread to Winston-Salem, twenty five miles away, and Durham, Fifty miles away.”

“By the end of the month there were sit-ins throughout the south, as far west as Texas… some seventy thousand students eventually took part. Thousands were arrested and untold thousands more radicalized. These events in the early sixties became a civil rights war that engulfed the south for the rest of the decade.”

800 word draft

Activism is how you make an effort to make change in society, and it has definitely evolved with the presence and popularity of social media. People are more comfortable sharing their opinions on social media because they do not have to deal with the backlash of people disagreeing up front. Activism is much more low risk than it used to be, and most of it now proves to be performative.

In the age without social media if you wanted to see a real effective change happen you needed to be brave. You would have to go in public and stand up for what you believe in, ready to take on the worst from people who disagree. For example the civil rights movement. It was started by four brave individuals. “I’d like a cup of coffee, please,” one of the four, Ezell Blair said to the waitress. ‘We don’t serve Negroes here,’ she replied. The woolworth’s lunch counter was a long L-shaoed bar that could seat sixty people, with a standup snack bar at one end. The seats were for whites. The snack bar was for blacks. Another employee, a black woman who worked at the steam table, approached the students and tried to warn them away. ‘you’re acting stupid, ignorant!’ she said. They didn’t moce. Around five-thirty, the front doors to the store were locked. The four still didn’t mv. Finally, they left by a side door. Outside, a small crowd had gathered, inckuding a photographer from the Greensboro record. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow with A.& T. college,’ one of the students said.” Now similarly to social media, this photographer would be spreading word with his photo, just not digitally. “by the next morning, the protest had grown to twenty-seven men and four women, most from the same dormitory as the original four. By the following Monday, sit ins had spread to Winston-Salem, twenty five miles away, and Durham, Fifty miles away. By the end of the month there were sit-ins throughout the south, as far west as Texas… some seventy thousand students eventually took part. Thousands were arrested and untold thousands more radicalized. These events in the early sixties became a civil rights war that engulfed the south for the rest of the decade.” People gathered in person to this high risk activism event because they saw others physically go out and make a change. During this time there was no other way even though it was scary.

 “The four students who first sat down at the lunch counter were terrified. “I suppose if anyone had come up behind me and yelled ‘boo,’ I think I would’ve fallen off my seat.’ Said one of them later. Activism on social media however is not terrifying. You don’t have to worry about angry people disagreeing, you can just ignore them. “Like-minded people in the social media communication environment can easily come together and facilitate collective action to change society or social problems. “ Like the “Arab Spring protests in Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011 were considered social media–inspired protests, and even called “Facebook revolutions” (Tufekci & Wilson, 2012). During the evolution of the Arab Spring movement, social media such as Twitter and Facebook were indispensable for citizens who used them to share their expressions of dissent and to disseminate information (Youmans & York, 2012).” As well as “The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaigns, which originated in the African American community to protest police violence and racism, also used social media extensively (Freelon, Mcilwain, & Clark, 2016). Since the Twitter hashtag #Blacklivesmatter was created in July 2013, it has been used to diffuse and share information related to BLM activism.” Word spreads sp much quicker to such a greater volume of people on social media. “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.

One bad thing about social media and activism is that it can be completely performative for most due to the fact that “it doesn’t involve financial or personal risk; it doesn’t mean spending a summer being chased by armed men in pickup trucks. It doesn’t require that you confront socially entrenched norms and practices. In fact, it’s the kind of commitment that will bring only social acknowledgement and praise.” As disgusting as it is some people thrive off of this praise when in reality they could care less to do anything for the cause they are “advocating” about. They will complain just to complain. share a picture just for their friends and family even the public to tell them how good of a person they are. If they really cared about a change happening they wouldn’t even post that they did something for the cause. They would post to raise awareness for the cause and give others options to help. If it wasn’t for praise they would participate in the good they did without posting it all over for people to see. It doesn’t matter who see’s it matters what you do.

1000 word draft (peer review)

Activism is how you make an effort to make change in society, and it has definitely evolved with the presence and popularity of social media. People are more comfortable sharing their opinions on social media because they do not have to deal with the backlash of people disagreeing up front. Activism is much more low risk than it used to be, and most of it now proves to be performative.

In the age without social media if you wanted to see a real effective change happen you needed to be brave. You would have to go in public and stand up for what you believe in, ready to take on the worst from people who disagree. For example, the civil rights movement. It was started by four brave individuals. “I’d like a cup of coffee, please,” one of the four, Ezell Blair said to the waitress. ‘We don’t serve Negroes here,’ she replied. The Woolworth’s lunch counter was a long L-shaped bar that could seat sixty people, with a standup snack bar at one end. The seats were for whites. The snack bar was for blacks. Another employee, a black woman who worked at the steam table, approached the students and tried to warn them away. ‘you’re acting stupid, ignorant!’ she said. They didn’t move. Around five-thirty, the front doors to the store were locked. The four still didn’t mv. Finally, they left by a side door. Outside, a small crowd had gathered, including a photographer from the Greensboro record. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow with A.& T. college,’ one of the students said.” Now similarly to social media, this photographer would be spreading word with his photo, just not digitally. “By the next morning, the protest had grown to twenty-seven men and four women, most from the same dormitory as the original four. By the following Monday, sit ins had spread to Winston-Salem, twenty-five miles away, and Durham, Fifty miles away. By the end of the month there were sit-ins throughout the south, as far west as Texas… some seventy thousand students eventually took part. Thousands were arrested and untold thousands more radicalized. These events in the early sixties became a civil rights war that engulfed the south for the rest of the decade.” People gathered in person to this high-risk activism event because they saw others physically go out and make a change. During this time there was no other way even though it was scary. People were injured even killed during protests like these because there was no option as a safe outlet to truly freely express their opinions.

 “The four students who first sat down at the lunch counter were terrified. “I suppose if anyone had come up behind me and yelled ‘boo,’ I think I would’ve fallen off my seat.’ Said one of them later. Activism on social media however is not terrifying. You don’t have to worry about angry people disagreeing, you can just ignore them. “Like-minded people in the social media communication environment can easily come together and facilitate collective action to change society or social problems. This especially when people are extremely fearful to take a stand in real life with just a small group. “Like the “Arab Spring protests in Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011 were considered social media–inspired protests, and even called “Facebook revolutions” (Tufekci & Wilson, 2012). During the evolution of the Arab Spring movement, social media such as Twitter and Facebook were indispensable for citizens who used them to share their expressions of dissent and to disseminate information (Youmans & York, 2012).” This helped to get word out far to other countries and the issue at hand would have been much more challenging to solve given a lack of social media. Another example of this was the “The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaigns, which originated in the African American community to protest police violence and racism, also used social media extensively (Freelon, Mcilwain, & Clark, 2016). Since the Twitter hashtag #Blacklivesmatter was created in July 2013, it has been used to diffuse and share information related to BLM activism.” Word spreads so much quicker to such a greater volume of people on social media. It gives a safe voice to those who maybe wouldn’t of had the opportunity to have one in the first place “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. To be able to fearlessly be an activist for something you really care about is something we should value social media for.

One bad thing about social media and activism is that it can be completely performative for most due to the fact that “it doesn’t involve financial or personal risk; it doesn’t mean spending a summer being chased by armed men in pickup trucks. It doesn’t require that you confront socially entrenched norms and practices. In fact, it’s the kind of commitment that will bring only social acknowledgement and praise.” As disgusting as it is some people thrive off of this praise when in reality, they could care less to do anything for the cause they are “advocating” about. They will complain just to complain. share a picture just for their friends and family even the public to tell them how good of a person they are. If they really cared about a change happening, they wouldn’t even post that they did something for the cause. They would post to raise awareness for the cause and give other options to help. If it wasn’t for praise, they would participate in the good they did without posting it all over for people to see. It doesn’t matter who sees it matters what you do. This being the main reason people discredit activism on social media, when in reality it is a very effective way to get word out and start a change, people’s intentions behind helping aren’t always good or coming from the right headspace.