Digital Activism a Success? Of course!

Without social media, modern activism movements would not be as nearly as successful as they are. The most important aspect of social media is its ability to inform a broad audience. This information can range anywhere from local weather to Hollywood gossip. However, one of the largest uses of social media is for the promotion of activism movements and the pushing of policy agendas. Many people open Twitter or Facebook to check their feed to see what’s going on in the world. It is everyone’s new newspaper.

At any time on any given day, people can open social media and find numerous activist organizations or activist events near them. This allows for people to connect with others that support causes like they do. It also allows organization’s supporter base to multiply quicker than without modern media.

​

There were an estimated 50,000 women in attendance at one of the nation’s most recognized symbols of activism: The Women’s Strike for Equality March. Arguably the most historic moments of the Women’s Rights Movement, word of the protest spread by word of mouth, radio coverage, and television broadcasts. However, the numbers doubled to approximately to 500,000 participants in the first Women’s March in Washington, D.C. in 2017, with an average of 4.6 million participating collectively across the nation. News of the March and its platform spread quickly across the web. The movement’s founders flocked to social media after the outcome of the 2016 Election hoping to  speak out on the issues affecting a lot of the women in the country. Teresa Shook, the Hawaiian woman credited with creating the event posted a single event in Washington on Facebook. Soon, thousands of women across the nation signed up to attend the event and sister events popped up all around the country, even the world.

While both marches occurred at different times in our nation, they both stood to see changes made. The evolution of social media, from the limited circulation of television to modern apps like Twitter, he surge of participation in political activism is owed to social media’s ability to connect people together.