Social Media Activists
What is an activist? As Google suggests, it is “a person who campaigns to bring about political or social change.” In my personal opinion, a lot of change happening in today's world is stemming from online platforms, as networks are developed and through threads and forums, people are able to communicate their viewpoints and perspectives.
Social media activism can be meaningful and worthwhile as most of us have access to technology at the tip of our fingers and with a hashtag or engaging platform, people are engaged, sharing, and clicking the like/comment button. Further, social media allows us to share information quickly to gather to coordinate protests, boycotts and raise voices and concerns.
“While concerns about the potential pitfalls of social media platforms are valid and should be taken seriously, they can also overshadow some of the more positive ways that young people in general – and young people of color in particular – are using social media. As I found in my dissertation – “#OnlineLiteraciesMatter” – some young people are using social media to develop their identities as activists and to push for a more just society. In short, they are using social media platforms to engage in what I refer to as “digitized activism,” taking on issues such as systemic racism and seeking racial justice.” - The Conversation
Where I struggle is with the idea of being silent online means no change is occurring and you are not supposedly doing enough in the classroom. Silence online does not mean there is no change, opinion, or voice!! In my opinion, I do not like to engage in conversation online as I feel people hide behind screens and to be blunt, are quite rude to one another with differing perspectives. However, this notion of being silent online means being silent in the classroom or day-to-day life is far from being accurate.
On the flip side, I do think there is space for productive conversations about social justice online, but it involves education and picking your battles. There is never a time to be judgmental of people’s viewpoints and to be rude because of it. I believe with online activism; we can encourage one another and raise up voices that are often neglected or marginalized. Like I said before, since it is so easy to click the share, like, or comment button, we then must turn these discussions and shares into concrete efforts, where we are working towards the change. For example, I often see people resharing stories on Instagram but not putting in the work to create change. Although sharing is a way to share knowledge, we need to put more voices into action to see the change.
Our responsibility as educators to model active citizenship online means bringing social media efforts into the classroom and teaching digital citizenship. This is through various examples, lessons, and activities within the classroom. For myself, this involves daily conversations and hands-on activities where they have opportunities to understand how to be safe on the internet and share their ideas. This is still a learning curve for me, as I struggle to bring in social media, but I am slowly beginning to integrate it.
"Activism is not only taking place in the streets but also on social media. Hashtags like Black Lives Matter and not in my name have been used to highlight violence around the world. But, does social media activism work?"
What are the ideas you have to model active citizenship online? What does this mean to you? How do we teach young students who have no profiles on any internet platform?
