Black Lives Matter: Social Media's Impact On Society

Black Lives Matter's Impact on Society

My first encounter with the black lives matter was August 2014, that was the month Mike Brown was gunned down by a police officer. I was just scrolling through Tumblr when this hashtag #BlackLivesMatter continued to occur on my feed. This movement from an early point already had a presences on the internet. Later this made me think, “How has the Black Lives Matter Movement affect other people outside of social media”. So the question that came about was ‘What role does Social Media play in the Black Lives Matter Movement?”. The answer to that question is simply its plays the role of the messenger. Social activist uses social media to inform their followers on the sites that they use. .

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The founders Opal Tometi and Alica Garza stated " It’s a call to action and a response to the virulent anti- black racism that permeates our society" (“Black Lives Matter”) By that the two mean that the movement is call to action to stop the injustice that is spreading throughout the black community by non-blacks. Also the movement discuss how black’s lives are deprived from basic human rights. The movement also brings together different types of people through social media; any race or origin can join. As always a counter group, with Black Lives Matter it’s the ‘All Lives Matter'. This is use as a response when the Black Lives Matter is used or the group calls attention to something. For example when a social media user calls to attention that in a certain situation that a person of color is mistreated, the all lives matter group will come in and try to say race doesn’t not play a role in the problem. However both movement’s works heavily on social media, but the members of Black Lives Matter use their social media platform to inform their followers of any injustices or any news. Also the movement has effects on the people in the real world and everyday life. For example more and more
Even inside the hashtags one can find stories about the injustices on people of color, also one can find other people’s opinions. In a CNN article it notices the movement’s presences on social media by saying “It has grown in a social juggernaut, it has changed the way people talk about police brutality and inequality” (Sinder). This an example on how people see the movement on social media and take in consideration of what is going on. Also it shows how Black Lives Matter Movement is a reoccurring topic and not just a ‘one hit wonder’. On the other hand the movement are bringing people together using social media as well. The article “Black Lives Matter Protest Disrupts Mall of America” it reports how protester organized a protest online for yet another case where a black life was taken by a police. And this is not the first time protester took to social media to stand up for their rights, and speak about injustices. Also in the CNN article written by Sara Sinder stated that “Social activist use social media platform to tell the public messages to inspire them” Social Media is not truly the messenger, it mostly the users who want to inform their followers or friends. Also they use their platform to express their own feelings which are the same for majority of the members of the Black Lives Matter Movement. People online rely on the social activist on social media to