Introduction
Activism is an act of pressing and advocating for certain changes in society. It can be carried out in many ways such as writing emails to the targeted groups or posting reports in newspapers. There are several forms of activism, which include political activism, judicial activism, student activism, and environmental activism. On the other hand, revolution is an activity that involves a large number of people trying to overthrow authorities due to certain reasons. Social networking sites offer a chance for people to register and maintain a list of connections with people that they are able to trust. Therefore, this essay will focus on identifying and discussing the role of social media in activism and revolution.
Body
Social media has been one of the latest advancements in technology, leading to the rapid growth of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Social media is highly preferred by activists and revolutionaries to take advantage of fast growth (Anderson, 1). In order to carry out their activities effectively, revolutionaries require large numbers of people to unite together and protest against certain actions. Therefore, social media has also been relied upon to create awareness about various issues. Activists are either independent or people who work for certain non-governmental organizations. Sometimes the public is not aware of some of the illegal deeds being performed by the government; hence, it’s their obligation to inform them. In this case, social media becomes a fast tool to pass information to the public. For example, Anderson (1) states that “the social media was significant in the extensive attention specified to the revolutionary outbreaks of the Middle East and North Africa during 2011”.
Social media has been used as a tool for sharing information by the public. If members if the public is facing certain challenges that have been imposed by authority, then they use social media to raise their grievances. Social media helps in raising concerns about issues as opposed to news media. For example in America, the citizens are against the mode in which media covers various political and social issues by discussing these issues intensively in the social networking sites (Neiger, Meyers and Zandberg, 1).
Social media increases the rate at which activists or revolutionists are spread their messages; in fact, sites such as YouTube are used to upload videos and images. This was evident in the Arab Spring revolutions that affected Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, and Syria. According to McCann (1) explains that “media that revolved around the internet indicated that not only singular moments but illustrated changes in the Arabian nation were about to come”.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the essay focused on discussing the role of social media in activism and revolution. It is evident that social media is responsible for activism and revolutions in different countries around the world. In some cases, it serves as a primary catalyst to revolutions in certain countries due to its nature. It will always act as a tool for providing essential information to the public with the aim of promoting positive changes in society.
Works Cited
Anderson, Nate. “Tweeting tyrants out of Tunisia: Global Internet at its Best”. Wired Magazine, 2011. Web.
Neiger Motti, Meyers Oren and Zandberg Eyal. “On Media Memory: Collective Memory in a New Media Age”. Academia.edu, 2011. Web.
McCann, Colum. “Year in Pictures: Arab Spring”. The New York Times, 2011. Web.