Social media activism

the rise of

MEDIA activism STUDENT VOICES REACH GLOBAL PLATFORMS Text by DOMINIQUE LASHLEY and SASHA BOUDTCHENKO Art by XIAOHAN LI

THE VIDEO FLICKERS TO ing social media to spread awareness and that previously documented daily life overlife, revealing senior Ryan Yeung advocate for change. His activism-based flowed with video clips of Floyd’s arrest and standing center screen and sol- TikTok account, theforgottenstories.proj- petition links to bring justice to his case. emn-faced amid a wall of blue ect, has gained a large presence on the “It’s insane how many people I’ve nevand orange text boxes. He wastes no time platform with a goal to spread the word of er heard talk about social issues or BLM in recounting the story of a teen boy who lesser-known social justice cases and stories. suddenly started posting about it everysaved hundreds during the Parkland School where,” junior Cate Barett said. Shooting, illuminating the actions of this Social media activism According to an opt-in Verde survey unknown hero with nothing more than The increased momentum of the Black of 269 students conducted in September, blocks of text accompanied by the melan- Lives Matter movement, sparked by the 53.9% of students participated in social choly chorus of The Fray’s iconic “How to death of George Floyd, a victim of police media activism this spring. Save a Life.” brutality, fueled the recent growth in social Students reposted informational posts

Yeung is one of countless students us- media activism. Almost overnight, feeds on racism, linked resources for others to

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER— This past summer, numerous BLM protests were organized on social media and held across the Bay Area, including the Oakland rally depicted here. “While [posting on social media] is a step in the right direction ... people really need to take the next step of organizing in their community,” said Juliana Griswold, co-president of Paly’s Leftist club. Photo: Audrey Joachim learn more and take action, and organized said. “It is a lot easier to press a few buttons As social justice issues are rendered and publicized protests through their social and act like you care than spend genuine hashtags and retweets online, students and media accounts, bringing many people out time on the cause.” activists worry that social media’s trend-obof their homes and onto the streets. Activists worry that the recent explo- sessed culture undermines the strength of

Over the course of a few months, users sion of social media activism promotes causes they advocate for. began focusing on other issues such as the posting and reposting as forms of battling Blackout Tuesday is a frequently citYemen crisis and the explosion in Lebanon. “It’s definitely helped me gain new resources and websites “I would say there are way more people reposting than getting systemic inequality, resulting in less incentive to actively work towards reform. ed example. The global movement in May sent millions flocking to social media, each posting a single black square in protest of racial inequality and police brutality. However, the trend quickly received backlash to help donate for a cause or support a petition,” junior Arohi involved.” — RYAN YEUNG, senior “While it [posting on social media] is a step in the right for clogging the BLM hashtag with a sea of black tiles, preventing users from finding useful resources on the topic. Furthermore, Bhattacharya said. direction to making the bandwagon nature of the movement

Since the rise of BLM, social media has people care about what’s happening, people was widely characterized as shallow and increased in popularity, becoming a corner- really need to take the next step of organiz- performative. Hundreds of users jumped stone of activism and forever changing the ing in their community,” said Juliana Gris- on the trend to share their black tile withstandards for digital content. wold, co-president of Paly’s Leftist club. out contributing “Systemic change won’t come from social any further efforts Performative activism media posts and likes.” to advocate for the

As the prominence of the BLM move- Online, it can be difficult to determine BLM movement. ment and other social justice movements where active participation ends and trend “A lot of people continue to skyrocket on platforms such as seeking begins. As BLM and other human did it because everyInstagram, TikTok and Twitter, more users rights topics sweep the media, a simple re- one else did, maybe are questioning if the number of students post of these issues rewards little effort with without realizing reposting these issues online accurately maximum gratification. the real purpose or reflects the number of those dedicated to “So many people have begun to treat meaning,” senior these causes. human rights like a trend,” Barrett said. Emma Wu said.

“I would say there are way more peo- “They commodify the movement for likes, “But it was also cool ple reposting than getting involved,” Yeung followers and social capital.” to see that level of

solidarity, and hopefully people spent the Polarization online day learning about Black culture, history It’s no secret that in recent years, the and experiences from Black voices.” political climate both on social media and

As social justice advocacy continues across the country has become increasto dominate the media, students grapple ingly polarized and fraught with tension. with subsequent questions that begin to The wide variety of opinions among soarise: does online circulation of social jus- cial media users contributes to a diversity tice posts qualify as activism? Is social me- of ideas online, but conversations on these dia advocacy fueled by a desire to validate ourselves or to spark real change? Are online movements being utilized to initiate reform “Systemic change won’t come from social media posts and likes.” platforms are often more talking than listening. Threads of heated political debates turned personal attacks are ofor to earn a few quick followers? — JULIANA GRISWOLD, senior ten difficult to avoid when navigating the

“I think that the waters of social megeneral viewpoint [of students] is support- dia activism. Student activists describe freive of social activism, but I think that it’ll quent occurences of threats and hate speech take more than a week or month for real online as a result of their political opinions. change,” Wu said. “We’ll have to see how “I have gotten hate and judgment people really feel especially when social ac- from others,” Yeung said. “I’ve been called tivism isn’t trending.” many racial slurs in comments, personal Widespread misinformation Despite the negativity often targeting

Those who use social media are like- activists on social media, many believe the ly familiar with the numerous educational importance of their causes outweighs these posts that provide information about an risks. issue. However, it is difficult to catch the “I’ve been able to see a lot of the imfalsehoods in a constant flood of informa- pact I have made through personal messagtional posts. es of how they learned so much from my

A big risk that comes with social me- account, and how they learn more from my dia activism is the widespread circulation of videos than their history or English class,” misinformation. A well-known example of Yeung said. “These experiences make all this concerned the lack of Palestine’s label the work my organization and I put in exon Google Maps in July. tremely rewarding.”

Uproar ensued as users accused Google Despite the risks of performatism and Maps of removing Palestine from the map conflict online, social media platforms when it was never there to begin with. Ac- continue to provide one of this generacording to Express.co.uk, the United States tion’s most widespread tools for advocacy, does not recognize Palestine as an indepen- enabling students to organize movements dent state, so Google, an American compa- and rallies pushing for reform. Although ny, does not recognize it either. the new era of social media activism poses

When people repost information with- unforseen challenges for student activists, out doing the appropriate fact checking, it has clearly played an important role in they end up spreading false information raising awareness for human rights issues, rather than educating people. With the and continues to create opportunities for perpetual flow of new information, it is movement builders to spread initiatives for important to check the facts before taking change. v action. messages and when going live on TikTok.” “I don’t generally use the specific resources that people provide on social me*Source: The data presented here comes from an opt-in Verde Magazine survey of 290 Palo dia but rather use it as a base for myself to Alto High School students through all four do research on the topic and find reliable grades. Verde conducted the survey from Sept. sources and petitions to sign and advocate for myself,” Bhattacharya stated in a mes19 to Sept. 24 through a digital form published on school social media and Schoology pages. Responses were anonymous and participation sage. for all questions was optional.