For my semester Project I would like to research on the how social media will influence people gathering to march. I attended the People Climate March almost two weeks ago and it was a surreal experience. I meet great people from all over the country who came to support and show interest for climate change. It was great to be around people who shared similar interest and cared enough to take action by supporting the march. There where cameras and phones everywhere. I felt that everyone was recording videos or taking pictures through out the entire march. Many of these videos and pictures where uploaded to social media and used hashtags to group them together to spread awareness.
Voices From The Historic 300,000+ Strong 'People's Climate March'
Serbia: Watch scuffles at Belgrade anti-Gay Pride protest
Now I’m left wondering what impact our actions are videos and pictures had, did we actually make a difference? I’m left with a sense of hopelessness. There have been other marches that gathered larger groups since the historic 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. The 1963 March managed to gather about 2500,00 people without Facebook, Twitter or any Social Media. Ideally with social media today we should be able to raise awareness but is that all we can do? How can we use social media to take the next big step towards increasing the power everyday people have over decision and laws that impact their lives?
Marching on Washington is an American tradition
Excellent idea! I would love to see the road social media plays in mapping the success of protests. Maybe you can start a hashtag and cultivate different social media groups, getting into contact with various groups and writing about the successful changes around the world? I'm excited to see what you create.
ReplyDeleteGreat Idea. Im with mister Cole. It would be interesting to see how you could help promote a cause through social media. Consider choosing an organization that has some type of annual event and help promote it. You can compare your results to their last years turnout and to similar events which have been held in the past without the use of social media tools.
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