Social Media and Youth Activism
The recent surge of youth-led social movements has led many to claim that youth activism is on the rise. Looking at history, it is clear that young people have often been on the forefront of social change. We can see examples of youth activism in the US by looking back to the 1960s. Students were an important part of the Civil Rights Movement, making their voices heard by organizing into groups such as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and by protesting racism through demonstrative actions such as the sit-ins at the Greensboro Café. Students were also at the forefront of the antiwar movement protesting the Vietnam War. These people are now immortalized in history curricula across the country. So, while young people have always had an important voice and been catalysts for social change, the digital age has given us a new powerful tool that has changed the way we approach activism: social media.
Activist Greta Thunberg has had a massive impact on the fight against climate change. Named Time’s Person of the Year, her popularity is indisputable. Thunberg has set herself apart in the climate change movement in that her activism is mostly driven by social media. Her rise to fame began when images of her protesting alone outside of the Swedish Parliament went viral. Later, as she became the face of the climate movement, her frank, to-the-point speaking style combined with her meme-worthy facial expressions caused her to have many other viral moments (for example, the image of her glaring at President Trump at the UN climate summit as well as her fiery criticism of world leaders during her speech). Being a member of Generation Z, Thunberg has grown up with social media, and she knows how to use it effectively. Thunberg has been attacked publicly by many world leaders, but she always claps back in a way that makes her response get more attention from the media than the initial insult. She simply changes her Twitter bio.
The example of Greta Thunberg and her leadership in the Global Climate Strike, as well as other large-scale movements such as the March for Our Lives and the Women’s March, would seem to suggest that social media has been incredibly beneficial to social movements because it allows them to disseminate their message to so many more people and coordinate events on national or even global scales.
There are some who believe that social media is not changing activism for the better. The criticism mostly is against those who participate in what has been termed “slacktivism”, which is when people post on social media about issues but do not make the extra effort of protesting in person. However, the argument that social media is somehow lowering people’s incentive to protest in person seems flawed, especially in light of recent global and national movements that have only been possible because of social media. Actually, social media allows small groups to organize large numbers of people in a way that commands the attention of the news media and politicians.
Young people have always been an important voice and catalyst for social change.
Social media is particularly important for marginalized groups. According to a Pew Research poll, “Certain groups of social media users – most notably, those who are black or Hispanic – view these platforms as an especially important tool for their own political engagement. For example, roughly half of black social media users say these platforms are at least somewhat personally important to them as a venue for expressing their political views or for getting involved with issues that are important to them. Those shares fall to around a third among white social media users.” The ability of social media to amplify an individual’s voice is empowering, and it is a place where the forces that silence people in everyday life do not apply. Also, I do not agree with the idea that only in-person protests are effective at creating change. While protests and strikes have their purpose, the social media post is an effective and impactful form of activism in and of itself. A political post from a celebrity, or even a 2:00 AM tweet from our president, is always considered interesting and newsworthy.
Social media has fundamentally changed the way activism is being conducted in the modern age. Young people are at the forefront of that change, having grown up with the technology and having the skill to use it effectively. Social media will continue to inspire large-scale movements across the globe. At present, politicians are forced to respond at least verbally to these movements when they occur, but it remains to be seen whether those words will be translated into concrete policy action.