Shouting on twitter is not activism

In my Intro to Mass Media class, the professor asked us where we get our news from, and a majority of the class answered Twitter, including myself.

While many adults criticize the use of social media, I do believe it is an excellent tool for informing people of what is going on in the world. I am able to get sports news directly from reliable sources on Twitter, and I am thankful for that. However, the site also allows anyone, informed or not, to share their thoughts on various subjects which creates a noisy environment.

Let me say that I always enjoy seeing funny and clever tweets on my feed to go along with the news.  However, I am not a fan of random shouting on such a simple site. Lately, I notice a lot of “bad news” being shared by people who want to raise awareness on social issues like “Depression rising amongst teens” and other issues.

I fully support raising awareness about an issue, but I also feel that people recognize the digital clout they get if a tweet they share receives a large amount of likes and re-tweets which leads to followers. I have a hard time believing you want to find a solution to an issue if the only thing you do is add your quick opinion and share it with everyone to see.

Many people like to refer to themselves as social activists. Sadly, unless you make the effort to bring any sort of change to a situation, you are not an activist, but instead, another person with a megaphone making a lot of noise to gain the spotlight on the issue.

 To quote comedian Anthony Jeselnik, these people are basically saying “Please don’t forget about me today” when tweeting about social issues.

In a way, I can’t blame someone for wanting to gain more followers if that is what they are after, but morally, using a social struggle to heighten your pedestal is not practicing what you are preaching.

Twitter could improve without all the megaphones shouting for clout. I think this society of megaphones is dangerous because it ultimately overlooks the issue at hand. If you question someone’s true motives for a tweet, prepare for a shouting match, because a meaningful discussion about ways to raise awareness and resolve an issue is simply to formal for people holding a loud megaphone.

It is important to bring awareness to an issue, but make sure you are doing so for the right reason and take necessary steps to finding a resolution, especially if you consider yourself an activist.

This is not to take away from the activists who have good morals and take the proper steps in resolving issues and corruption. True activists who bring change deserve recognition, so long as that is not their motivation.

Soon, all the presidential candidates will begin their campaign and  we will notice a similar approach to their campaigns. Almost every year there are candidates who gain a national spotlight because of the way they bring awareness to trending issues. Similar to those on Twitter, these candidates only shout about certain issues because they know this will help them gain followers. Also like Twitter, the issue eventually becomes overlooked once the candidate achieves their goal.

We’ve seen it many times how shouting from your pedestal about an issue is not enough to bring change. If you consider yourself an activist, you have to take the next step and actually lead your followers. 

I support bringing change to social issues because I believe it makes our community come together with a stronger bond. What I don’t like is watching someone shout about something serious just for the sake of getting attention.

If you consider yourself an activist, I challenge you to raise awareness about a serious issue near you and create a movement in the community.

Get your head out of your apps and make a real difference!