Social Media As A Tool For Social Justice

Since the Black Lives Matter movement really picked up, post-George Floyd murder, I’ve been thinking a lot about how powerful social media is. For people who really truly care about the issues at hand, it’s a great instrument in the fight for social justice.  

Not everyone has the ability to protest, due to disability, anxiety, work schedules, and so many more reasons that shouldn’t matter. What matters is that these people who can’t protest, are supporting the protesters and the struggle for justice through other means. These means can be spreading the word of local protests, sharing resources for self-education, spreading petitions and donation websites, and giving a voice to the unheard. And what’s the best way to do this you may ask? If you have ANY kind of following on your social media accounts, these are your platforms to speak against injustice and to take action. Social media has become an extremely powerful tool for those who know how to use it right. Social media allows us to boost awareness and share resources — it allows us to easily communicate, organize, and mobilize.

Pre-internet, it was hard for people to know everything that was going on, but today we don’t miss it and the younger generations who really know how to use social media as a tool for change, have had enough. We’re sick of injustice, racism, lies, and terrible people getting away with — quite literally murder — or treason, extortion, coercion, etc…  because they are in high positions of power. 

We also realize that there is a lot of fake news out there and know when it comes to research, to look for multiple trustworthy sources to back up the beliefs we are forming in response to widespread videos of injustice. We’re not stupid kids. In fact, according to PEW Research Center, millennials are 24–39 right now. We are a generation of adults who are more than capable of researching and forming opinions, just like the generations before us. Also, watch out for Gen Z. The oldest of them are turning 23 this year and they are the largest generation, most ethnically diverse, most educated, and are stereotyped as “social justice warriors” for a reason. They’re even more tech-savvy than millennials. 

The internet is how the younger generations grow and learn. We know how to use it and we aren’t afraid to.