Online platforms have become powerful components for the emergence of social movements in the new millennium. It is believed that social media has assisted social movements to ‘scale up’, which is described as the procedure that diversifies the influence of the movement and helps to bring social change (Mundt, Ross & Burnett 2018). Moreover, modern activist movements like the Black Lives Matter movement are differentiated from the previous movements as they use modern technology as a tool which is considered a prominent aspect in resolving racial inequality concerns. In this context, Habermas’s Public Sphere theory is used to provide a broad paradigm of social media in the expansion of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Virtual communication is indeed a platform where social movements spread their propaganda, express their ideas and provide the viewer with a context (Ince, Rojas & Davis 2017). The critical role of the internet as a forum for a contemporary discourse of racial injustice and police brutality entails reviewing the conventional sociological theory in the pursuit of contemporary technology (Carney 2016). The Public Sphere theory by Habermas offers a valuable context for understanding the debate regarding the Black Lives Matter movement on digital platforms since the propaganda used throughout the public sphere offers an analysis of societal and governmental conflicts in which younger generations of different ethnicities participate actively (cited in Carney 2016). Some sociologists suggest that social media is a ‘weak public’ because it does not have the potential to transform the governmental rules in the country (Carney 2016, p.183). However, skeptics argue that social networking acts as both a ‘weak public’ wherein the individuals articulate their views and a ‘strong public’ that urges the government to change its policies by promoting consciousness and holding rallies (Carney 2016, p.184). In previous eras, people had to book a time slot for getting together and participating in socio-political discussions about race and inequality to organize a social movement. Nevertheless, people in the contemporary world can access the web anywhere at any time to view and conceptualize the perceptions of different people across the globe, which has especially enabled the young generation to incorporate their engagement in the Black Lives Matter movement. For Example, online platforms are readily available without the compulsion of registering or showing up at conference meetings, thus, Black Lives Matter communities can easily generate and join a massive number of audiences which in turn helps them to gain popularity in a short time (Mundt, Ross & Burnett 2018). Additionally, Black Lives Matter group leaders use social media for establishing connections and unions with other organizations in the campaign to promote collective strategies (Mundt, Ross & Burnett 2018). Therefore, social media proved to be a powerful weapon for bolstering the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in society.
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In conclusion, social media acts as a medium to broaden the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement as compared to the previous anti-racist movements that lacked popularity due to the absence of the internet. Furthermore, technology has provided incentives for engagement in the Black Lives Matter movement like increasing the number of participants in the protests and forming strong relationships and coalitions with other people and groups which in turn maximizes activism and contributes to optimizing campaign strategies.
References
- Carney, N 2016, ‘All Lives Matter, but so does Race’, Humanity & Society, vol.40, no.2, pp. 180-99, viewed 16 October 2020, SAGE Journals database, DOI: 10.1177/0160597616643868.
- Ince, J, Rojas, F & Davis, CA 2017, ‘The Social Media Response to Black Lives Matter: How Twitter Users Interact with Black Lives Matter through Hashtag Use’ Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol.40, no.11, pp.1814-830, viewed 16 October 2020, Taylor & Francis Online Library, DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2017.1334931.
- Mundt, M, Ross, K & Burnett, CM 2018, ‘Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter’, Social Media Society, vol.4, no.4, viewed 16 October 2020, SAGE Journals database, DOI: 10.1177/2056305118807911.
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Essay on Black Lives Matter.
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