Cascades Sparked by Hashtag Activism
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/sabina-khanibarra/the-case-for-social-media_b_6149974.html
This article discusses how hashtags have become an important tool in movements for social and political change. The author talks about how in instances of injustice around the world, hashtags can be used to spread information about events instantly, information that may not have made it to a newspaper. But with social media platforms like Twitter, when multiple people tweet with a certain hashtag, that hashtag will pop up in the trending section of Twitter, and millions of people around the world will see that hashtag and click on it, and learn about the issue. The author brought up the specific issue of conflicts in Gaza, and how her husband, someone with no social media except LinkedIn, had no idea about what was going on. He had not seen any references to the issues in Gaza in traditional news sources such as newspapers and local TV news reports, but the author was aware of the problems because of Twitter.
The author also discussed how hashtags have become valuable for activists trying to get their message out. This is particularly true when someone is disabled, as highlighted in the article. If a person is disabled in a way where it is difficult for them to get out and move about, they are less likely to be able to participate in a protest or other form of activism. Hashtags allow them to voice their opinions and express their thoughts on specific issues in the world without having to go to great lengths to accommodate their disability. Hashtags allow for the quick spread of a phrase or word that can spark a person to click on a link and learn about a trending issue in the world.
In class we analyzed information cascades in the form of technology spreading through a population. People were more likely to adopt a new technology if at least a certain percentage of their friends were using the technology, and otherwise they wouldn’t. In this situation, an information cascade is taking place, but without a physical technology. When a user on Twitter sees a specific hashtag in their news feed that they have not seen before, they are likely to click on the hashtag and see what other people are tweeting with that same hashtag. And if they can relate to the issue that the hashtag is associated with, they might tweet something their self with the same hashtag. This has continued the spread of awareness for a cause, and when a hashtag goes viral or is trending on Twitter, millions of people instantly become aware of an issue a select original person or group of people were trying to promote, and an information cascade has begun. Hashtags are an extremely valuable tool in starting an information cascade to spread awareness about causes and issues around the world.