How Social Movements Diffuse Through Networks Using Technology
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/08/20/how-technology-is-fueling-social-justice-during-a-pandemic/?sh=639367754c18
Over the past few years, there have been many social movements that have grown very large due to social media. Some of these include the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, and more. Many of these recent social movements were already happening prior to their debut on social media. However, after a video, hashtag, or post went viral, these movements diffused through social networks very quickly, gained following, and pushed for change. Social media is a very powerful tool that causes movements and the spread of knowledge, which did not occur as quickly before certain technologies existed.
The article above discusses the Black Lives Matter Movement. In 2013, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was first used. The movement became even more well-known at the end of May 2020, when a video of George Floyd’s death was posted online. Within three days, the hashtag was used in close to nine million tweets, and within the next week, it was used about two million times per day. This hashtag linked to resources to educate people about racial injustice, the video of George Floyd’s death, methods to help his family, and ways to demand change. People saw this hashtag on their social media feeds, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. This led to more and more people signing petitions, organizing protests, and sending money to different organizations. Following these, people posted about other racial injustices around the country, which continued the spread of posting and making a change. As people saw others on their networks post about the movement, they were even more motivated to educate themselves, repost resources, and do what they could to help. These hashtags and discussions are continuing to this day both online and off.
When we learned about diffusion in class, I immediately began to think of recent social movements in the United States. Social movements diffuse through social networks much quicker nowadays than in the past with the use of technology. All it takes is a few uses of a hashtag or retweets of a video for something to gain national attention. Like we learned about in class, once a few people begin to post about this topic, their ties or connections on social media will begin to do the same, due to the concept of thresholds. Personally, if I see one or two of my connections on a network posting about a social issue that I am not well informed of, I like to read about it, do research, and usually adopt a similar opinion on the issue. My threshold is very low, since all it takes is one or two people posting about it for me to read about and usually adopt a similar opinion. Posting about social issues also relates to the idea of thresholds. Although this can be controversial due to performative activism, it is known that many people repost content about social issues if they see a certain number of their connections posting about it.
This concept is very interesting to me and can apply to smaller social networks than the whole country. It can apply to our community here at Cornell, hometowns, or families. There are many instances social issues spreading over social media within the Cornell University network. In the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, many Cornell students were excited to return to campus. However, they were also nervous that COVID-19 would spread quickly around campus, people would not follow Cornell’s behavioral compact, and all of the students would get sent home within weeks. Following the rules that the government created to stop the spread of COVID-19 was a social issue. Before the university started classes, there was an incoming freshman who went to a party, posted about it on her private Snapchat story, and made fun of people who were not invited. She bragged about being able to go to this event and clearly did not care about the COVID-19 restrictions. One person took a picture of this. Within a few days, this picture and the opinion that this student should be expelled spread all over social media, followed by a petition to expel her. This social issue gained so much attention that the Washington Post even wrote an article about it. In conclusion, social media can spread information, knowledge, and change regarding movements through social networks very quickly and can create a large audience.