Within the past few months, many people have become more aware of current international social and political climates, and most have taken to their social media accounts to express their views and show recognition for these events or issues. This social media activism has been met with both passionate support and strong criticism. Social media is incredibly useful and should be utilized when spreading awareness towards a certain subject. 

Attention to numerous social issues has taken to Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and other popular social media apps. These platforms allow posts to be quickly spread to a wide majority of people. With TikTok’s algorithm and personalized “For You Page”, posts from public accounts that have as little as zero followers can reach thousands of eyes. Instagram’s “Story” feature allows the sharing of any public post, which are viewable to all of a user’s followers. A single graphic can be seen by millions of people just by the app’s sharing features. This aspect of social media is critical to spreading effective awareness of a certain subject.

In a lifestyle where technology has taken over both the productive and leisure parts of our day, the average person, especially adolescents, spends a large portion of their time on social media. Utilizing a platform to which a majority of people devote their attention is extremely effective in making your point more well-known. As an active social media user, I would not know about many of the current global issues in such detail if it weren’t for the posts that were shared in my timeline.

However, there is always a negative side. With the fast pace and short attention span that social media embeds, fact-checking is often skipped over. While correct and useful information can become viral, misinformation can be spread just as quickly.

When used properly, social media activism is effective, important, and incredibly useful. It makes people aware of significant issues with convenience and has proven to make a difference.