Like the articles have shown, and most of us have stated in our posts, there are pros and cons to advocating for a cause over social media. These social media outlets have become a way for connecting and communicating that we never knew would exist. Now, people can share ideas, spread messages, and team up in ways they never could before with people all over the world.
There are many examples of how this is a good thing. For example, getting justice for Renisha McBride. Without its own personal hashtag and other online advocacy, this case made not have been picked up by the media and in turn put pressure on the justice system. There are other examples such as a campaign called “Tweetsgiving”. Epic Change used twitter in a way that used storytelling to gain support for projects and people in need. They would tweet around Thanksgiving, asking people to share what they were thankful for, while also sharing stories of people in need. Those that shared their stories, rose awareness, and raised money for those in need through donations. Mama Lucy shared her story, ended up raising enough money to start a school and became the first successful social media fundraising campaign. Without this important tool, raising enough money for her school would not have been a reality. http://epicchangeblog.org/experiments/epic-thanks-tweetsgiving/
Social Media also has a dark side. Allowing people all over the world access to your thoughts and feelings opens up the potential for (sometimes very harsh) criticism. Katherine Cross, a Puerto Rican trans woman working on her PhD “wrote about how she often hesitates to publish articles or blog posts out of fear of inadvertently stepping on an ideological land mine and bringing down the wrath of online enforcers”. When we post on social media there is always a risk of being attacked by ignorant people or people who’s ideas differ from our own. Posting can sometimes be a scary thing.
http://www.thenation.com/article/178140/feminisms-toxic-twitter-wars
