T H AT I T C A N B E U S E D B Y O R
S E L F - O R G A N I Z I N G G R O U P F O R A C O M M O N G O A L
T H E R E A L P O W E R O F S O C I A L M E D I A I S
A N Y P E R S O N
1

S O C I A L M E D I A
P L AT F O R M S H AV E
A L R E A D Y B E E N
U S E D F O R S O C I A L
G O O D , S U C H A S
S U C C E S S F U L LY
1
E M P O W E R I N G C I T I Z E N S ,
O R G A N I Z I N G C O M M U N I T Y A C T I V I S M ,
& C O O R D I N AT I N G I N E M E R G E N C Y S I T U AT I O N S .

M O R E O F T E N T H A N
N O T T H I S TA K E S T H E
F O R M O F S U P P O R T I N G
& P R O M O T I N G A C A U S E
O N S O C I A L M E D I A ,
B U T I T C A N I N C L U D E A
R A N G E O F A C T I V I T I E S
“ C L I C K T I V I S M ” I S T H E U S E O F D I G I TA L M E D I A F O R
FA C I L I TAT I N G & .S O C I A L C H A N G E A C T I V I S M
- C L I C K T I V I S T. O R G 3

4
3
S O C I A L M E D I A H A S B E C O M E A
P O W E R F U L & E S S E N T I A L T O O L F O R
C O N N E C T I N G C A U S E S W I T H T H O S E W H O
M I G H T S U P P O R T T H E M .
T H E R E A L I T Y I S , O V E R E X P O S U R E I S N E C E S S A RY F O R
C O N S TA N T I N F O R M AT I O N . I T TA K E S 7 T O 8 E X P O S U R E S
T O M O T I VAT E S O M E O N E T O TA K E A C T I O N .

“ D E S P I T E T H E O F T- R E P E AT E D C L A I M
T H AT AWA R E N E S S D O E S N O T H I N G , I T
A L M O S T A LWAY S D O E S S O M E T H I N G —
S O M E T H I N G S M A L L , P E R H A P S , B U T
S O M E T H I N G M E A S U R A B L E . ” 3- C A I T L I N D E W E Y

T H AT S O C I A L
M E D I A M A K E S I T
A L L T O O E A S Y T O
A P P E A R E N G A G E D
I N I M P O R TA N T
I S S U E S W I T H O U T
TA K I N G A N Y R E A L
A C T I O N
C R I T I C S A R G U E T H AT G E T T I N G I N V O LV E D I N A
C H A R I T Y T H R O U G H FA C E B O O K O R T W I T T E R
M E R E LY C R E AT E S A N I M P R E S S I O N O F S U P P O RT .
5

5
B U T I T D O E S N ’ T H AV E T O B E T H AT WAY. A
N U M B E R O F G R O U P S H AV E F O U N D WAY S T O
O P E R AT E E F F E C T I V E LY I N T H E D I G I TA L S P H E R E .

A S I T H A S N E A R LY 5 0 0
M I L L I O N M E M B E R S
W H O S P E N D M O R E
T H A N 5 0 0 B I L L I O N
M I N U T E S A M O N T H
O N T H E S I T E . 2
FA C E B O O K I S A M A J O R
S O U R C E F O R P R O M O T I N G
A WA R E N E S S S U C C E S S F U L LY

M A K I N G T H E
AV E R A G E U S E R
C R E AT E 7 0 P I E C E S O F
C O N T E N T A M O N T H
T H O S E U S E R S S H A R E M O R E
T H A N 2 5 B I L L I O N P I E C E S
O F C O N T E N T E A C H M O N T H
2
2

5 2 % P E O P L E G O O N L I N E T O
D I S C U S S W H AT ’ S O N O U R M I N D S ,
& A M O N G M I L L E N N I A L S , I T ’ S 7 1 % .
A M E R I C A N S A G E D 1 8 & O L D E R
S P E N D A B O U T A N H O U R A D AY O N
T H E I N T E R N E T O N T H E I R
C O M P U T E R S , A N D AT L E A S T
A N O T H E R H O U R O R S O A C C E S S I N G
A P P S A N D T H E W E B
5
5

H O W E V E R , O F T H E 7 0 % W H O S A I D T H E Y U S E D
D I G I TA L M E D I A T O L E A R N A B O U T C H A N G E S T H E Y C A N
M A K E I N T H E I R L I V E S T O C R E AT E P O S I T I V E S O C I A L O R
E N V I R O N M E N TA L C H A N G E , O N LY 2 5 % M A D E
C H A N G E S .4
“ T H E G O A L O F
C L I C K T I V I S M I S N ’ T T O
S O LV E P R O B L E M S ; I T ’ S T O
B R I N G AWA R E N E S S T O A
C A U S E T H AT W E
O T H E R W I S E W O U L D N ’ T
K N O W A B O U T ” 3

B U T O R G A N I Z AT I O N S A N D A C T I V I S T S
M U S T L E A R N T H AT I T ’ S N O T E N O U G H
T O L A U N C H A H A S H TA G O R V I D E O
M E M E A N D H O P E I T G O E S V I R A L .
T H E R E M U S T B E A P L A N T O E N G A G E
S U P P O R T E R S O N C E T H E Y ’ V E C L I C K E D
A N D K E E P T H E M E N G A G E D A F T E R
T H E H A S H TA G S T O P S T R E N D I N G . 4

S O C I A L M E D I A I S
T H E G R E AT E S T T O O L
E V E R I N V E N T E D T O
M O B I L I Z E
R E S O U R C E S I N T I M E S
O F N E E D A N D A S A
C ATA LY S T T O G A I N
T H E AT T E N T I O N O F
S E E M I N G LY
U N R E L AT E D P E O P L E
B E H I N D A C O M M O N
C A U S E O R I S S U E .
7

4
I N V I S I B L E C H I L D R E N L A U N C H E D A N
O N L I N E V I D E O D E S I G N E D T O
S TA R T A S O C I A L M O V E M E N T
A G A I N S T A F R I C A N C U LT A N D M I L I T I A
L E A D E R J O S E P H K O N Y.

4
T H E C A M PA I G N ’ S S TAT E D G O A L
WA S T O H AV E H I M C A P T U R E D
A N D R E M O V E D F R O M P O W E R B Y
T H E E N D O F T H E Y E A R .
T H E V I D E O W E N T V I R A L A N D R E A C H E D
1 0 0 M I L L I O N V I E W S I N 6 D AY S .

8
T H E R E H AV E B E E N M A N Y O T H E R S U C C E S S F U L
S O C I A L M E D I A M O V E M E N T S A S W E L L …
# I C E B U C K E T C H A L L E N G E : R A I S E D
R E C O R D - B R E A K I N G F U N D S F O R T H E
A L S A T H A N K S T O T H E G R A S S R O O T S
A WA R E N E S S C A M PA I G N W H I C H W E N T
V I R A L
# A R A B S P R I N G : B R O U G H T AT T E N T I O N
T O P R O T E S T S A N D U N R E S T I N
C O U N T R I E S F R O M T U N I S I A T O S Y R I A
# F E R G U S O N : C A L L E D F O R
A WA R E N E S S O F P O L I C E B R U TA L I T Y
A N D T H E R A C I A L D I V I D E I N M I S S O U R I

O N E O F T H E M O S T
P O W E R F U L A S P E C T S A B O U T
S O C I A L M E D I A I S T H AT I T
P R O V I D E S A N E N V I R O N M E N T
& M E D I U M F O R P E O P L E T O
E X P R E S S T H E M S E LV E S
I N D E P E N D E N T LY,
A N D Y E T F I N D C O M M U N I T Y. 8

T H I S “ H A S H TA G U N I T Y, ” I S A S R E A L
& A S P O W E R F U L A S A G R O U P O F
P E O P L E P H Y S I C A L LY G AT H E R E D I N
T H E S A M E S PA C E .
8
I T C A N E D U C AT E , H E A L &
P R O V O K E C H A N G E B Y S H E E R
S T R E N G T H O F V O C A L
N U M B E R S
8

7 I N 1 0 A M E R I C A N
Y O U N G A D U LT S I S A
S O C I A L A C T I V I S T
9

S O C I A L M E D I A A C T I V I S T S U B C U LT U R E S
H AV E M AT E R I A L I Z E D A S A V I TA L N E W
S PA C E O F P O L I T I C S & C U LT U R E
I N W H I C H A W I D E D I V E R S I T Y O F I N D I V I D U A L S
& G R O U P S H E L P T O P R O D U C E N E W S O C I A L
R E L AT I O N S & F O R M P O S S I B I L I T I E S
1 0

S O C I A L M E D I A I S S O C I A L P O W E R
H O W
W I L L
Y O U
U S E
Y O U R S ?

W O R K C I T E D
1. Bresciani, Sabrina, and Andreas Schmeil. "Social Media Platforms for
Social Good." 2012 6th IEEE International Conference on Digital
Ecosystems and Technologies (DEST) (2012): 1-6. Queen's University
Libary. Web. 1 June 2016.
2. Rosen, Jeffrey. "The Web Means the End of Forgetting." The New
York Times. The New York Times, 24 July 2010. Web. 01 June 2016.
3. Sharma, Ritu. "Stop Pouring Ice on Clicktivism." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 01 June 2016.
4. KIELBURGE, CRAIG, and MARC KIELBURGE. "A Click Is Not Enough
to Have Impact on World." Canoe.com. N.p., 10 Apr. 2015. Web. 01
June 2016.
5. Stern, Caryl M. "In Praise of Clicktivism." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 May 2015. Web. 01 June 2016.

W O R K C I T E D
6. Gulati, Daniel. "Our Dangerous Obsession with External Recognition."
Harvard Business Review. N.p., 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 01 June 2016.
7. Garst, Kim. "Social Media as a Catalyst for Social Change." The Huffington
Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 03 July 2013. Web. 05 June 2016.
8. Sharma, Ritu. "Social Media as a Formidable Force for Change." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 01 June 2016.
9. Tsakiri, Mariana. "The Future Of Social Activism - INFOGRAPHiCs MANiA."
INFOGRAPHiCsMANiA RSS. N.p., 24 June 2012. Web. 01 June 2016.
10.Kahn, R., and D. Kellner. "New Media and Internet Activism: From the
'Battle of Seattle' to Blogging." New Media & Society 6.1 (2004): 87-95.
Web. 01 June 2016.
11.Lee, Erin. "How Effective Is Social Media Activism?" The Dartmouth. N.p.,
12 Feb. 2016. Web. 1 June 2016.

W O R K C I T E D - I M A G E S
1. Magicatwork. Social Media. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 6 July 2014. Web. 1 June 2016.
2. Lambda's. IMG_2157. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 01 June 2016.
3. Piñera, Hernán. Touch. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 1 June 2016.
4. Ripp, Matthias. Just One Click Away... Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 11 Jan. 2015. Web. 1 June
2016.
5. Cintra, Frederico. Control Is an Option to Command. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 21 June 2008.
Web. 1 June 2016.
6. I1-nettverket. P8160723. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 16 Aug. 2010. Web. `1 June 2016.
7. Howie, Jason. Social Media Apps. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 23 Mar. 2013. Web. 1 June 2016.
8. Dambrāns, Kārlis. Facebook Messenger App. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 1
June 2016.
9. Images, Barn. IPhone and Macbook. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 24 May 2016. Web. 1 June
2016.
10. Clark, Ian. Tablet Social Media. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 4 Dec. 2014. Web. 1 June 2016.

W O R K C I T E D - I M A G E S
11. Louis, Petit. #HASHTAG. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 25 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 June 2016.
12. Hubacher, David. Kony 2012. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 1 June 2016.
13. D'Agodtino, David. KONY 2012. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 June 2016.
14. Murphy, William. Kony 2012 - Invisible Children. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 1
June 2016.
15. Coghlan, Michael. Lots of Hash. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 26 June 2011. Web. 1 June 2016.
16. Krause, Timothy. Fist Pump at Occupy Wall Street. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 17 Sept. 2012.
Web. 1 June 2016.
17. Melin, Alf. Anonymous. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 1 June 2016.
18. Robidoux, Jill. Anonymous. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 10 Feb. 2008. Web. 1 June 2016.
19. Blue, Fibonacci. Black Lives Matter March for Tania Harris. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 17 Apr.
2015. Web. 1 June 2016.
20. Jones, Donnie Ray. Reese, Hacker. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 7 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 June 2016.