Digital activism is all this generation knows. A better term is “Internet activism which is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular information to large and specific audiences as well as coordination.”While Martin Luther king gathered his audience by word and building an organization that was fighting for the same cause, We use the internet to find people interested in supporting a cause. Only genuine believes and supporters stay and fight for the cause for however long they have to. With Digital activism, only causes that go viral and have a strong support system around it will get news media attention for the time being, and then it’s is on to the next viral cause that people are fighting for on the internet. For example, The black lives matter movement protest that erupted due to the death of Geroge Floyd. He died May 25, 2020, and the news only broadcasted that protest was happening but they didn’t really explain the cause to the fullest extent until the protest for Ahmaud Arbery who was killed February 23, 2020, and Breonna Taylor who was killed by cops on March 13, 2020. This brought cities together in a way because they knew they were fighting for the same cause which was police brutality and how cops were getting away with it. Videos of George Floyd’s death surfaced right when the incident was happening. But Ahmaud Arbery’s death video surfaced around the same time and that has people angry because not only is coronavirus killing a lot of people but now cops are doing so too. Not only two and half weeks from when Geroge Floyd was killed by cops, Rayshard Brook was also killed by cops on June 12, 2020, at a Wendy’s drive-through.
As people are trying to quarantine, people felt the urge and need to protest which was the only way that they felt they could fight for change. Social Media was the way people communicated to know when and where to meet up for the protest but the thing is social media is public so anyone such as cops can interfere and that is when protesters were met with violence. The sad part is that news outlets were not telling or showing people how violent the protest actually was. People were seeing how violent police were from social media of people that were at the once peaceful protest. People lost eyes due to rubber bullets that were designed to be aimed at the floor first but were being directly aimed at protesters’ faces. I feel like we need to find a way other than protesting to make a change because the government does not care. It wasn’t until weeks after the news outlets decided to cover what was really happening at the protests and even reporters were being targetted. But that media coverage didn’t last long as it should which is the point sociologist Zeynep Tufekci was making in her TED talk.
Weekly news: More information on BLM coverage
SOCIAL MEDIA & SOCIETY 
Hello, I found your article a very good read. The internet does create a way for people to know what is going on in the world and what events are currently happening. It also gives people the ability to know how and where to meet up in order to organize events and walks and things like that. The internet and social media is a very good tool but yes I agree that there should be an alternative method besides protesting to get your voices heard and points across in a productive and effective manner. Again, I found this to be a good read.
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You had mentioned that as people were trying to quarantine that they still felt the urge and need to protest because it was the only way they felt like they could fight for change. This sentence sticks with me and makes me realize how powerful we can be when we are motivated. This week we talked a lot about social justice and how digital activism can sometimes be thwarted with hashtags, drowned out by other movements, or lack the motivation to go anywhere. I think that the fact that that people are willing to risk their health to go out and protest is truly powerful. It tells me that we are tired of injustice and that there is power in the movement. I think the power came from the people – social media and digital activism helped get us there, but the act itself, in my opinion will have a lasting affect. i am also aware that something like this won’t change overnight. It will take a long time and a lot of energy and persistence.
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Hey, you have made quite an impressive post especially with the social activism and the justice for the black people. Yes, you are right that such protests are planned at the social media these days and then they all gather at one place for in order to raise voice but what happens to the people there was not impressive to talk about. Like people violate the rules during the protests and then charged by the police and a fuss being created at the sight which is not a good deed. And in such cases more than half of the audience ran away and the remaining people have to suffer a lot.
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Hello, you have highlighted an important issue here about the protest for the lives of black people matter. What happened during that protest was not taken seriously until two of the deaths came bring the attention of the people and then the cities gather together and all of the people stood there and faced the police too. And the end results was as per the requirement. These digital activisms are of great importance and can bring the great changes too if this power of the technology is being utilized well.
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