Social Media’s Ever-Expanding Influence
November 12, 2015
In mid-September, a 14-year-old Texan boy by the name of Ahmed Mohamed watched the confiscation of his project as an alleged bomb and underwent suspension and interrogation by the police.
Word of the incident went viral as commentators branded the police and administrative action as Islamophobic and racist, alluding to Ahmed’s Muslim faith and Sudanese descent. Debates unfurled in a tumult of reasoned defenses of the school and impassioned outcries against racism.
This very involved public reaction prompted remarks on various social media outlets from the likes of President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Steve Wozniak , and Mark Zuckerberg. The Google Science Fair tweeted Ahmed a special invitation to their event; President Obama invited him to visit the White House with his clock; and Zuckerberg invited him to visit Facebook’s headquarters.
It doesn’t matter whether you think Ahmed’s detainment and suspension were the products of racism or whether you think it is reasonable to believe his clock looked like a bomb. Regardless, you have to admit that it’s pretty cool that an inquisitive young man who took the initiative to build something with his own hands and who had been through an ordeal received the support of some of the most influential people in the world as well as some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
Google, Zuckerberg, Clinton, and Obama may very well have acted out of disgust at Ahmed’s mistreatment, or maybe their actions were all simply public relations gimmicks—it doesn’t matter. The intent doesn’t matter. What their actions demonstrate, however, does matter.
Increasingly, we see social media playing a very positive role in everyday (and not-so-everyday) life.
We are often plagued with warnings of how addictive Facebook is, how Twitter is sucking the soul from face-to-face interaction, or how Instagram discourages living in the moment and encourages living for the camera lens. But I am not here to argue that social media is “bad for you” or that social media is “good for you.” I am simply here to say that it has proven it can be a force for good.
Social media makes sharing any stories easy for the common man and provides a podium from which he can reach a far wider audience than he ever could before. This facilitates accountability for actions that might otherwise go unnoticed. Ordinary citizens in Ferguson can post videos of the actions of corrupt cops—and they have. Ordinary citizens in Syria can post videos of the atrocities committed by the Assad regime—and they have.
Social media links the general public to the corporate world, to the political world, and to the rest of the wide world in a manner that makes us inextricably involved in one another’s lives. While that may have its downsides, it can also help people and causes.
Consider the Syrian Civil War. The war and the Syrian refugee crisis have become no less horrifying or dire in the past few years. Sometimes, it takes one gut-wrenching image of a waterlogged three-year-old’s corpse going viral to get an important discussion that has been stagnant going again.
As Sanath Nagaraj ‘16 states, “Almost everyone has some form of social media, so it is one of the main tools used by politicians, celebrities, and normal people to spread the word and seek attention.” When enough of the public expresses outrage, whether it be with a hashtag like #IStandWithAhmed or with comments on a Humans of New York picture, key public figures tend to take notice. And the wellbeing of most public figures depends at least partially on public relations, which means, well, looking good in the public eye. Sometimes, looking good in the public eye is as simple as joining their online discussion.
And here’s the thing about media conglomerates: in many ways, the venues that give us our news make the common man feel alienated. Watching a television newscast means watching an attractive, youthful news anchor speak about an occurrence in the world of politics, global conflict, science, or other subjects. But tracking a tag on Twitter is hearing the thoughts of everyday people as events unfold in real time—and there’s something potent about that. It feels more honest and more raw and more firsthand; it feels less staged.
The far-reaching arm of social media stretches farther still, reaching into and influencing the “little” lives, as well.
Teenagers who like to write might find comfort in the fact that when in high school, Beth Reekles posted a love story she’d written on the story-sharing website Wattpad. After garnering a following of 19 million readers, she received numerous book deals from Random House.
Moreover, by now, most of us have seen friends share links on their Facebook walls to a crowdfunding site. Crowdfunding for personal causes comes in many shapes and forms. Websites like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, or GiveForward allow people in need of financial support to fundraise by asking friends, friends of friends, and even strangers to make contributions that go towards anything from an artistic project to hefty medical bills, making big differences in the lives of average people.
Everyone says social media connects us, and as generic as that phrase is, it’s true.
“I think social media’s amazing, actually,” comments Hyeiwon Kim ‘17. “It connects me with people I would otherwise never speak to. For example, I had a childhood friend that I stopped talking to until she got a Facebook. Then, we started talking again.” So many things that happen today, things like Hyeiwon being able to talk to a distant childhood friend or Ahmed receiving the opportunities of a lifetime, would not be possible without the interconnectivity provided by social media. With it, we are each of us bonded together in some way—whether we like it or not.
Bibliography
http://observer.com/2015/09/celebrities-rally-for-ahmed-mohamed-on-social-media/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ahmed-mohamed-white-house_56239e6ae4b0bce34701009e
Charlize Chen • Nov 16, 2015 at 1:46 pm
After reading this article, I felt surprised how social media could impact current issues and could spread news so quickly. My opinion on social media changed in that I now have a more mindful attitude towards what I post online and how that could effect everybody who sees my content.