Presented By: Andrew G. Hill

HASHTAGTIVISM

A Brief Insight into ActivismThrough Web 2.0

From Kernel Magazine-

“Hashtag Activism is Real”“Using hashtags as a way to organize information

and conversations on Twitter was conceived by former Google developer Chris Messina in 2007.

The original purpose, Messina told the Kernel, was to create a way to have organized conversations on a platform that lacked the traditional forum-moderator structure.”

2015Slactivism

(90s)

Clictivism (00s)

Hashtag Activism

• Occupy Wall Street (#OWS)• “Arab Spring” (2009-2011)

Lybia, Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen2011• #Kony2012, #StopKony• #StandWithPP (Call for Komen

Funding of Planned Parenthood- Female Services)• #JusticeforTrayvon

2012• #VemPraRua (Brazilian Protests of World Cup)• #BostonStrong• #WeAreTrayvonMartin

2013• #BringBackOurGirls• #YesAllWomen• #Ferguson• #ICantBreathe

2014

From Culture Club-

“#IAmNotYou”Many folks, including myself, have a whole lot of privilege that will protect us if we protest with our bodies. I’m white, I’m on the masculine spectrum most days, I take up a lot of physical space (at 6’4”); not many people would mess with me. But if you’re trans and in public, if you’re on the feminine spectrum and in public, and/or if you’re black and in public, you could be harassed and killed if you physically show up.”

From Culture Club-

“#IAmNotYou”

“Online activist spaces can be a literal safe havens for those who can’t take any more risks with their lives. These spaces can connect folks to form communities who regularly would not be able to meet in real life because of threats of violence or even just because of geography.”

The New York Times:

“Hashtag Activism and Its Limits”

“Sure, hashtags come and go, and the so-called weak ties of digital movements are no match for real world engagement. But they are not only better than nothing, they probably make the world, the one beyond the keyboard, a better place.”David Carr, New York Times (March 25, 2012)

Huffington Post:

“The Case for Social Media and Hashtag Activism”

“As an activist, I saw social media as an opportunity to spread the word about various causes at a faster rate, and to a bigger number of people, than through traditional methods.”

Sabrina Khan-Ibarra, Huffington Post

“These tools probably do not hurt in the short run and might help in the long run -- and that they have the most dramatic effects in states where a public sphere already constrains

the actions of the government.”

Do digital tools enhance democracy?

Clay Shirky, Foreign Affairs.com

“The Political Power of Social Media”

Internet freedom is a long game, to be conceived of and supported not as a separate

agenda but merely as an important input to the more

fundamental political freedoms.