KATHLEEN MORRIS:

News-Fed?
The newspaper has been replaced by the
newsfeed; we now consume hash tags and
status updates. It goes without saying that
theres an obesity problem in America.
Whatever your preferred fast-food restau-
rantFacebook, Twitter, Buzzfeed, Reddit,
Youtube, these dishes are increasingly
characterized by their ease of consumption
and instant gratification.
Because how could you understand the
Ukraine Crisismuch less how basic you
are or what Frozen character you would be
if not delivered in list form, complete with
gifs? Users paradoxically share and scroll,
creating an endless cycle in which individu-
als quickly absorb information only to forget
it moments later. Of course, this is not to
belittle the messages and larger communi-
ty created by such dishes. We are often so
profoundly impacted by a message or image
that we might even click like or share.
Through these world-changing func-
tions, users are given a tool for expression in
which they can quickly redistribute messag-
es and images. So perhaps it is not a surprise
that social media has become a frequently
utilized tool for advocacy. Just like tradi-
tional media, these platforms allow issues
to gain attention, turning these networks
into tools to get issues onto the public agen-
da. This has revolutionized a war of infor-
mation: content competes for attention.
Especially the attention of a fervent, young
user base. Different causes and transnation-
al awareness campaigns are focused more
than ever on captivating our generation to
advance their agendas. After all, millennials
are a powerful demographic, endowed with
the economic power to fuel billion dollar
industries, the political power to swing
elections, and a new power to pressure for
change through social media. And everyone
wants a piece.
A few weeks ago, I listened to rep-
resentatives from the ONE Campaign, a
grassroots advocacy organization, which
expressed their need to understand what
makes young people tick to a lecture hall
full of undergrads. As our attention spans
seem to get shorter, these tactics become
more and more conspicuous. For instance,
the ONE Campaign is developing a social me-
dia campaign involving celebrities, selfies,
hashtags, and other gimmicks to convince
teens to petition Congress to fund electricity
expansion in Africa. Interconnected wires
are replacing authentic grassroots origins.
Even during the guest lecturers presenta-
tion, over half the class was on Facebook.
So is social media a sustainable way
to advocate for meaningful social change?
My classs ironic inability to pay attention
says no. When we consider this strategy on
an individual level, social media campaigns
might actually prevent long-term and ac-
tive involvement. Cleverly deemed to be
slack-tivism, social media outlets allow
individuals to advocate for social causes at
the click of a button, allowing for rapid per-
sonal fulfillment with no risk or cost. Noth-
ing says global citizen like sharing a Kony
2012 video from the comfort of your couch.
Past generations of young adults were char-
acterized by their high political participa-
tion regardless of the real sacrifices. And
yet, the millennial generation seems to have
moved away from any drive to protest. Look
no farther than voter turnouts to see evi-
dence of this lack of motivation according
to the Center for Information & Research
on Civic Learning and Engagement, Young
people in college were most likely to say that
they didnt vote in 2010 because they were
too busy or faced conflicting work (34.7%)
or were out of town or away from home
(23.1%). In contrast, only 5.3% of non-col-
lege youth cited the latter reason for not
voting. However, they were more likely to
say that they were not interested (19.4%) or
forgot to vote (12.3%).
Our right to freedom of speech means
more than 140 characters on Twitter. So why
are we so hesitant to organize? I cant help
but question why so many citizens have
participated in hashtag-inspired social me-
dia campaigns against Obamas drone policy
in the past weeks but elect not to organize
and protest. We keep asking the system
to change, when maybe we really need to
change the system. At the risk of sounding
radical, perhaps we need to question wheth-
er our generations replacement of combat
boots with Uggs represents a greater apa-
thetic atrophy.
As we become increasingly wired
in, we seem to be growing further apart,
losing the cohesion so essential to social
movements. The solidarity represented by
changing a profile picture or retweeting is
surface-level. Paradoxically, social move-
ments are more cohesive in message than
ever: their intentions can be boiled down
to a short, replicable punchline. But often
these simple campaigns prevent any inter-
nal discourse or cross-examination. In order
for meaningful and effective social change,
conflicting opinions, challenges, and im-
plications must be addressed. Slack-tivism
operates at a distance and fails to establish
any such community, thereby greatly risking
the long-term effectiveness of initiatives.
Viral advocacy also dissuades individ-
uals from seeking greater information about
these issues, instead implying that popu-
larity yields legitimacy. The more likes
something has, the less we seem to question
its validity or importance, leading to an
unsettling lack of awareness or concern for
truth. If ignorance is bliss, most Facebook
crusaders are on cloud nine. So perhaps the
problem with slack-tivism is two-fold,
consisting of a reluctance to participate and
a collective failure to question.
This failure to question makes this
new war of information all the more threat-
ening. In a world of shareability and scrolla-
bility, some voices inevitably end up mar-
ginalized. If we just accept the most shared
messages, we run the risk of sidelining other
important issues and opinions. Some causes
are more glamorous (and lend towards better
hashtags), and therefore are given space in
the national consciousness and make it onto
the public policy agenda. Others (fracking,
anyone?) are relegated to academic and pro-
fessional spheres, failing to gain popularity
among social media users. And large-scale,
indeterminate societal problems often fall
by the wayside as they pale in compari-
son to large media events. For instance,
the #BringBackOurGirls campaign gained
incredible traction because of the sheer
magnitude of the kidnapping. For, a single
kidnapping of 200 girls certainly makes for
a cleaner and more powerful campaign than
generations-old gender-based violence and
the systematic use of rape and kidnapping
as weapons of war across the globe. To re-
turn to the food metaphor, its easy to lose
sight of a million mini-cupcakes if youre
staring at a full cake (unless of course the
cupcakes make for a better Instagram). By
focusing on narrow and specific issues,
these larger scale issues are easily filtered
out from the public eye.
In a world where we seem convinced
that we need pics or it didnt happen, prob-
lems that fail to gain coverage in the media
are forgotten. And even issues that become
viral quickly fade out of a failure to organize,
question, and participate. Frankly, the mil-
lennial generation holds a lot of power, and
our current slack-tivism fails to make use
of it. While social media can be a compelling
advocacy tool, its time to look at the world
beyond of the narrow filter of social media.
#NoFilter