By now, most of us have heard about the tragic deaths of both Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers murdered both Good and Pretti within a month of each other. While each situation was unique and devastating in its own way, they both showed the power of social media to reveal the truth.
While it has its own flaws, social media can cause significant change when people use it intentionally.
Although it feels disingenuous and ineffective at times, you can use social media as a form of activism. It gives us an easy and accessible way to get involved.
Here are three reasons you should use social media as a form of activism:
1. Raise Awareness
While it often can feel like an information overload, social media sites have quite a reputation for spreading news and events. This invaluable tool helps us reaction to the context of certain events. Yes, the news offers obviously a more consistent and reliable source for most information. However, it can fall susceptible to propaganda and bias. When you engage with social media outlets (in addition to fact-checking with reputable news sites), you can get a much more fleshed-out version of the event in question.
Recently, several TikTok users documenedt ICE sightings around their local communities. They did this to help their undocumented friends and loved ones avoid get caught. Only social media can offer this accessible level of awareness.
2. Hold People Accountable
From the tragic death of George Floyd to Alex Pretti, recording often reveals the truth to is. In the wake of Pretti’s murder, many people realized the narrative government officials spread didn’t match reality. And people posted that reality on social media.
When the news about Alex Pretti’s murder was first released, ICE agents claimed that he brandished a gun and was an active threat, leading them to fire their own guns in “self-defense.” However, social media posts showed that Pretti held his cellphone, not his firearm. In fact, he had concelaed his firearm up until that point. This incident showed just how easily our officials can twist the story when there is a lack of accountability held towards ICE officers via social media.
3. Organize And Act
Whether you learn about local protests or nationwide strikes, social media plays an extremely important role in organizing change that you can physically do. On Friday, January 30th, students around the country hosted and led walkouts in protest of the recent ICE killings. This was a nationwide effort that was spread throughout social media and garnered the attention of students from Atlanta, Knoxville, Los Angeles, and many others.
This unprecented level of organization – and success – occured,, in large part, due to social media. While it can feel overwhelming to know where to start in your activism journey, the amount of support and tools shared online makes it much easier to start making a change.
It’s hard not to panic in times like these, especially when social media tends to bombard you with constant bad news. However, we have seen change happen in the past and need to do what we can to make sure we keep that momentum going.
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
