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George Floyd's Death and The BLM Movement
The Black Lives Matter movement saw a huge resurgence around the death of George Floyd at the hands of Derek Chauvin. Pushes for police reform and justice were made using social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter by organizing protests, sharing video of the event, and sharing information about the Chauvin Trial. -
Jan 6th
The protests by Trump Supporters and Qanon members who raided the capitol were directly influenced by social media. From anonymous forum posts on sites like 8chan and 4chan that added to the conspiracy to rhetoric shared by the president and party members on Twitter, social media played a key role in the Jan 6th raid taking place. Alternative platforms like Parler were also involved and were even removed from the app store for their involvement and hosting of content after the raid took place. -
Local Disruption: Brad Wilcox Speech
Social Media can still have an impact on a local level. When LDS speaker Brad Wilcox delivered a speech downplaying the racial implications of church policy social media users shared their disdain and outrage over social media platforms to Wilcox directly and the LDS church as a whole. Because of social media's quick action, Wilcox made an apology the next day and gave a 2nd apology the next week. Wilcox's case is a good example of how social media can quickly trigger responses or cause change. -
Israeli-Gaza Conflict
Discussion around the Israeli-Gaza Conflict has directly been influenced by social media platforms. Platforms like Twitch, X, Instagram, and TikTok have all been host to discussions, boycotts, and arguments about the conflict and Israel and Palistine's roles. Discussion ranges from boycotts of brands and pushes for action to the simple use of the phrase "FREE PALISTINE 🇵🇸" in a comments section. -
Sound of Freedom Discussion
Regardless of one's opinion, the film "Sound of Freedom's" success can be directly attributed to the use of social media. The film's choice to market itself as "suppressed" and the new "Uncle Tom's Cabin" encouraged social media users to share their support for the film. TikTok's alleging that theaters were trying to "suppress the movie" or tweets accusing media of the same thing created buzz encouraging fans to buy extra tickets. Sound of Freedom rhetoric showed the power of social media.