I recently became interested in the exact story we discussed in class regarding Ray Rice. Aside from the blatant lack of respect women recieve from the NFL, I was amazed at the way the story blew up. I saw it on all social media sites. I even saw people I never suspected to care about domestic abuse, discussing the story. So many of my friends and family members had something to say. If we want to prevent issues like domestic abuse then discussion is the first step. This is where hashtivism comes into the play. Creating these mass movements and eruptions on social media is essential for spreading aweness. So on one hand I believe hashtivism is a tool organizations and individuals can use to bolster discussion.
But the second article brought up another point I hadn't considered. Hashtivism might bring topics to light but it tends not to have meaningful and lasting effect. Despite recieaving three nominations and having at least half of my facebook friends complete the challenge, before reading this article I still didn't know what ALS was. I didn't understand why people were dumping ice water on their heads. All I gathered was that everyone was doing it for "ALS" and making a video. I suppose it's important to consider that ALS foundations made crazy amounts of money for a great cause. At the same time this random interest in ALS died out pretty quickly. And most people still don't know what ALS is, so how much did the whole campaign really accomplish?
On the whole I would say the phenomenon of Hashtivism is a good thing. Even though the longevity and helpfulness is in question, I believe some discussion is better than no discussion. And this helps bring to light tons of events, people, and other happenings we normally wouldn't hear about.
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