Social Media Empowers Us

These days, social media has increasingly become a part of our everyday life, that we often forget it's tremendous effects it has on our culture and outcomes.

Social media is often seen as a place where we can post pictures of our dinner, tweet gossip, follow our favorite celebrities, and take various pop culture quizzes (Buzzfeed, anyone?). While that may be true to an extent, social media is also a way of liberation and empowerment.

As a young freshmen who was new to the social media world, I was amazed at how I could connect with people from all parts of the world. Scrolling through my twitter feed, I read updates from people, whether celebrities, or everyday citizens from different parts of America, Brazil, Norway, or Japan witnessing events circulating the news, or making history, I could read about their everyday lives, experiences, and the things they shared on the internet. On Tumblr, I followed blogs such as stfuconservatives, humanrightswatch, thepeoplesrecord, and also read stories about everyday people and their many experiences. Some intriguing and inspiring, others devastating and heartbreaking. I also read online magazines such as Rookiemag that introduced me to the world of feminism and teenage activism.

Throughout social media, I was introduced to new people, opinions, queries, and ideas. I began to question societal norms around me, (like why are women portrayed on TV like they currently are? Why are minorities always targeted and depicted differently in the media than white people? Why are the statuses of girls and boys different even if they've behaved the same way? etc.) I enjoyed sharing with my friends these new found ideas and things I learned over the internet. They then, soon began to follow suit, whether through me or others. Growing up, it was nice having friends with like-minded ideas. Granted, I of course had friends from all ends of the spectrum, but it was always nice having those few who I could share and collaborate my ideas with.

Lets take a look at the Arab and Middle Eastern uprisings back in 2012. It's said that a big factor that ignited these uprisings was social media. People began taking videos and pictures of what they witnessed, and uploaded them to Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. Anonymous pages began to spread information, current events, and news on Facebook. An Egyptian activist once said, "We use Facebook to schedule the protests and Twitter to coordinate, and Youtube to tell the world." By doing this, more and more people in Egypt and around the world knew what was going on and were inspired themselves to join the revolution. Without social media, the Arab Uprisings would be much different.

Meeting like-minded people through social media has become a big thing nowadays as well, and I'm not just talking about dating websites; I mean artists collaborating with other artists, teenagers from all over starting online Zines together. Journalists and aspiring writers getting their voices out through Facebook and Twitter, and ordinary people meeting each other and developing friendships through blogging and tweeting.
For example, last year I met a girl from Muscatine through Twitter. We quickly became friends through our love for Andrew Jackson Jihad and intersectional feminism, and decided to meet up in downtown Iowa City one Saturday. It ended up being a thrilling and exciting experience and to this day we are good friends sharing our ideas through Twitter and the internet.

Anyway, to wrap this whole thing up, social media, when used the right way, can enlighten us, teach us, and shed a light or provide a new perspective on things we've never thought about. And most of all, social media inspires us and empowers us.