Hashtag activism

Hashtag activism is a term coined by media outlets which refers to the use of Twitter's hashtags for internet activism.[1][2][3][4]

Origin

The oldest known mention of the term is from The Guardian, where it was mentioned in context to describe Occupy Wall Street protests.[5]

Hashtags have a history on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. The origin of the hashtag stemmed "the idea of the hashtag as a means to coordinate Twitter conversations" between individual Twitter users. Chris Messina, a San Francisco resident, is coined with coming up of the hashtag where he personally called his idea "a messy proposal."[6]

Notable examples

#Kony2012

Main article: Kony 2012

Kony 2012 is a short film produced by Invisible Children, Inc. (authors of Invisible Children). It was released on March 5, 2012.[7][8][9][10] The film's purpose was to promote the charity's "Stop Kony" movement to make African cult and militia leader, indicted war criminal and the International Criminal Court fugitive Joseph Kony globally known in order to have him arrested by the end of 2012,[11] when the campaign expired. The film spread virally through the #Kony2012 hashtag.[12][13][14]

#BringBackOurGirls

First Lady Michelle Obama initiated the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag

Boko Haram kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria in May 2014, refusing to return the girls.[15] The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls was created and used in hopes of keeping the story in the news and bringing international attention to it.[16] The hashtag was used by first lady Michelle Obama to raise awareness for the kidnapped girls.[17] The hashtag in itself has received 2 million retweets.[1]

#YesAllWomen

Main article: YesAllWomen

#YesAllWomen is a Twitter hashtag and social media campaign in which users share examples or stories of misogyny and violence against women.[18] #YesAllWomen was created in reaction to another hashtag #NotAllMen, to express that all women are affected by sexism and harassment, even though not all men are sexist. The hashtag quickly became used by women throughout social media to share their experiences of misogyny and sexism.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] The hashtag was popular in May 2014 surrounding discussions of the 2014 Isla Vista Killings.[27][28][29]

#NotYourAsianSidekick

The hashtag #NotYourAsianSidekick was initiated by Suey Park in December 2013 on Twitter. Suey Park is a freelance writer who support Asian American feminism. She started this movement for giving Asian American women's voices out there and against the patriarchy in Asian American spaces and the racism in white feminism.[30]

#GamerGate

Main article: Gamergate controversy

In August 2014, a number of video game consumers began to use the #GamerGate hashtag to criticize what they felt was corruption of ethics in video game journalism. The #GamerGate activism has led to a heated social media controversy on sexism, misogyny, and culture wars within the maturing video game industry and community.

Other examples

The 2014 Europe Game Developers Conference's #1ReasonToBe panel stemmed from #1reasonwhy hashtag conversations.[31]

A 2012 Twitter discussion among women working in games, collated under the hashtag #1reasonwhy, indicated that sexist practices such as the oversexualization of female video game characters, workplace harassment and unequal pay for men and women were common in the games industry.[32][33][34]

In August 2014, parents of children with autism started a social media campaign on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, called "Hear This Well", in which parents who believe their child suffers from vaccine induced autism or other vaccine injury share their stories with the hashtag #hearthiswell.[35][36][37]

In September 2014,The Hokkolorob Movement (Let The Voice Raise Movement) started. It is a series of protests initiated by the students of Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India that began on September 3, 2014. The term "hok kolorob" ("make some noise") was first used as a hashtag on Facebook.[38]

Criticism

Hashtag activism has been criticized by some as a form of slacktivism.[39] Chris Wallace, George Will, and Brit Hume of Fox News commented that hashtag activism was a "useless exercise in self esteem and that ... I do not know how adults stand there, facing a camera, and say, 'Bring back our girls.' Are these barbarians in the wilds of Nigeria supposed to check their Twitter accounts and say, 'Uh oh, Michelle Obama is very cross with us, we better change our behavior'?"[4][40][41] The ease of hashtag activism has led to concerns that it might lead to overuse and public fatigue.[42]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "George Will: Hashtag Activism "Not Intended To Have Any Effect On The Real World"". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Hashtag Activism, and Its Limits". NYtimes. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "#BringBackOurGirls: Why hashtag activism has its critics". Mediaite. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "#Bringbackourgirls, #Kony2012, and the complete, divisive history of ‘hashtag activism’". Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Eric Augenbraun (29 September 2011). "Occupy Wall Street and the limits of spontaneous street protest". theguardian. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "The Use of Twitter Hashtags in the Formation of Ad Hoc Publics". The Use of Twitter Hashtags in the Formation of Ad Hoc Publics: 1–9. 2011.
  7. ↑ "News Hour – Trending Now: Kony 2012". Global TV. March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  8. ↑ Lees, Philippa; Zavan, Martin (March 7, 2012). "Kony 2012 sheds light on Uganda conflict". Ninemsn. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Jackson Center To Show KONY2012". The Post-Journal. February 14, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Uganda rebel Joseph Kony target of viral campaign video". BBC News. March 8, 2012.
  11. ↑ Myers, Julia (March 7, 2012). "A call for justice". Kentucky Kernel.
  12. ↑ Neylon, Stephanie (March 7, 2012). "Kony fever hits York!". The Yorker. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  13. ↑ Molloy, Mark (March 7, 2012). "Kony 2012: Campaign Shedding light on Uganda Conflict a Huge Online Success". Metro. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  14. ↑ Nelson, Sara C. (March 7, 2012). "Kony 2012: Invisible Children Documentary Sheds Light On Uganda Conflict". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Boko Haram offers to swap kidnapped Nigerian girls for prisoners". Reuters. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  16. ↑ ""Hashtag Activism" and the case of the kidnapped Nigerian girls". Silicon Beat. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Michelle Obama raises pressure over kidnapped schoolgirls". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  18. ↑ Medina, Jennifer (May 27, 2014). "Campus Killings Set Off Anguished Conversation About the Treatment of Women". The New York Times. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  19. ↑ Jess Zimmerman (2014-04-28). "Not All Men Meme Rise of Defense Against Sexism Misogyny". TIME. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  20. ↑ Jeff Bridges (2014-06-02). "#NotAllMen Don’t Get It". TIME. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  21. ↑ Plait, Phil (2014-05-27). "Not all men: How discussing women’s issues gets derailed". Slate.com. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  22. ↑ http://jezebel.com/your-guide-to-not-all-men-the-best-meme-on-the-interne-1573535818
  23. ↑ Vendituoli, Monica (2014-05-28). "#NotAllMen, but #YesAllWomen: Campus Tragedy Spurs Debate on Sexual Violence - Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education". Chronicle.com. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  24. ↑ Pachal, Pete (26 May 2014). "How the #YesAllWomen Hashtag Began". Mashable. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  25. ↑ Valenti, Jessica. "#YesAllWomen reveals the constant barrage of sexism that women face". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  26. ↑ "#YesAllWomen Puts Spotlight On Misogyny". NPR. 28 May 2014.
  27. ↑ Grinberg, Emanuella. "Why #YesAllWomen took off on Twitter". CNN Living. CNN. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  28. ↑ Pearce, Matt. "#YesAllWomen: Isla Vista attack puts a spotlight on gender violence". LA Times. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  29. ↑ Kate O’Neill (June 6, 2014). "Hashtag activism offers chance to take a stand". The Tennesean. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  30. ↑ Yoonj Kim (December 17, 2013). "#NotYourAsianSidekick is a civil rights movement for Asian American women". The Guardian.
  31. ↑ http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/31/5365092/1reasontobe-panel-returns-to-gdc-this-year
  32. ↑ Locker, Melissa (27 November 2012). "#1ReasonWhy: Women Take to Twitter to Talk about Sexism in Video Game Industry". TIME magazine. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  33. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (27 November 2012). "Here’s a Devastating Account of the Crap Women in the Games Business Have to Deal With. In 2012.". Kotaku. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  34. ↑ Hamilton, Mary (28 November 2012). "#1reasonwhy: the hashtag that exposed games industry sexism". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  35. ↑ Farber, Celia (4 September 2014). "Autism Parents Reply to CNN: ‘Hear This Well’". Epoch Times. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  36. ↑ Stokowski-Bisanti, Jeannie (1 September 2014). "CDC denies autistic children a voice, parents demand they be heard". Examiner. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  37. ↑ Hoernlein, Carol (2 September 2014). "The CDC Whistleblower – Injecting Sanity Into the Vaccine Debate". Epoch Times. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  38. ↑ "Students Against Campus Violence". 9 September 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  39. ↑ Hodges, Catherine. "Hashtag activism proliferating, but is it effective?". The Herald-Sun. The Herald-Sun. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  40. ↑ Richinick, Michele. "Conservatives mock ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ hashtag". MSNBC. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  41. ↑ Sharockman, Aaron (11 May 2014). "PunditFact fact-checks the May 11 news shows". Politifact. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  42. ↑ Dijck, José van (2013-03-21). The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media. Oxford University Press. pp. 87–. ISBN 9780199970780. Retrieved 6 June 2014.