The Battle For Public Opinion

How has social media played a role in the 2020 civil rights movement and protests?

Social media has been used widely throughout the movements and protests as a tool to organize and spread awareness. I know, personally, throughout the Black Lives Matter protests I saw a lot of informative posts shared surrounding white supremacy and police brutality. I also saw locations of strikes and protests shared on instagram and snapchat stories. Because of the corona virus, many of these protests were completely shared over social media. Social media was vital to the organization of many of these civil rights movements and they may not have gained the traction they did without the wide sharing available through social media. 

How have people used social media to win the hearts and minds of people? Provide examples.

Many celebrities and influencers use social media to create an online persona that their fans can feel a connection with. For example, on Selena Gomez's Instagram, she share personal information, such as a story of her kidney transplant, as well as promoting her business ventures, such as beauty product partnerships or upcoming movies. These personal details make her followers feel like they have a real connection with her even though she is a celebrity with millions of followers.

Give an example of how it’s been used in a positive, or negative way.

Looking at Selena Gomez's Instagram again, she has used her platform to reach a very wide audience. She has 195 million followers, so what she posts can be very impactful. Personally, I think she has used her platform to spread some very important information, such as all the posts she currently has about the importance of voting. Additionally, throughout May and June, Selena completely transformed her instagram to highlight black activist's voices.