Week 11: Social Movements

Looking at the social movements from the 1960s comapred to todays social movements there is a huge difference.

In the '60s all it took to get a movement going were people with a common dream. The Civil Right Movement began as a result of students banding together with a common belief. The African-American students wanted to be treated like the rest of society and so stood up for what they believed in. Today, however, it seems that we require the use of the Internet to start a "revolution." Movements like Occupy Wall Street and KONY 2012 began as a result of social media getting the word out about others beliefs. No longer does word of mouth work to "get the word out."

Revolutions today begin because of what we read on Facebook or Twitter and thus it has to be true so we adopt the idea/belief. We don't join a movement because it makes sense and something should be done. Rather was join because our networks tell us to and we must follow. In the '60s it seemed that people joined because of a common belief and thought they could do something about it. Social movements will never be the same.

Like-mindedness is created through connections and social networks online that our friends and fans help to create. We change our minds daily based on the things that we see online and what we as a society think is cool. No longer does a movement spread because of belief but rather "because my 'friends' are doing it."