Hashtivism

I have really mixed views on hashtags, and an even harder time determining how I feel about hashtivism. When I think of hashtag activism, I think about the ALS ice bucket challenge and the stop Kony 2012 campaign. Although these methods really work, how do they affect the way society interacts? Is this method a step in the right direction? I’m not really sure how effective the Kony campaign was at finding and stoping Kony. It received a lot of attention due to the hashtag, but Kony was never found, and the campaign essentially died out after 2012. Presently, no one talks about Kony or the end result of the campaign. It would be really interesting to see how hashtags affect the way we approach change. Because the change is not promoted through traditional channels when transmitted via hashtag, it is questionable if the issue will actually become the primary concern of some entity (e.g., the military going to Africa and hunting down Kony). 

On the contrary, you could examine the ALS ice bucket challenge. Myself, and most other people would say that their campaign had its intended effect. It raised over 100 million dollars within a 30 day period this summer while promoting the #ALSicebucketchallenge (Munk). Raising over 100 million dollars via hashtag exemplifies its power. This is a fine example of the capabilities of hashtivism. However, if a campaign with a given hashtag doesn’t gain enough traction in a short amount of time, it has the tendency to die out. This connects to the idea of hype (i.e., technology is good, and has an optimistic positive impact on human life) versus hysteria (i.e., technology is bad, and has a pessimistic negative impact on human life). There is a lot of hype about the hashtag and its capabilities, and the ALS ice bucket challenge gives meaning to it. One could also look at this with the hysteria view; are we actually solving any issues with hashtags, and are they really improving human interactions?

As an example, my friend has been intrigued by a girl that was kidnapped several weeks ago. Now that the news coverage has started to die down, she has been hashtag searching for news concerning the kidnapping on Twitter. In my opinion, she has been receiving better, faster, and more detailed information about the case as opposed to the information found in a simple google search. Additionally, when the #FindHannahGraham campaign started, there was an outpouring of support, with people coming from very distant places to lend any help to the rescue of the girl that was kidnapped.

Conclusively, it’s important to consider the use of hashtags in any capacity. Hashtags socially construct one’s identity. An individual’s use of hashtags says something about their personality and opinions. As we talked about in class, you socially construct your identity based off of the things you do, wear, and get involved with. Similarly, using hashtags could say many different things about you. The person who posts a picture to Instagram with twenty hashtags will be viewed differently than the person posting #ALSicebucketchallenge. The individual that uses twenty hashtags may be viewed as wanting attention, likes, and followers, while the other person may be viewed as inspirational or dedicated to awareness. The way in which we decide to use or not use such technology ultimately constructs our social being. 

Sources

Munk, Carrie. "The ALS Association Announces Initial Commitment of $21.7 Million from Ice Bucket Challenge Donations to Expedite Search for Treatments and a Cure for ALS." - The ALS Association. N.p., 02 Oct. 2014. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.