Hashtag: A Social Media Analysis

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With the spread of social media as a of type mass media, allowing anyone to view or react to different political or social information is easier than ever. With the use of just one hashtag, it is easy for information to be spread from one person to thousands or potentially millions of others based on the size of their following base. Hashtagging a tweet or any photo links it together will all of the other posts that use the same hashtag, this grouping together allows for the rapid spread of information between millions of users all in a matter of minutes. The hashtag is used as a tool for commentary on social and political issues occurring all around the world everyday. Hashtag politics has drastically increased the amount of people that can …show more content…
When using social mediums the average teen is no longer just a part of the audience they are now a user of the media that produces media for people to see. As technology has progressed so has media, and the socialization that comes along with media. Now, more than ever the distribution of media content and access to media content is unlimited. People can share exactly what they are thinking whenever they want. (Croteau,15) This new style of socialization, or the way that people form opinions about the world around them, is increasingly popular among the millennial generation as they spend on average 18 hours a day taking in media, mostly produced by their own peers on these mass mediums. (Taylor) However, when these thoughts and interactions turn political that is when there is danger in what is instantaneously shared without viable research and information to back up …show more content…
Most of the political action that comes from the rapid spread of information is violent and spiteful action, not action that is really going to be deeply impactful in the long run. This backlash that is violent in nature accomplishes nothing politically and just leaves room for the creation of hateful backlash to people’s opinions like was seen with the #BlueLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter movements in response to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.(Staff) Thought provoking, well planned, and well structured activism that is not based on hate but rather on a longing for unity and peace will take people so much farther than will the spewing of hate online. As demonstrated by Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement, if you are steadfast and you use a militia of knowledge and eloquent speech rather than of simple narrow-minded and closed of viewpoints eventually your voice will not be denied and ignored and people will have to make an effort to understand

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