I chose to look into Eleni Bernier, who started using digital activism to spread awareness about depression and bullying. IT GETS BETTER ♫♪♥ is the name of the movement she has started, and she uses Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to help people suffering from depression and bullying. I would like to think that what she has started is successful, not only because she is a finalist for the Shorty Awards, but also because she has reached so far with this. I had heard of this before from a few of my own friends on social media before, I just had not looked into it.
I have participated in digital activism on Facebook, my personal Twitter, and Tumblr. Tumblr is something that I hardly use anymore because I do not have enough time for it. When I was using it regularly I would come across posts about different issues and I would share them. On Tumblr, I usually ended up sharing content about climate change and animal over population (adopt don’t shop). On Twitter I would occasionally share others’ tweets on topics like the recent election, and I would also tweet my own content. I feel much more comfortable writing my own stuff on Twitter, because the majority of people who follow me or that I follow, are in my age group or share similar views. I know that sounds little bit odd, but I blame this mostly on Facebook. I have shared activism posts on Facebook where I have a lot more friends, which include many family members who certainly do not share any of my views. I do not mind that they think differently than I do. What bothered me was that their arguments were not clear, and they were very rude. I do not get to have many interactions with my family as it is, and I do not want my interactions to consist of arguments on Facebook.
Now when I share activism posts on Facebook, I try to stick to the importance of animal adoption and being eco-friendly (recycling). I hope that by sharing posts on these issues at least makes people think about them a little bit more. I find this unit very interesting because people are participating in digital activism all the time through social media. Even if a person does not share any posts, they probably see several activism posts per day. So many people share posts without even realizing that they are participating in digital activism.
Future Music Educator 
The fact that people are involved in or witness digital activism practically every day is a thought that crossed my mind when I explored this week’s module on digital activism, too. Now that I think about it more, I am sure I have shared posts on Facebook relating to environmental protection, saving public lands, and things of that nature, which is definitely digital activism. I like how you brought up that sharing these kinds of posts on social media might make people think about those issues a little more, but is seeing it on social media enough to actually make people get up and do something about it? I feel like those kinds of posts might need to offer some sort of incentives to get people to actually take action. For example this organization picks up one pound of trash for every bracelet you buy.
https://4ocean.com/collections/our-bracelets/products/4ocean-earth-day?utm_source=GoogleED&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=EarthDay&gclid=CLiW5YfTu9MCFQKsaQodt24P1g
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I don’t think it is always enough to make someone get up and do something about it. And this organization looks great! It gives people a way to contribute, even if they are not the ones picking up trash.
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I think that you made a really interesting point about the difference between facebook and twitter. Twitter does seem to fill up more with friends and peers, where almost anybody can be on facebook. I can relate to feeling like you have to censor what you post on facebook for fear of the backlash you might cause by it.
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I have noticed many of my friends using Twitter much more often than they use Facebook. I think that there are still several people in other generations do not see a point in using Twitter.
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I can relate to how you feel on Facebook. I really have to think hard about if what I’m sharing is worth the response it might elicit. Perhaps part of being a good digital activist is knowing when it’s worth it to share your message, and when it’s not.
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I think that it’s true. I think some things are very helpful and informative and should be shared. But others try to place blame, and tend to make others angry.
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