Susan McPherson presents her rational behind why hashtag activism has taken off specifically for women's causes and movements during her presentation at the DLDWomen Conference in Munich, German.
4. Origins
• #ArabSpring
• #OWS – Occupy Wall Street
• #Kony2012 – call to stop Ugandan military
leader and war criminal Joseph Kony, who
had been kidnapping child soldiers since
the early 90s
• #JusticeForTrayvon
6. The benefits of hashtag
activism are very real.
Raise awareness
Build and organize communities
Give a voice to the voiceless
Educate
Increase civic engagement
Garner media attention
Let’s not be fooled to think it will solve the world’s challenges. IT must be done in concert with other advocacy and movement building.
It’s a democratic way to start and support dialogue, so long as users engage critically and continue to care when the trend diminishes.