How does social media shape the ability of social movements to protest or enact change? Illustrate using one example of a social movement, e.g. occupy, #meetoo, Tasmanian forestry protests.. Sociology

Before social media, to plan a protest and movement or change of some kind, you had to be spending months in the planning. Presenting what you want to audience wishes to see. However, advertising and organising protests, or movements, or enacting change can do via Twitter or Facebook. It mobilises quickly, and news could get out and about the riots/meetings. Can join a hashtag movement like #metoo, started to be a global thing. It Brings it out in the open. Freedom of information, WikiLeaks or hacktivism, can put people at risk. Or they are organising a school strike for climate change via Facebook.

Slacktivism and online petitions, does it help that much. It is a powerful platform. It has a vast audience, and people can come together that they necessary may not know each other beforehand. However, it creates fear and anxiety if you hear or see it several times a day. Some people live on staying in echo chambers and hearing or seeing it several times a day, and other people choose to hear or see different opinions. It can be empowering and sometimes overwhelming. And it can also cause unnecessary violence if the wrong types of people are apart of the protest, movements or change. It can cause trolls to write hurtful comments on these sites. An example is Miranda Gibson Observer Tree who camped out in a tree for over a year and ran a blog off her laptop while in the tree. Or the YouTube video assaults that went viral and the politicians had to respond because of the social media.