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Adena Rice
Ms. Jennifer Blevins
English 102
April 7th, 2015
Social Media and Social Change
The glow of screens light up the youthful faces walking around the mall. Struggling to
walk any faster than an inching turtle, the pimple faced teens find it difficult to pry their eyes
from the flashing phones while their thumbs were constantly moving against the screens. Who
would have guessed that these teens, mindlessly on their phones, would have the ability to spark
social change? Social media has been classified as a distraction and a gateway to inappropriate or
pointless material. However, internet has created a constant connection across the globe,
allowing messages that benefit us all to be shared. A simple post on a social media site has the
ability to inspire others to think about new possibilities and encourage reform. By looking at
social media use among teens and young adults, we can see the benefits social media has had on
our society; this is important because the U.S. population will understand that social media has
the ability to promote social change and government involvement in our youth.
Social networking sites have been a recent innovation in the past decade that has
expanded in size and capability in order to create the global phenomenon it is today. But with
social media growing to its current size, it is harder to define what exactly this new form of
communication really is. In Understanding Social Media, authors Sam Hinton and Larissa Hjorth
state At the core of social networking sites is the construction of social networks that are
enabled and enhanced by the internet (34). Hinton and Hjorth illustrate that social networking
sites encourage social relationships to grow through an online medium. The authors try to

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demonstrate that social media moves past being a platform for useless conversation. Instead
social media is a form of technology that creates a foundation for different demographics to
interact and builds current relationships developed offline (Hinton and Hjorth, 33). Although
defining social media may seem trivial, since it is so prevalent in current society, it is crucial to
understand the original purpose for social media. With the misuse and stereotypes of any trend,
the function of it can be lost. The important thing to remember is social networking sites primary
use is to encourage communication on a global scale, what happens with this form of
communication is up to the user.
When social networking sites became the norm of a teenagers life, speculation followed.
Social media comes with negative risks that are putting teenagers in danger mentally and
physically. Many deaths among teens have been associated with cyber bullying. And with less
ability to have a face to face interaction with their bully, it makes many victims feel targeted
every time they turn on any form of social media (Pujazon-Zazik and Park, 81).
Another issue affecting teens negatively is online risk taking behavior. With so much
access to gathering information and sharing personal information, personal and inappropriate
information can become public knowledge. Pujazon-Zazik and Park even state, social
networking sites are a venue in which teenagers publicly display references to behaviors that are
both personal and associated with health risks, such as sexual behaviors (81). Risk behaviors
also displayed by teens on social media are drug and alcohol use, swear words, and violence. The
sharing of personal information leads unwanted attention online. This can make it hard to gain
admission into college or getting a job.
Sexual crimes against minors initiated online have increased. Much of the numbers used
to describe situations dealing with online sexual predators have been exaggerated, but it is an

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issue (Pujazon-Zazik and Park, 82). Teenagers sharing their personal information online allow
sexual predators to gain easier access to minor than prior to the internet. Also the access to
pornography online negatively affects teens but indirectly. Much of online sexual predators get
many of their tactics from child pornography online. Also during sexual abuse, the minor can be
exposed to pornography by their predator (Pujazon-Zazik and Park, 82). The simplified contact
with information and people can cause forced exposure of sexual activities or material placed on
to the victim.
Even with all these negative aspects of social media mentioned, a lot of the information is
countered by the conflicted statistics. The varying statistics among different surveys changes
because the wording of the questions differ and the ages of the people being asked questions for
the survey (Parikh). This causes information gathered from these different sources to be taken
lightly. Many of the negative effects of social media listed above are awfully similar to its real
world counterpart, examples being cyber bullying and bullying. The exaggerated statistics should
not be as trusted and instead observations of these circumstances, situation by situation, will help
make the peoples understandings of these negative risks of social media interpreted accurately.
Instances have been observed where social media has been part of the problem and the
solution. Cyber bullying has been blamed for causing suicides among young adults and teens,
however clinicians also use social media to detect patterns in behavior and prevent suicide. Sue
Coyle, a social worker in the Philadelphia area, discusses how the research conducted to monitor
risk behavior on social media is being developed. She also mentions that it is important for the
social group of the person on social media to observe this behavior in order to help decrease the
chance of suicide. People now see social media as a way to see facets of others behaviors and
help them deal with hard times in their lives. Without the face to face contact on social

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networking sites, users are often more open whether it is negative or positive. The key concept to
understand is that every person can use social media to help others get through real life issues
that are expressed online
Ultimately, it's more sensible to teach our kids to be good digital citizens instead of
racing to protect them from every tweet, text and graffiti on their Facebook wall (Parikh). The
risks of social media have no perfect solution that will minimize or delete it, however the
positive aspects allow an explosion of conversations between a teen and their peers. It allows
teens to mature in their ability to communicate with people they know. And most teenagers using
the internet tend to focus on topics they care about, like sports, religion, and local activities,
rather than wasting time their time on pointless topics, this platform encourages involvement in
social change. Rahul Parikh mentions that fifty-four percent of teens surveyed said they have
joined an online community on a social network in support of a cause. Using social media to
help start a movement for the bettering of society gives a person the ability to spark a movement
for something they are passionate about.
Passionate movements started way before someone decided to create a social networking
site. However no one could even dream of the scale of fast paced, global activism that exists
today. Now there is a better chance of a person with less powerful connections to have their
opinions heard and matter. With oppression in government, restriction in speech weakens the
citizens ability to speak against the government. But internet and social networking sites give
even small and oppressed people the global platform to share their hardships in order to get
others to care. And when someone has enough people to care, a movement begins.
In current news, global attention has been grabbed because of conflicts between a
countrys government and the undermined people. Simon Mainwaring points out the courage of

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protesters in China (over the suppression of the Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo), Yemen,
Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, to face violence and then share their story using social media is
important because of the infinitely scalable connectivity it enables. Sharing shocking encounters
with violence facing their country displayed courage that they hoped would bring awareness to
the countrys problem. And with awareness, the protestors hoped for change. Because although
the protesters were working hard in their home countries to provoke change, they knew in order
to receive the support to start a movement, global involvement is needed.
Social networking sites have become the platform to share ideas on larger scale. The ease
and accessibility of social media creates new avenues for information to be shared. Mainwaring
explains that the communication regardless of location or time with one on one interactions, the
capability to form communities based on a persons background or interest, the connection that
can be made through the virtual world to the real world, as well as the connection between the
government, a company, and non-profit to the consumer who can work as a check and balance
makes social media a prime starting point for activism. If people take advantage of the global
interactions made possible by social networking sites, information spread through social media
can encourage social change.
With the election of Barack Obama, the public sees how social media can enact social
change within United States government. Obama took advantage of political networking to help
his campaign during his 2008 and 2012 elections (Hartsock). His plan to use social networking
sites like Twitter to connect with the citizens of the United States gave him a more personal and
update to date approach compared to the other candidates. But the government has used other
ways of allowing the citizens to affect change.

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Our democracy thrives off of citizen involvement. Therefore our government and the
citizens involved in government have created online platforms to support involvement. The
White House started We the People; a website allowing citizens to form official petitions that, if
it receives enough participation by others, have the opportunity to be seen by the White House
office (Hartsock). Citizens using social media to be heard in the government have also become
local. Connecting citizens with their government is not just a United States phenomenon but has
become global. The American Heart Association started a social media campaign in 2014 to
enact legislation in New York to mandate the teaching of CPR in schools after a fifteen year
struggle to pass the legislation. To encourage state legislatures to allow school choice policies,
the Black Alliance for Educational Options had the people who attended a Marvin Sapp concert
to text to legislatures to say yes to the legislation. The movement spread on to social media, and
eventually legislatures passed the legislation. However this is not just a United States trend.
Ximena Hartsock establishes in countries across the globe we see the use of social media as the
most effective organizing too for grassroots mobilization. Bridging the gap between
government and its citizens is becoming simpler with social media allowing a free and easily
accessible format to make the usually unheard voices gain a say in how their country is run.
Surveys used to find statistics about the involvement on social media related to political
and social involvement have been conducted to find the trends in my topic. 66% of social media
users have employed the platforms to post their thoughts about civic and political issues, react to
others postings, press friends to act on issues and vote, follow candidates, like and link to
others content, and belong to groups formed on social networking sites (Schlozman, Brady and
Verba). With the majority of social media users using social media to express ideas about the
world around us, users have found a new way to incorporate their voices into other peoples

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discussions. This may not be the purpose of every tweet or post, but social media allows for
someone who may seem small to be heard over shadowing the flaw of social media allowing
vulgar posts or misinformation to be spread.
People like Zeynep Tufekci, who are constant activists, encourage the online activism,
but point out a flaw in just online activism. With using social media to draw attention to an issue,
there is no solid foundation of real world work put into finding a solution and enforcing change.
She states: And digital awareness-raising is great, because changing minds is the bedrock of
changing politics. But movements today have to move beyond participation at great scale very
fast and figure out how to think together collectively, develop strong policy proposals, create
consensus, figure out the political steps and relate them to leverage, because all these good
intentions and bravery and sacrifice by itself are not going to be enough (Tufekci). True
activism to create social change needs to involve work with the government or powerful leaders
to make the wanted change a reality. The real world involvement of people is also necessary to
create social change. If the movement does not gain action in the real world through struggle and
sacrifice, then it will not be able to move past ideas posted online.
With young adults being the leading trendsetters behind social networking sites, they can
truly understand and experience the social change that social media can enact. And as teenagers
grow up, they can display the confidence that they have a voice in the government to help the
United States grow. Activism seemed to be a dead art form after civil rights movement. Now
people have the ability to have their voice heard when an issue someone is passionate about gets
the support it needs. Young adults are the protestors and activist of today, however they will be
the politicians and CEOs of tomorrow. Maturing through the constant connection with

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information can allow teenage social media users to explore their passions and concerns in the
world and advocate for social change among their peers and maybe to the world.
Teenagers on social media can have a great impact on society by using social networking
sites to spread positive ideas of change. To many, social media may seem trivial because it can be
a distraction to the slow moving teens hanging out in the mall. But when social media is used
with a purpose, it gives its users a purpose by encouraging involvement in government and
society. For more people to understand the positive functions of social media, there should be
classes in schools that teach teens how to use social media safely but also the new ways in which
social media can get teenagers involved in their community. Also parents and other adults should
have classes that teach the same things so there will not be so much fear when teenagers use
social media. With an entire community taking advantage of social media, more voices can be
heard and safer online practices can be passed on to make the internet a better place.

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Work Cited
Hartsock, Ximena. "Social Change Is At Our Fingertips." Public Manager 44.1 (2015): 64-66.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
Hinton, Sam, and Larissa Hjorth. Understanding Social Media. N.p.: Sage Publications, 2013.
Print.
Lehman Schlozman, Kay, Henry Brady, and Sidney Verba. "Social Media and Political
Engagement." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. Pew Research
Centers Internet & American Life Project, 18 Oct. 2012
Online Social Change: Easy to Organize, Hard to Win. Perf. Zeynep Tufekci. TEDGlobal 2014.
TED, Oct. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
Parikh, Rahul. The Dangers for Teens Online Are Exaggerated. Policing the Internet. Ed.
Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. From Our Overblown
Paranoia About the Internet and Teens. Salon. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
Pujazon-Zazik, M., and M. J. Park. "To Tweet, or Not to Tweet: Gender Differences and
Potential Positive and Negative Health Outcomes of Adolescents' Social Internet Use."
American Journal of Men's Health 4.1 (2010): 77-85. Google Scholar. Web. 22 Feb.
2015.
Robinson, Jo, Maria Rodrigues, Steve Fisher, Eleanor Bailey, and Helen Herrman. "Social Media
and Suicide Prevention: Findings from a Stakeholder Survey." Shanghai Archives of
Psychiatry 27.1 (2015): 27-35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Mainwaring, Simon. Social Media Empower People. The Global Impact of Social Media. Ed.
Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Rpt. From

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Egypt, Malcolm Gladwell and Social Media as a Life or Death Proposition.
http://socialmediatoday.com. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.