Since the 1990s, online movements have been an event that many take part in. Rather than doing nothing, those who want their voices to be heard protest and raise awareness on social media. Especially now, when the internet can connect the vast majority of the world, people have been expressing their opinions and concerns online about all sorts of topics.
Causes or sources for online movements can vary, though most are to spread awareness. Past movements like the 2011 Occupy movement and the 2013 #BlackLivesMatter protests (also reappearing in 2020) were meant to do just that, sharing information and spreading awareness of their cause to everyone on their platform.
For instance, in November, a small protest led by the organization, Women for Change, quickly gained traction after it was taken in social media.This was done to raise awareness for gender-based violence in South Africa.
After the movement got massive amounts of attention, large numbers of people started changing their profile pictures to purple to raise awareness and support those who were affected by gender-based violence.
In fact, so many people participated in the movement that celebrities even started to take notice and change their profile pictures too. A few of the celebrities that contributed were Tyla, Bonang Matheba, and J’Something.
At the end of November, the issue of gender-based violence was declared a national disaster in South Africa following the rise of the purple profile pictures movement. There’s been a lot of debating whether or not the purple profile pictures actually did anything to help get to this point. Afterall, it was just a social media picture, could it really have that much of an impact?
The answer is yes.
The movement and its cause gained a lot of attention and popularity within only a few weeks of it being brought to social media. Millions of users across social media platforms participated, and all of their efforts contributed to the declaration in South Africa. The massive social media campaign played a huge role in bringing awareness to and conveying the importance of the issue.
Actually, this isn’t the first time where online protests and movements have contributed to change. Instances like the #MeToo movement about sexual harassment and the #BlackLivesMatter campaign against police brutality both gained rapid support through online sharing and hashtags.
Online movements are actually one of the best ways to convey a message or goal. Everything on social media can spread fast and gain the attention of millions, sometimes billions, of people in a short period. Due to this, online movements have proven some of the most impactful forms of activism.
