Social Media Essay

Submitted By vkelly231
Words: 1138
Pages: 5

Impact of Social Media on Eastern World

Throughout the early stages of the twenty first century, social media has become an interaction among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in society. Specifically Mexico, Russia, and Africa’s behavior on social media has provided the world a glimpse into human nature as technology continues to progress in response to the needs of others around the world. The societies in countries outside the Western World use social media to promote awareness on main issues, as a platform for protest, and a weapon for discrimination.

Social media has become a main source for societies, particularly in Mexico and Africa, to gain and promote important information on main issues that pertain to their countries. In the case of Africa, Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony is the subject of a social network campaign that has put “a flame in our conscience” and makes people around the world “think and act” (Naidoo) 1. Michael Kavanagh, writer for Bloomberg A , states that “for the last thirty years Kony has been indicted on charges of murder, mutilation, rape, and adduction of 30,000 children for use as soldier and sex slaves”(“Kony”) 2. Africa allows media and social groups such as Invisible Children, a non-profit and documentary-maker hybrid group, to expose “the unspeakable horrors of poverty, social inequality and violent conflict” that exists in their country (Naidoo) 3. Invisible Children presented a 30-minute video to expose Kony on YouTube, gaining over 76 million views from the public (Kavanagh) 4. The video uses pictures of African child slaves and videos of merciless rulers to give the Western world perspective on Africa’s corrupt social structure. The media promotes the awareness of this issue by appealing to the pathos of the western world. The awareness on this issue has called on concerned citizens to buy posters and bracelets to publicize Kony’s name. The influence of social media pushed the U.S. to send 100 combat-equipped forces, including special operations personal, to help Uganda’s army in capturing Kony (Kavanagh) 5. The access of information to the western world from Africa and Kony has left a lasting effect on American teens in particular. Jay Naidoo, writer for Daily Maverick B, offers his opinion on the video: “This [video] got American youngsters and now others around the world to take a stand. Their passion, determination, and their smart use of technology and social media have built a tsunami that exploded across the world” (“Kony”) 6. The usage of social media has gotten human nature to strongly convey their rage at the carelessness of the global leaders that dominate the African nation and around the world. The situation in Mexico has citizens fearing the Mexican drug cartels and using twitter along with other social network sites to promote awareness on this main issue. Over the last five years, 40,000 people have been killed in this drug-war (Cave) 7. For the four million users in Mexico, twitter is a necessity and an information center for survival (Cave) 8. Social networks have been used to identify where these drug cartels are over large areas. This crime sharing has created communities and the middle-class has become more networked. Damien Cave, writer for New York Times C, states, “Mexicans trust twitter more than local news outlets, and in some areas, parents and grandparents are being taught to use twitter and get online” (“Mexico”) 9. Social media is benefiting every citizen in Mexico as they gain important information on this issue. They are given digital warnings about cartel checkpoints and shootouts. Some websites connect victim’s names and details of how they died to the public. Two blogs, Al Rojo Vivo and Blog de Narco continue to help others online saying, “Don’t be afraid to denounce. We are not in favor or against any criminal group, we only inform things as they happen” (Shoichet) 10. These blogs along with Twitter and other