Friday, April 13, 2012

Empowering Communties through Social Media

Now with social media being so essential to our lives it's time to stop asking Is my Facebook "acceptable"? and start asking How can I strengthen my voice and my abilities better via Facebook.  Facebook has become a social capital in our lives, that may be a good or bad thing either way it is true.

We can see this, especially with the recent KONY 2012 videos. Take a moment. Do  you really understand what the videos are about?
 Now, I think we can all agree that the internet and media may cause some main stream. I like to think that those who are aware of the issues are the "hipsters" of media - and without them others wouldn't be aware.

Everywhere we go.
People want to know. We want to stay connected and know "What's going on?"  You never fail to see this five buttons. It's everywhere. 52% of the world has a Facebook.  845 million people! So do we really have the power to impact others?

Yes. We really do. I keep up with world news with my daily dose of CNN, Twitter, and Facebook. You can really understand/get to know/unfriend people who may or may not have the same views as you. Really, you get a different glimpse of your "friends" that you probably don't get to see in day to day interactions.

With this, I want to challenge you to use social media as an empowerment tool. Make the issues known be it LGBTQ or Food Justice, Post about issues that are important to you. Use it wisely and respectfully. Show others what inspires you, what motivates you. Have the conversations. Make your voice stronger. Encourge others by empowerment. Because if we really just use Facebook like annoying facebook girl, then the Internet would slap us in the face for our inability to challenge ourselves and others.

How?
  • Share cool post - be it health care, LGBTQ, or Memes
  • Start a blog! - write about important issues that you care about, post it on facebook, twitter, etc.
  • Mention it to your friends, "Hey did you see what I posted on Facebook?" - Have the conversations!

Ever since I started posting my blogs on Facebook, I've been having great conversations about LGBTQ issues, being and Ally, my great taste in media humor, HIMYM, and memes.

I hope you are able to have these conversations both on and offline and really utlize this amazing tool of social media. I be keeping a close eye on my news feed! ;)

Follow me on Twitter!

4 comments:

  1. Omg annoying facebook girl!!!! Yeah the internet is some intense amplifier.

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  2. Exactly, Rob! Problem is, most ordinary users don’t use these sites to influence, merely informing and affirming their posts is enough for a lot. If social media sites were used for informative discourse, then they can basically become virtual classrooms for all users.

    Staci Burruel

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  3. Yes, Staci this is true. We need to try to impact others as much as we can!

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  4. Juan Carlos, more memes to come!

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