What Makes Black Lives Matter Effective as a Social Campaign

Black Lives Matter has been able to be such an effective movement because of its use of social media. Social media has allowed individuals to share their stories and spread news at a rate much faster than before. Social media has allowed for Black Lives Matter to break social, cultural and political barriers and create real life results. The utilization of social media has allowed Black Lives Matter to operate in an efficient manner to spread news, share ideas, and organize events. The group uses Facebook to spread news, analyze issues, conceptualize ideas and connect individuals with one another. Twitter is used for the gathering of quick information as well as notifying the followers of information discussed in meetings, and the group utilizes Tumblr as a private space for it’s member to share stories with one another and to keep the information private from the government (Young, A.). 

From Anderson, M., & Hitlin, P. (2016)

Social Media was able to give individuals a voice that they never had before. The voices of the 

voiceless were able to be heard loud and clear in a form that could spread much further then other

methods. Social media helped individuals overcome geographical and physical barriers, by allowing

them to connect with one another and unite over their common experiences. The Black experience in

the United States and western nations in general, is a unique one, due to the historical plights

experienced by black people in these countries which still manifest themselves to this day, most

notably in interactions with law enforcement. According to Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a

professor in African American studies at Princeton University social media has helped connect 

people and given them power, "Before, these incidents were depicted as isolated and individual. 

Social media platforms have shown how they are part of a generalised and pervasive pattern of 

police abuse." (Safdar, A., 2016). 

By recognizing the problem and identifying it, social media has allowed for an organization such as Black Lives Matter to be created and to operate in a large-scale manner through the use of online communication. According to Alicia Garza, one of the cofounders of the movement, social media has provided the ability to inspire individuals to take risks and to bring attention to the situations of others around the world. Social media allows Black Lives Matter to let everyday people contribute to social activism and to provide everyday people with an ability to express their concerns (Young, A.). Black Lives Matter is effective in their social marketing through aligning themselves with many different movements, such as the Civil Rights movement, the Black Power Movement and LGBTQ social movements (Ruffin II, H.G., 2016). Black Lives Matter is effective as a social movement because of the fact that it also relies on local organization and leadership rather than a centralized leadership system, and in this way the Black Lives Matter is able to effectively target communities and cases on a one-by-one basis.