SOCIAL MEDIA – A MEANS FOR DISTRACTION or A TOOL TO SPARK CHANGE?

I am amazed at how so many people are afraid to face the realities of what is happening around them and how they don’t want to get involved in issues that inflict injustice on other people, animals and the environment.  I scan the Facebook pages of friends and acquaintances and am awestruck at the meaningless posts they want others to read.  Here are some examples (without mentioning names, of course):

• a friend liked a page dedicated to ‘hot guys in sweat pants’
• someone posted a link to pictures of ‘people of Wal-Mart’ obviously to ridicule their look and weirdness
• people bragging about how great their lives are (without being humble)
• people bragging at how great their make-up or haircuts look

I know…..why is it so wrong for people to post these things – they are only sharing these things for laughs or because they are proud.  Maybe it’s me – but I don’t enjoy poking fun at people anymore or telling everyone on Facebook that I love porn.  Maybe I am making too much of an assumption – I have posted pictures of concerts I have attended and of authors I have met.  Why do I feel that the posts most other people make are not as authentic?  Why should I care?  I don’t know what contributions these people make to social, political or environmental causes.  Here’s why I care…..

I know some of these people and I know their personalities and their habits…..when someone tells me they don’t recycle because their landlord doesn’t supply them with the resources to recycle, why should they bother?  They would rather surf the net for pictures of hot guys or follow the lives of porn stars than engage in a conversation with their landlord about setting up a recycling station in their building.  That’s the reality.

I have also engaged in pretty heated debates on Facebook because of what someone may have posted.  I stand behind everything I post – because I believe whatever I post 100%  I try not to judge the lifestyle’s of others but will stand up for what I believe in.  Many people have commented on many of my Facebook posts telling me “why do you post those, they are too violent”, “I don’t want to see that”, “Facebook isn’t for activism”.  I guess Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites are only for ‘hooking up’, porn, making fun/judging others or to post meaningless crap that continues to distract people from the realities and injustices BIG corporations, BIG oil and our governments are creating to ensure we don’t ‘remove our blinders’.

I may not be able to go to the Arctic to make a point that Shell/Exxon/BP or any other oil company should not be drilling there – but I can certainly post and blog about it to get the message out.  I may not be able to afford an electric vehicle right now but if I keep spreading the word to pressure our governments and the automobile industries, maybe I will one day.  I may not be blocking transport trucks from delivery animals to slaughter houses but I can surely share the horrors these animals go through and possibly making someone think twice before they purchase factor farmed animals.

I know and understand our need to be desensitized to social, political and environmental issues – life is difficult, but if we continue to leave our blinders on, imagine what the world would look like tomorrow?  Think about it for just one moment – if people didn’t advocate for the environment and sustainable energy, what would our environment look like today?  If people didn’t advocate for equality or human rights, what would our world look like today?  Imagine if we didn’t have PETA or individuals who actually care about the pain and suffering animals go through, what would our world look like today?

Social media is a powerful tool – with it, we can send messages across the globe instantaneously and start revolutions, we can ignite the spark and let the flames of positive change engulf the planet.  Are you ready?

Together, we can make the world a more positive one.