Social Media for Social Change

The Question: How do you see YOUR use of social media tools supporting concrete social change?

Speak personally and out of your own direct experience.

My use of social media has been...well...social! I communicate with family and friends through facebook, I watch and occasionally post youtube videos, and I use social media tools to plan and organize meetings for my temple youth group, school student senate, and various other organizations. Some of this communication has led to concrete social action, but it is difficult to suggest that this action has led to social change. One of the most amazing ways in which social media differ from traditional media are their ability to be altered by both the creator and the audience. However, although social media themselves change, a more profound effect can be seen in changes that the users of social media experience. I have now witnessed first-hand how social media can give individuals courage and a voice, how they can open one's mind and eyes to truth in the world. During my trip to the Caucasus, I met several journalism students that felt that blogging and other social media were the future of free speech in their countries. In fact, social media have inspired fear in opponents of free speech. Throughout the globe, bloggers and other civilian journalists have faced criticism and punishment from their governments for expressing their views to the masses using social media. I pray that my involvement in DOTCOM and the work that we have done with social media have inspired my peers to become the next generation of free speech activists. I have seen concrete evidence of a change in the DOTCOM group mentality, and I hope that this change is evident to all as we prepare to express ourselves through social media at the Social Media for Social Change Conference.