Once again, we are waking up to our country raising its flag to half-staff as we mourn the lives lost to yet another mass shooting. This time in Parkland, Florida, where a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School walked into the school and opened fire with an AR-15 killing 17 students and teachers. It is during this time that our country, already accustomed to the routine of mass shootings, comes together to watch in horror and hope it doesn't happen in our community. Our customary thoughts and prayers are sent to the victims and their families. Then, we half-heartedly demand change for a day and forget about it until the next mass shooting happens. It has been a week since the tragedy and the Stoneman Douglas survivors are determined not to fade into thoughts and prayers and are adamantly keeping their story fresh on the mind of America and its politicians to stop mass shootings once and for all.
These survivors are the voice of a generation who didn't adapt to the internet, they were born into it. Only a week after the tragedy, these millennials are using their pain and strongest asset on the internet, social media, to ignite a movement to stop mass shootings so that the lives of their peers and teachers are not lost in vain. The Stoneman Douglas survivors took to social media not just after the incident but during as well. Despite the opinions of the older generations, the quick-thinking millennials took to SnapChat while the shooting was happening and documented the horrific situation they were in. It opened the eyes of the viewers and struck a nerve. It is one thing to read about a mass shooting, but to witness it through the eyes of a student is a much more powerful tool to cause awareness. They also took to Twitter and Periscope to share their stories using a simple yet effective hashtag #NeverAgain to connect other gun violence survivors and create a movement to "never again" go through a mass shooting in schools or anywhere else. Within a week, these teenagers have already reached out to senator Marco Rubio in a CNN Townhall meeting and a sit in with President Donald Trump to discuss possible solutions to this problem.
These internet born millennial teenagers know how easy it is to utilize social media to network with thousands of people and express their thoughts and opinions. They don't shy away from it, instead, they embrace the power of it and use it to their advantage over the older generation. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchap all have the capabilities to live stream footage and post real time commentary. Twitter connects like minded individuals with short and sweet messages using hashtags. These teens have used every form of social media to further their cause and market themselves to anyone and everyone willing to help them. Within a week, they have already made so much advancement in creating a way to work together with politicians to help stop these mass shootings.
By: Roxanne Cepeda
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ReplyDeleteUsing marketing concepts as a tool to bring about social change can be incredibly powerful. Politics, lobbying, and elections are based on marketing. I am grateful to these survivors for acting on the behalf of everyone and using their social media expertise to demand action.
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