Hashtag Activism Essay Example

Hashtag activism is the act of fighting for or supporting an event, idea or any cause that people are advocating through social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ among others. A hashtag is a common term among Twitter users. While other people view social networks as outlets for proliferating ill-informed opinions and misguided factoids to followers with one's preformed ideas, social networks have brought business competition to a whole new level. Formerly considered as a tool for youths to interact on different platforms, today marketers are using social media to reach out to their clients. Companies are employing online marketers in the wake of raising the use of networking websites.

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Researchers have found out that peers have a more significant influence on how fellow peers end up deciding on whether to participate in any cultural, social or charity event or not. Just by sending an invitation to a friend or family member in the case or any event, the numbers could rise enormously. If you were to attend any event and asked those in attendance how they got themselves there, a greater percentage of them would say they saw a post, invited by a friend or a family member. Peers even go an extra mile of creating a Facebook page, WhatsApp group or a hashtag on Twitter inviting their friends and relatives to the event. This way, many online marketers have found a home in social networking. It is easier to participate in a donation after an invite from a friend or family member than when approached by a stranger working in the same charity organization.

In a business perspective, people use social media to share their emotions and feelings about how they are treated in any given company. Though social media, youths have found a way of responding and ensuring their voices are heard. If they are poorly treated, there is one tweet, and in a matter of seconds the issue is trending and gets known to the public. Similarly, if they receive good service, then the organization's name will be flying high.

Support for Hashtag activism

In this essay, I choose to side with John Bare's perception and reasoning. Bare's reasoning towards the theme of hashtag activism is built on a more solid cultural and socio-political and environmental norm. Firstly, Bare pictures gimmicks as a peer-to-peer movement with an established essential cultural message with various impacts to the current community, not just a funny video. By using the Ice Bucket Challenge, he creates the event as a marker that enhances and promotes economic peer-to-peer authority and power movement by the youths (Bare 2).

Additionally, due to such campaigns, youths have risen with innovative business model approaches to ensure continuous peer-to-peer fundraising and activism globally. Not only do the business models enhance the importance, but the group addressed, and the way they are treated enhances the confidentiality, hope, trust, and accommodation given to the millennial era (Bare 2). According to Bare, it is indeed an era of change, and the groups responsible for the change are the youths. The young brains can create an extraordinary story out of the ordinary. There are a number of business models that have demonstrated the importance of peers. Examples include Airbnb, Uberx and "P2P" lending firms.

In this context, Ice Bucket Challenge is a platform that drives peer-to-peer involvement and the society at large on the various issues that affect them. Moreover, since every action depends on numerous elements of financial aid, media platform, and harsh-tag activism can be used to enhance better approaches of receiving donations in the form of gifts and other financial assistance. Therefore, an intensive analysis of the meaning and impact of the posts on elements of such movements is necessary. For example, while others will focus on the gimmicks, Bare encourages people to see beyond what is appealing to the eyes to appreciate positive results of harsh-tag activism (Bare 3).

Conclusion

With the arrival of the sharing economy and the growing competition in businesses and companies, it is important to embrace social media. It is very wrong to ignore the impact Hashtag Activism on the society, business and the country as a whole. Today, before somebody walks in your store, they would want to read reviews from your social sites for they believe these are platforms followed by your customers. They would also listen to recommendations from friends and relatives. It would also be absurd to ignore the power of the young brains in the industry. On a bigger picture, before visiting a particular country, you would probably look at what people are saying about the country. Social media is the best platform to get your answers.

Lastly, if something is good, it doesn't mean it can't be harmful too. The same applies to social sites. Be keen with those you interact or chat with, do not disclose your whole life or information to strangers in the name of being free to your Facebook friends or Twitter followers unless you want to be a victim of cyberbullying and cybercrime.

Work Cited

Bare John. "Ice Bucket Challenge is not a Gimmick." (2014): 1-3.