Important Quality of New Media

Sydney Bunch

New Media Extra Credit

One important quality of new media is the newer ability for “many to speak to many,” meaning a person is now capable of speaking to numerous friends or followers all by a single post to the internet. A great example of new media increasing community engagement would be the wide-scale level of interactivity online allowing for information on current events in North Dakota to quickly be heard by people from all over the country, resulting in vast displays of solidarity with Standing Rock Sioux tribe. Without social media, it is scary to think about how unaware we would be to the illegal use of force taking place by government officials towards humans who are merely protecting their water and remains of their sacred land.

As a large piece in the umbrella term “social media,” Facebook has recently been used by United States citizens to stand with Standing Rock Reservation. Specifically, a post recently went viral claiming that local officials to the reservation have been using Facebook’s location “check-in” feature to track down activists who are (rightfully) protesting the installment of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline. As the post flooded newsfeeds of active Facebook users by “friends” sharing with friends, people across the nation began to falsely check-in at the reservation in hopes of confusing and deterring government officials away from activists present in real time. Over one million individuals falsely checked in at Standing Rock Reservation, adding personal messages displaying support for the tribe as well as concern for our right as part of the first amendment to protest or assemble peacefully.  Facebook has also made it possible to expose what actions are actually being taken at Standing Rock, including the use of tear gas and spraying protestors with water hoses in dangerously low temperatures. Since newscasts have failed to mention the magnitude of this awful time, Facebook has also made it possible for present protestors to take it upon themselves to share videos to the rest of America of what is actually happening in real time.