At the risk of totally aging myself right out the gate, I remember Twitter launching way back in the day and thinking ‘how silly is this platform? What are 140-character comments going to really do?’. HA! I look back now and laugh at myself. Little did I know…silly girl. What once started as a social platform that, for me, was used to catch up on celebrity gossip has now aided in bringing awareness to so many important social causes. In 2017 Alyssa Milano fired off a tweet that changed the course of an entire movement. Ready to dive into it? #METOO
What did she say that made such an impact?!
Glad you asked. You see, what she said wasn’t necessarily the game changer here, but how she said it made all the difference. Many of us know that having a community of like-minded people makes us feel safe. Safe to speak up, safe to not be alone, safe to make a change. So, Alyssa Milano did what so many women were waiting to do — TELL THEIR STORY. In October of 2017 Alyssa Milano started her tweet with a simple statement — ‘ME TOO’. She followed ‘Me Too’ by suggesting anyone woman who read that and had been sexually assaulted or harassed in the past simply consider putting those two tiny words, me too, as their status that perhaps the simple number of victims speaking up would be large enough to prove just how big of a problem sexual assault was in our country.
The Results?
Once the Tweet got out, tens of thousands of women were compelled to speak up and thus the hashtag #metoo was born. This hashtag was used by many victims, but more importantly, seen by many decision makers. CEO’s of companies, HR Generalists, and Politicians were all well aware that #MeToo was ‘not a moment, it was a movement’.
Did it make an impact?
So, numbers don’t lie. We can see how many people not only spoke up as victims, but spoke up in support of the movement. According to Psychiatry Investigation, “It was suggested that the #Me Too movement has shifted the norms surrounding sexual harassment in workplaces. One of them is the agreement that sexual harassment (not just sexual assault) constitutes a threat and is unacceptable in the workplace.”
How did social media play a part?
So here’s the thing…with #METOO being such an important and sensitive topic that required attention, I can see where one might think this campaign could have been equally as successful offline, but let’s talk about that a bit. In 2006, an activist by the name of Tanara Burke created a movement similar to #metoo, and while it had some success, it lacked reach and thus, lacked community. The value added by social media is that with just one tweet, plus the tweet coming from a celebrity influencer, thousands of people were instantly aware that not only did another woman have a similar experience, but if she was brave enough to speak on it, maybe they could be too. Cue the retweets, the hashtags, the acceptance, and the empowerment. What Burke was missing at the time was that community reach and with that, the #METOO movement became unstoppable.
Learn More!
The fascinating part about social media is how total strangers on different sides of the world can be brought together simply by having something in common. With movements such as #METOO, social media might have been what saved someone’s life just by giving them the opportunity to see they were not alone. Want to learn more about #METOO? Check out the amazing Ted Talk by Tanara Burke herself!
Are you ready to make a change in the world? Comment below and let me know what YOU would want to advocate for! After that, head over to Social Media as Activism and Social Justice to learn more about some incredible ways social media has helped raise awareness!
