#HashtagActivism Hashtags as a catalyst for social and political Change #PrayforBoston #StopKony #Egypt #DontDoublemyRate #NotYourAsianSideKick

#Hashtags The hashtag has changed the way in which we share, send and receive information on the internet. The hashtag allows anybody to have a voice, an opinion, a conversation or to share a story. The hashtag as we know it today started in 2009 when twitter started to combine a key phrase or word with a “#”, that would link to other ideas and posts that have been shared about that particular idea. The hashtag strategically draws attention to people, places, events and things. In recent years, hashtags have become fundamental to social and political change. Hashtags have given a voice to causes which would have otherwise been unheard of. Instances of political up rise such as the Egyptian revolution in 2011 and the initiative to stop Joseph Kony and human right violation have been amplified by hashtags. Presidential and political campaigns are also using the hashtag to empower youth to take a stance and have a voice. Hashtag activism is also employed to show support, such as with the hashtag #PrayforBoston, which shows support and unity amongst the Boston marathon bombing tragedy. Egyptian revolution in 2011 stop Joseph Kony

#StopKony The organization behind the hashtag #StopKony is Invisible Children, which aims to raise awareness surrounding Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Kony and the LRA abduct children and train them to become soldiers. The LRA has violated human rights and committed several crimes in Uganda and surrounding areas which Invisible Children aimed to stop. The organization produced a videoa video in 2012 encouraging people to take action against Kony and to spread their message over social media to “make him(Kony) famous”. The mission was broadcast almost immediately on social media outlets and gained support from celebrities, politicians and people all over thefrom celebrities, politicians and people all over the globe globe. This campaign was so important because although people could not physically fight against Joseph Kony, by broadcasting his message over social media and hashtags, they were still able to make an impact and help in his capture.

#PrayforBoston On April 15, bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston marathon. A terrorist attack which killed 3 and injured numerous marathon participants and bystanders. Messages of anger, support, strength and unification were immediately sent out from all over the United States and the world. The large majority of these messages were sent over social media accounts including twitter, Facebook and instagram. A popular hashtag #PrayforBoston gave a personal tone to the outpour of support for the victims over social media. The#PrayforBoston #PrayforBoston hashtag also allowed those to give financial support to the victims and their families. The hashtag #bostonstrong was started by a college student and used to raise over $800,000 for the bombing victims.raise over $800,000 for the bombing victims.

#Egypt Starting on January 25, 2011, through demonstrations and civil resistance the citizens of Egypt demanded the overthrow of their president, Hosni Mubarak. The internet and social media played a significant role in inspiring the Egyptian people to take action. The people of Egypt turned to social media and the use of hashtags to broadcast the revolution in Egypt and to gain International support and attention. The hashtag #Egypt was the top hashtag on twitter in 2011 and was one of the only ways in which the people of Egypt could have a voice under their oppressive government. According to an Egyptian activist, “We use Facebook totop hashtag on twitter in 2011 an Egyptian activist schedule the protests, twitter to coordinate and YouTube to tell the world”. The revolution in Egypt was the first time that hashtags were used to coordinate and inspire an entire country to take action and initiate change.

#DontDoubleMyRate Debate and conversation surrounding presidential elections have been around since before the internet and social media platforms. However, with the Political Hashtags allow discussion and debate across a widespread audience and allow a venue for those who would otherwise not have a voice to be empowered to speak up and speak out about presidential candidates and elections. #dontdoublemyrate is an example of how hashtags are powerful campaign tools for politicians. In the 2012 presidential election President Obama employed hashtags to engage and gain popularity from college students. #dontdoublemyrate encouraged college aged students to oppose an increase in interest on federal student loans on social media outlets through the hashtag. The younger generation that is most fluent in social media and #dontdoublemyrate hashtags were encouraged to use social media to broadcast their opinion and voice.

#NotYourAsianSideKick #NotYourAsianSideKick is a twitter hashtag campaign started by an Asian American freelance writer, Suey Parker, to bring light to the stereotypes surrounding Asian American women in the United States.stereotypes surrounding Asian American women in the United States. The hashtag was created to empower Asian American women to speak out and educate women on the stereotypes out there. The hashtag sparks a feminist debate about stereotypes surrounding women without explicitly stating so in the hashtag itself. The creator, Suey Parker created the hashtag with the hopes of getting a response from women of all ages who utilize social media, including young females. The hashtag was met with an overwhelming response from all women, not just Asian American women, to speak up about stereotypes surrounding women of all cultures.

#Writer, #Reader, #Purpose Hashtags are unique in that the author can be anybody, regardless of age, sex or culture. Anybody with a message to share can create or use a hashtag as a venue to convey ideas. The Egyptian people used the hashtag #Egypt to organize and broadcast the Egyptian revolution. The authors behind #PrayforBoston and #StopKony were people inspired by the cause if not directly related to it. The authors behind these hashtags were empowered and compassionate about sharing their voice and supporting the cause. In contrast, the authors behind the hashtag #dontdoublemyrate were young, college aged students that were encouraged to share their voice, even if they were not used to doing so. These students were supporting a cause directly related to them, their education. The reader for hashtags is mostly the same. Since the purpose of a hashtag is to broadcast information to anyone and everyone. Particular if a hashtag becomes a “trending topic” on twitter, the scope of the reader will increase instantly.“trending topic” The purpose of hashtags varies widely with the content and nature of the hashtag. However the purpose for hashtags for activism is similar; to broadcast, support, advocate for and promote a common cause. The purpose of a hashtag is similar to a microphone, to broadcast ideas from one mouth and mind to the ears and minds of many.

#Content The content of hashtag activism is similar with all hashtags, to empower a group of people and spread a common message to a large group of people. Although each social campaign is widespread, #DontDoublemyRates and #NotYourAsianSideKick were originally targeted towards a specific group of people, Asian American Women and college students. However due to the nature of hashtags, the content and opinions associated with these hashtags reached much further than the audience they were ever intended to reach, one of the many powerful aspects of utilizing hashtags as a campaign technique. In contrast, activist hashtags such as #Egypt, #StopKony and #PrayforBoston were created to reach a widespread audience. The authors behind these hashtags want their content and message to reach as wide of an audience as possible.

#Structure The structure for political activism and the hashtag, #dontdoublemyrate, blends into the sentence and content it is being used with. The hashtag is able to empower the statement by integrating into what the author is saying and highlighting the main message of the campaign.blends into the sentence and content it is being used with In contrast, with campaigns and hashtags using shorter statements, employ the hashtag before or after the sentence. The hashtags #StopKony and #Egypt follow or precede a statement in order to make a powerful statement and to draw the reader’s attention to the subject. Although longer in content the hashtag #PrayforBoston, the hashtag follows or precedes content, making a powerful statement of support for the victims. Similar to #PrayforBoston, content including the hashtag #NotYourAsianSideKick typically follows or precedes a statement regarding the cause. This is equally effective to hashtags integrated into text such as #DontDoublemyRate.#StopKony #Egypt #PrayforBoston #NotYourAsianSideKick Regardless of structure, all of the hashtags surrounding activism provide a powerful statement and unique way of grabbing reader attention.

#Linguisticfeatures The linguistic features for a hashtag vary with the purpose of the social or political change it is empowering. Hashtags relating to the Egyptian revolution employ a memorable and distinct noun that will motivate others to take a position and take action on the subject. Although only 1 word, the hashtag #Egypt makes the hashtag a bold statement.will motivate others to take a position and take action on the subject In contrast, the hashtag campaign that surrounded Joseph employed action messages to empower people to take action and share the message surrounding Kony. The “make him famous” slogan surrounding Kony compliments the action hashtags which demand the writer and the reader to take action. Similar to #StopKony, the #DontDoublemyRate hashtag isemploying an action message asking empowering people to speak up. However #DontDoublemyRate is reaching out to a specific audience, college students.empower people to take action employing an action message asking empowering people to speak up Although the hashtag #PrayforBoston inspires people to take action, it takes on a religious, personal and supportive tone. People employing the hashtag #PrayforBoston were showing signs of hope and support for the victims whereas #StopKony is asking for action and opposition.#PrayforBoston

#Design Hashtags meant for differing purposes can differ in design and strucure. The hashtags for the Egyptian revolution, #Egypt, and #StopKony are similair in length. Whereas the hashtags for Asian American women #NotYourAsianSideKick, increasing interest for college loans #DontDoublemyRate and for the Boston Bombings #PrayforBoston are longer in length. Twitter is primarily used for all of the hashtags and causes to discuss, debate and support each cause. All of the hashtags for social change are utilized on Facebook and Twitter. However, #PrayforBoston was utilized on instagram to share images of the Boston bombings and messages of support. Instagram was utilized by bystanders in the Boston bombings to broadcast images of the events before news agencies could. Similarly, in the Egyptian Revolution, images were shown on Twitter and Instagram associated with the hashtag #Egypt to show the world what news broadcasting agencies in Egypt were refusing to show.instagram to share images