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• 1 media/dtc101-fist.jpeg 2016-10-14T10:41:10-07:00 Social Movements and the Politics Around It 33 Researching social movements in America and the effects they have on politics. plain 2016-10-24T08:47:51-07:00

   

  The Black Lives Matter Movement in America
  
  Introduction

  In terms of communication, social media now encapsulates the way we communicate with one another. However, how does it connect us within the world of politics and social justice? One Egyptian activist described social media’s role as this, “facebook used to set the date, twitter used to share logistics, youtube to show the world, all to connect people”. As we’ve seen with the Black Lives Matter movement, activism and social media have gone hand-in-hand in effecting our politics and social justice. To understand this social movement and its impact, we have to look at the components of how a movement is built and the way social media is used to create communication and organization among activists.
  

  History/Roots
  
   
  Movement’s Media Activity:
   

  A brief look into the role social media plays in the creation of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.     

   

  Impact Within Politics:

  
  Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have given their opinions on the Black Lives Matters movement. And both candidates are having a hard time trying to get the Black Lives Matter votes. The protest group has problems with both candidates. One writer for the Washington Post said "No presidential candidate has ever centered their agenda around the worth of Black lives," she wrote. "We are committed to redefining our worth as Black people and holding our country's representatives accountable." She also stated that Democrats have, "milked the Black vote while creating policies that completely decimate Black communities." Both candidates have been uninteresting to the Black Lives Matter organization. Both candidates have worked hard to try and obtain votes from the movement but they are very strong willed people.  
  
  Social media has had a surprisingly strong effect on politics and this presidential election is no exception. Republican nominee, Donald Trump, has made himself very well known on his twitter account. This election seems to be much more popular on social media than any other platform. The presidential candidates have given their opinions on the black lives matter movement that has been trending on social media for months.
  
  This presidential election seems to be focusing more on what the candidates have said on social media than any other type of statement. Donald Trump has been the main name in many controversial posts posted on his twitter account. Many newsroom have focused on these tweets for weeks at a time. Mr. Trump is not the only politician to be using social media in a very straight forward fashion. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has had its sight set on trying to obtain the votes of the younger generation. By trying to communicate on a level that the younger generation will relate, Clinton has been trying to use social media to her advantage. Other candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein have been practically overshadowed by both Clinton and Trump. Viewing debates have been made easier thanks to social media. Many social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook have made accessing information about the debates, each candidate and even viewing the debates much easier for the average user. While making information easy to access candidate Donald Trump has deleted many previous tweets to avoid any embarrassing or inappropriate images of himself. In the image above, this is a screenshot of an official tweet from Donald Trump in 2012. Stating how unattractive author Arianna Huffington is from her personal appearance to her personality as well.    
  
  
  
  
   

  Sources:
  Fist image- https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/blm.j