We have all heard of Cecil the lion. The majestic lion who was friendly to visitors, known for his large size and dark mane, and part of a University of Oxford lion conservation study. The majestic lion who was first shot with a compound bow and 40 hours later tracked and killed by Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer this past July.
Most Princetonians, such as myself, heard of the Zimbabwe-based lion’s death via social media. Reports of Cecil’s death blew up when Internet and social media users brought attention to the event by shaming Palmer online on his dental clinic’s Google and Facebook pages.
Palmer did not face any charges for killing Cecil the lion as many had hoped, but protesters’ voices did not go unheard. After many advocated for legislative change and thousands signed petitions regarding hunting laws, the viral storm of Cecil the lion’s story encouraged the House of Representatives to pass the Global-Anti Poaching Act. The act will “increase the penalties for wildlife traffickers, making them comparable to those faced by weapons and drug traffickers. It would also target countries that don’t do enough to stop poaching.”
Cecil the lion’s death going viral and the passing of the Global-Anti Poaching Act within four short months clearly demonstrate the power of social media. It additionally indicates that social media should more commonly be used to bring about national and global change and awareness.
We all know about social media’s ability to foster friendships and communications, inspire others and even spread news of groundbreaking events, but social media’s ability to call for change is still not as commonly utilized as it could and should be.
Last year, the ten most popular categories of articles shared on Twitter included sports, vegan, success, productivity, entrepreneurship, psychology, science, giveaway, climate change and happiness. And while climate change can be considered a “call for change” topic, other important topics, such as immigration, education and labor laws, were not listed in the top ten lists of most shared articles.
Likewise, an analysis of over 5,000 U.S.-based social media accounts in 2013 (which included samples from Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Twitter) gathered information on the top five most frequently searched topics. Once again, innocuous topics such as travel and food were most commonly discussed while important topics that can create much needed national or global impact, such as those regarding poverty and homelessness, were not part of the list.
As of August of this year, Facebook had more than 1 billion registered accounts, Twitter had over 316 million active accounts and Tumblr had more than 230 million active blog users. Even if a small percent of social media users aimed at raising awareness for “call for change” worthy topics, the global impact would be drastic. If one percent of Facebook registered account users, around 10 million people, shared posts regarding animal rights, education reform laws, race relations news or other socially and politically salient topics, change, such as the passing of the anti-poaching law inspired by Cecil the lion, would undoubtedly follow.
At this point, it is important to note that sharing information is what leads to change. Liking posts or simply commenting in support of something does very little in terms of causing large-scale impact and raising awareness. But thanks to the accessibility and ease of using social media, sharing — re-posting, re-tweeting, etc. — is not very difficult. Additionally, taking a few seconds to do more than just share — for example, signing a petition for a cause one personally deems important — is also easy to do and can have great impact. Furthermore, being aware and sharing knowledge of world news empowers social media users to be better global citizens.
Because of the much-needed large-scale impact that social media can have on real world issues, we should utilize social media to call for change instead of merely using social media as a platform to share cat videos, memes, dieting tips and family photos. And as part of an intellectual community, the University staff and students in particular could heed this advice, albeit on a smaller scale. Take this opportunity to use social media influence to spread awareness of important issues and foster more intense discussion and debate. Social media activism may not be the panacea to ignorance, but it can at the very least serve to ignite meaningful conversations. And that’s a start.
The death of the 26 elephants that were poisoned by cyanide, the pain and strength of those affected by the conflicts in the Middle East, the agony of those families affected by human and organ trafficking — let those topics rise up in ranks on what is trending on social media, and let those topics bring about as much change as did the death of one lion from Zimbabwe.
Pranaya Anshu is a freshman from San Diego, C.A. She can be reached at panshu@princeton.edu.
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