And so too, All good things must come to an end.

We live in a time where social media reigns king as a social influencing platform. Whether we like it or not, activism and politics cohabitate a space in the digital world that have immense and tangible real-world implications. Something that begins as a tweet can start a revolution. Researchers Maas, McCauley, Bonomi, and Leija of Michigan State University published a paper earlier this year to understand how social media propagates resistance and activism through memes and hashtags.  While the capacity of social media to be divisive is terrifying, there is also a capacity to do good and bring together people who would have never interacted before. Furthermore, the landscape of social media activism and debate is incredibly fast paced and takes no prisoners. Memes or hashtags that were once used to promote a movement or organization are often re-purposed against them, with the ultimate power landing in the hands of the users of these platforms (Maas et al. 2018). Celebrity scandals in particular have a particular influence on social media. Recently there have been a lot of scandals involving a perpetuation of violence against women, which have developed into a national crisis with media exposure of all varieties (Maas et al. 2018). The social crisis originating from Donald Trump’s actions “illustrates a culture that condones and perpetuates violence against women, often referred to as rape culture” (Buchwald, Fletcher, & Roth 1993). We have seen an unfolding of a resistance to this institutionalized behavior in the form of social media hashtags and memes. Most importantly to understand is that this is a way for marginalized individuals to come together on social media through a united word, phrase, or meme (Maas et al 2018). It is so vital that the re-sharing and reshaping of memes or hashtag allows for these groups to come together in order to collectively fight for a cause, a rebellion to the institution through social discourse.

Fig.1

Fig. 2

                These two memes together demonstrate how social resistance to institutions of power are being challenged by social discourse. Fig. 1 shows to men accused of sexual misconduct in positions of power, with vastly different outcomes. In the photo, Bill Clinton, famously known for his scandal while President, suggesting to Bill Cosby that he would have avoided Jail sentencing if he were a politician. This meme calls out the blatant exceptions and allowances given to those in positions of power, notably politicians, who get forgiven or excused for their heinous behavior. This meme also points out how even different positions of power, social vs governmental are not afforded the same “get out of jail free cards”. Figure 2 similarly shows a long history of misbehavior in the highest office of the United States. It jokingly explains how mistreatment of women is so ingrained in the American political system that it is a pre-requisite for the presidential position. This meme acts to link together decades of abuse against women by American politicians in solidarity with ongoing #metoo movements in order to protest the state of our politics. Both of these memes offer the resistance needed to these institutionalized issues through social discourse given rise through the capabilities of social media. Memes act as an effective and sharable medium, similar to the hashtag, that can unify a movement, coming together in solidarity to create real social change by groups who would otherwise be separated.

Maas, M. K., Mccauley, H. L., Bonomi, A. E., & Leija, S. G. (2018). “I Was Grabbed by My Pussy and Its #NotOkay”: A Twitter Backlash Against Donald Trump’s Degrading Commentary. Violence Against Women,24(14), 1739-1750. doi:10.1177/1077801217743340

Yang, G. (2016). Narrative Agency in Hashtag Activism: The Case of #BlackLivesMatter. Media and Communication,4(4), 13. doi:10.17645/mac.v4i4.692