MOMENTARY MOVEMENTS
An analysis of the temporary effects of viral activism on social media BY SOPHIA LING
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n June 26, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout all fifty states. Celebration broke out as Americans rejoiced and commemorated the event with parties. At Lynbrook, students used Facebook’s “Celebrate Pride” campaign to show their support, along with 26 million other users and public figures such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It seemed that the flood of rainbow-patterned profile pictures would go on forever. But a month later, search term activity for the “#LOVEWINS” campaign had dropped by about eighty percent. Parades and marches died down. Social media profile pictures slowly changed back to their original photos. It was as though nothing had ever even happened. From KONY 2012 to the ALS ice bucket challenge and countless other short-lived but extremely popular online movements, the rise and subsequent disappearance of these profile pictures is the most recent addition to a long line of online movements to raise awareness for social issues all over the world. Internet activism is not actually a new phenomenon. In early 2012, the Invisible Children, Inc. organization released a short documentary titled “KONY 2012,” promoting their “Stop Kony” movement to arrest Uganda war criminal Joseph Kony for abducting children to become child soldiers and sex slaves. The film instantly went viral, hitting the hundredmillion view mark on YouTube six days after its release. Its social media presence rose exponentially, and within a week, more than half of all young Americans had heard of the Kony issue. However, despite the various developments that followed the video’s release, such as the film’s director Jason Russell’s naked meltdown in San Diego, interest in the movement began to wane just as quickly as it had risen. “I remember watch-
ing [the video] when it just came out and thinking [about how] I would want to help out or participate in it,” said senior Michelle Chiu. “But I definitely think that the fact that it ended up being a joke was detrimental to its cause. [The Jason Russell scandal] ended up reflecting on the video, which made [the movement] seem unprofessional. And the fact that it drew so much attention made the impact a lot worse because so many people knew of it already.” With a prominence of youth activism in the news including the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, and young stars such as Amandla Stenberg and Rowan Blanchard speaking out on feminism and other social issues, teenagers are seen as this age’s new advocates for social justice. “I don’t think people are necessarily pressured as they are just hearing of these issues via social media,” said sophomore Amber Lee. “But if their friends or others mistakenly convey the message of some social movements then there is definitely [pressure to stand up and correct them].” Youth are also influenced by their peers to take part in social media “challenges” set by diverse organizations to raise awareness for a cause. In this case, teens are pressured to participate in a popular activity in order to draw attention and acceptance from others for their activism. In fact, teenagers often participate in Internet activism not because they truly believe in the cause they advocates for, but because they are concerned about how their peers view them. see VIRAL ACTIVISM page 12
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIA LING
NEWS//
ASB changes for the new year BY SANA SHARFUDDIN
New Legislative Council System n an effort to change the former, representation-lacking system, ASB created a new system that required interested students to fill out an application. Each selected Legislative Representative presents to one to two classrooms every Tuesday with information from weekly Legislative Council meetings. ASB hopes that the system will push Legislative Representatives to receive information from the classrooms they represent, as well as a chance for ASB to receive constructive feedback in return. The first Legislative Council meeting was held on Sept. 29 with an unexpectedly large representative attendance of around 38 students out of the 41 that are a part of the council.To ASB, the new system is already proving to be effective.
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Monthly PR Videos ASB has decided to release monthly PR videos in order to increase outreach and transparency with the student body through the videos that seem more engaging and easily accessible for students, since many do not listen to announcements. The videos will promote events throughout the year, and inform students on what ASB is planning. Community Engagement Program ASB is creating a Community Engagement Program for students and the community. To get students’ opinions on which program they prefer, ASB sent a survey giving students three options: CA Drought, Homelessness and Mental Awareness and Stress Reduction. The official theme became Mental Awareness and Stress Reduction, and the project starts in November.
Club Handbook Revision A complete club handbook revision is being issued to make club management more effective, from digitizing club portfolios to allow them to regularly upload member presentations, to requiring that regular attendance for clubs be switched from two-thirds of total members to 10 members, making it more fair for larger clubs who don’t attract two-thirds of their members at all meetings. The handbook also enforces a May 20 due date for fundraising forms, a deadline previously ignored by Club Commissioners. Furthermore, a volunteer waiver form, open to all club activities rather than just volunteer activities, is now included in the handbook. ASB implemented the form to allow clubs to have the flexibility to hold activities and offer clubs the ability to fulfill the purpose of their organizations freely.
ICE SKATING// pg. 14 SHIVA VEMIREDDY - EPIC