In February 2018, nineteen-year old Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, carrying a semi-automatic rifle. He killed fourteen pupils and three members of the staff. In the aftermath of one of the worst mass school shootings in recent history, students from the school used social media to organise what became a global youth-led movement, campaigning for stricter gun laws in America. But how did it start and why did they decide to use social media? Cameron Kasky, a student who survived the attack, started posting messages on Facebook to express his anger and concern about the situation. The social media posts led to an invitation from CNN to write an op-ed which led to televised interviews in the course of the day. He and a group of friends launched a new Facebook page just before midnight on February 15^th. Jaclyn Corin, another survivor and junior class president at Marjory Stoneman Douglas decided to write on her Instagram: “Please contact your local and state representatives as we must have stricter gun laws immediately!”. Thanks to social media, students organised rallies, calling for greater restrictions on semi-automatic guns, and a bill was passed in Florida. It introduced a three-day waiting period on all gun purchases and raised the minimum age for buying automatic weapons from eighteen to twenty-one.

[protesters shouting)

They said they had chosen social media to reach more people but also because they are the generation who grew up with social media and it seemed normal to use it to raise awareness. Besides, according to them, social media allows them to keep the pressure on. They can keep fighting whereas the news media gets bored with one story and goes to the next one. Do you think social media can help make a difference?  Give us your opinion on Twitter or Facebook!

Hey guys, you’ve probably already seen the images of people posing in front of ornate giant of wings and miming bubbles in front of a wall, festooned with illustrations of orbs and flakes, right? These are all pieces handcrafted by Kelsey Montague, a pen and ink artist. Her interactive public art is on display across the US, Australia, Europe, Africa and Central America. Her work has even been in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. But everyone knows it’s really blowing up on Instagram. What makes her art unique and what I love about it is it’s not just the images that deliver the artist’s message, she also adds hashtags to the traditional artist signature, calling upon the people who interact with her work to make a declaration about themselves. So they can post images on Instagram too and you can as well. She wants to make people feel loved and inspired by her art. She hopes it’s a chance to escape for a moment and consider what really matters. I really recommend you guys go check out her work on Instagram, #WhatLiftsYou.

What do you think of Mark Zuckerberg's quote (2012):

“By giving people the power to share, we’re making the world more transparent”. Explain if it is a reassuring definition of Facebook or not. Give arguments.