Saturday, September 20, 2014

HashTag Games. Ferguson



              If you look at what’s been happening in the world you’ll see nothing. Now before you crucify me let me explain. In main stream media nothing is happening. Where has Ferguson gone? Where is #BringBackOurGirls you ask? Well they now live in social media. It is in my opinion they live more so in twitter. The hashtag game for both situations is serious, you just need to know where to look.
               
                       I choose to scratch at the surface of the Ferguson situation. I’ve looked from channel to channel hoping there would still be some sort of mention, a nod, or even an utter, but nope nothing. It takes one scandal to outweigh another, and in today's watered down news Ray Rice is the hottest thing in town. Now I credit channels like CNN and sometimes MSNBC as somewhat news sources, but all they seem to care about these days is what NFL pro is hitting their child, or their spouse. Can’t be serious. This may veer off topic for one second (bear with me), but the NFL trained chimps just gave the media EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR! I mean there are some people with consciences out there in Ferguson MI that are trying to bring justice to another dead soul of another one of our people, and these black men are making us look like shit. This is all we needed for the Govt controlled news to do. Take the attention off what matters like another lost life, and swindle into “look see this is how these monkeys act”. Really gets me. Not saying domestic abuse isn’t important, but there are bigger things happening right now in our community.
                 
              

                              Now back on course. When I headed to Twitter to see what was big in the hashtags for Ferguson, I came across a couple that stroked my interest. #NMOS14, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, and #DontShoot.  According to an article in USA Today it explains what each hashtag has meant for the movement. Duetsch and Lee (14) #IfTheyGunnedMeDown confronts the portrayal of young minorities by media outlets. #Dontshoot raises concerns about excessive police force while demonstrating peaceful protest. And #NMOS14, calls for a national moment of silence Thursday evening for victims of police force.  What I found when I dug deeper than this was men and boys using social media to their advantage. In the #IfTheyGunnedMeDown track men and boys alike were posting pics of themselves in their biggest accomplishments, and a side photo of them doing what the media would post of them. In one photo I found a black male posted a picture of himself graduating from high school, and a side picture of him smoking a blunt. If he were in Michael Browns place they would only show the picture of him smoking, as it would perpetuate what the media classifies as “black behavior”. I found that hashtag to be the most truthful. When the Ferguson case first started I remember there being such a big commotion over which photos were being represented to show Michael Brown. The ones of him smiling and doing things to uplift, or the ones to showcase a stereotype.
                Through many facets of social media and hashtags I’ve come to realize the dialog that has started. Without the use of such things how many of us would still be even talking about Michael Brown? I guess there is still a game of will it get it out, or not still being played. Thanks to websites like Twitter and Facebook I think I can see a winner. Possibly…