Social media has made it easy to begin new trends, spread ideas, and show awareness. While there are some movements that are taken lightly, social media movements have allowed important events get started and become highlighted to the public.

One of the first movements swept up by social media was the “Occupy Movement.” This movement was based on the 2011 economic situation. While mostly, the stance was in line with the popular notion that one percent of the American population held most of the U.S. wealth. The Occupy tagline, “We Are The 99%” became the driving statement of the movement.

One of the biggest movements in America right now is the Black Lives Matter movement. This began as a hash tag and helped to bring scrutiny to the police force of the United States. This movement has been one of the most controversial to come out of the media age for America, yet it also provided previously unknown cases to have a limelight, with hash tags such as #Ferguson, #HandsUpDontShoot, and the newest #takeaknee.

Another movement would be #IStandWithAhmad. This brought into acknowledgement Islamophobia, or prejudice against Islam or Muslims. This protest began when a 14-year-old boy brought a homemade clock to school, and police arrested him under the assumption of it being a bomb threat. While in Australia, there is a similar movement with #illridewithyou, to stop racial profiling and injustice.

Across Europe, the social media movement tagline has aided some countries. The catastrophe of Paris became a global movement of peace and aid. With Facebook, introducing the changed profile backgrounds helped to spread the message.

In China, the #UmbrellaMovement is helping protest the political situation in Hong Kong through a silent protest.

The movements also helped to shine on issues that the public may have previously been kept in the dark. The problems in the Middle East have become more than just overseas terrorists with films, pictures, and sites of children and destroyed cities. The social media has put a person to the numbers of dead and humanized the war for outsiders. It has been named as “The First Social Media War”.

There are smaller wins for humanity through social media movements such as bringing awareness to ALS with the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.” There is also a feminism movement to de-sexualize the female breast called “Free The Nipple.”

As the technological age grows, so does the after effect of social media and in constant contact with everyone else on the same field. It has also expanded to social media movements that are helping change the world.