As the nation becomes increasingly more reliant on social media, critics have contended that sites such as Facebook are numbing our society’s interpersonal skills and morphing us too far into a solely digital age. While they may have some credible arguments, the tremendously powerful role that social media can play in such efforts as the LGBT-rights movement — on both an individual and communal level — was in the spotlight this week.
Early Tuesday morning, as the U.S. Supreme Court opened arguments on Proposition 8, a movement slowly overtook Facebook, as pro-LGBT users began changing their profile pictures to an illustration of a red-hued Human Rights Campaign equality sign, or some variation on that symbol. By the afternoon, some Facebook users were posting pictures of their friends list — a sea of red.
HRC reported Tuesday afternoon that the image, originally posted Monday afternoon, had been shared more than 100,000 times and created 10 million impressions in every state in the country. The organization’s website saw a traffic increase of 600 percent on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s action demonstrates that the power of Facebook shouldn’t be underestimated. Issues like marriage equality are ones that may render many Americans powerless — we have nothing to do but wait until the Supreme Court hands down its ruling in June. But, taking the simple step of changing one’s Facebook profile is action.
And it was an action that quickly caught on. Just as street rallies are designed to energize participants, who feed off of one another’s passion, the “redding” of Facebook spread like wildfire. Effective messaging most often occurs when potential supporters are met where they are — and, right now, that’s on social media. LGBT-rights leaders need to take notice of the energy that abounded for LGBT rights on Facebook on Tuesday and harness that outlet for future mobilizations.
The action was also a unique opportunity for education. The symbol that most users chose was not emblazoned with any words so, as profile pictures across the site went red, those who were unfamiliar with the symbol questioned its use — and in turn learned about the marriage-equality movement. This presented an opportunity for informal education, as Facebook “friends” explained the issues to one another on a personal level, an aspect that has been shown to have a tremendous effect on changing hearts and minds on LGBT issues.
And for some LGBTs, the movement served as an affirmation that there is support out there for our community. Each red icon symbolized a person who believes that you should have the right to marry the person you love and that you are valued. And perhaps the most meaningful was support from unexpected allies — family members, former classmates whom you never knew were LGBT-supportive or coworkers willing to take a stand for you and your community. Seeing equality sign after equality sign was a wonderful reminder that it does, indeed, get better — and that there are people in your life willing to make it better.