Instagram as an Effective Tool in Campaigning against Sexual Assault and Social Injustice

Abstract:

Social media networks have fast become tools employed in airing opinions or views about issues. Currently, the world revolves around social media, with its uses ranging from chatting to learning, fun and even campaigns. Victims of sexual assault remain silent over the fear of being judged or down casted by people. The advent of social media such as Instagram gave room for individuals to express their displeasure about issues such as sexual assault and social injustice from their comfort zone and it also gave room for other people to have an opinion on that matter which mostly leads to victims feeling its not a safe platform to voice out their fears. Instagram is one the most used social media platforms for campaign against rape and other trivial issues around the globe, in addition to being used to campaign against social injustice. Instagram has also been a platform that has been used to wrongly accuse people and spread false information. Research has been done in various aspects of using social media as a tool for social change but none has been done as regards to Instagram being a safe platform in campaigning against sexual assault and social injustice. Findings have revealed that several campaigns done on this platform yielded positive results despite how sometimes people use it wrongly. Therefore, it is crucial for individuals to take advantage of how useful this platform can be for social change. The research method used here is Quantitative Survey method. It involves the use of questionnaires to analyze results. This study focuses on understanding how useful Instagram could be as a social media platform, while bringing to bare the ways in which it is constantly used for social change.