HASHTAG CAMPAIGNS PDF

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HASHTAG CAMPAIGNS...

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Responsive Reflection Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Number and Name Instructor’s Name Assignment Due Date

RESPONSIVE REFLECTION

2 Responsive Reflection

The discussion will focus on evaluating the impact of the social media platform in the implementation of the campaign encouraging social awareness and change. The MeToo hashtag which was launched in the majorly Twitter platform will form part of responsive reflection analysis. The #MeToo hashtag campaign gained world attention from late October 2017 and was marked by several women making a public confession or allegation of being victims of sexual assault or harassment. Consequently, the MeToo hashtag campaign was initiated to bring to public awareness regarding the plight of women from different backgrounds encounter with incidences of sexual assault or harassment in the society (Wexler, Robbennolt and Murphy, , 2019).In addition, the MeToo hashtag focused on bringing justice to women that have been suffering in silence from sexual harassment and assault. Moreover, the fact that sexual harassment allegations involved prominent individuals in the society used a position of power and influence to perpetuate such physical and emotional abuse on women. The MeToo hashtag campaign was therefore critical in ensuring the society takes actions to curb on the further occurrence of such gender instigated dehumanization of women in modern society. Based on the large number of women that brought public claims of having suffered from sexual harassment and assault, the targeted audience for the campaign was considerably varied. In this regard, the MeToo hashtag campaign targeted women, non-governmental organization focused on gender-based issues, and the other civil society groups. Allowing women to form part of the significant audience was impactful in inspiring action for justice and renouncing the inherent sexual harassment and assault amongst career women, learning institutions, and other social organizations. Making women be the key audience also takes into consideration of emotional, physical, and mental health impact on women that have

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suffered from incidences of sexual violence. In this regard, the MeToo movement also helped to bring to public attention the occupational, social, and public health aspects of sexual harassment and assault in the society.

My decision to select the MeToo hashtag campaign for further exploration was informed by the need to be at the forefront of contributing women empowerment. Through the MeToo hashtag campaign, there is a considerable redefinition of the need to provide women with a voice to speak regarding the covered cases of gender-based harassment. My decision to choose on the MeToo campaign movement was also motivated by the need to evaluate existing possibilities that can be used to address negative social behaviors that undermine the well-being of women in society. I also think that exploring the MeToo movement campaign will play an important in the realization of collective action aimed enabling women to have an undivided voice in seeking justice which had been denied for many years (Steinberg, 2016). Such collective action would involve the impactful contribution of the media, civil society, community, and the government as some of the important stakeholders. At the moment, I am currently connected to the MeToo hashtag in my local community and college. Within the college, me and like-minded students formed a student-based organization that works on finding meaningful ways of solving cases of sexual harassment in the institution. To achieve, effective outcome, society incorporates every gender and also explores sexually related harassment. Moreover, I have attempted to engage the student society leadership to undertake local campaigns and awareness programs to address the problems of sexual harassment and assault in society. From a real-life perspective, the MeToo hashtag will contribute to people to change perception, culture, and behavior regarding sexual harassment. For example, since the campaign also illustrated the different forms of sexual harassment, individuals in society will

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have to avoid such behaviors. Consequently, the campaign will contribute to the creation of a society that is respectful to the individual regardless of gender. Within the formal institutions or organizations, the MeToo campaign will be essential in the creation of reporting structures or frameworks for individual that have been sexually harassed or abused. This will effective in curbing cases of unreported sexual harassment cases that involve top managers or leaders within an organization. The campaign will also result in a change in perception especially amongst career or professional women that think they can only attain career growth or success by exchanging sexual favors. The government either at the state or local level would also likely enact affirmative action policies that protect women and minority groups against sexual harassment (Wexler, Robbennolt, & Murphy, 2019). Moreover, the campaign would also help the community to recognized sexual harassment as a violation of human rights and therefore, is punishable by relevant laws. I believe the hashtag campaign is effective in the achievement of social or cultural change through education and awareness (Xiong, Cho, and Boatwright, 2019). The effectiveness of the hashtag campaign tends to have a greater impact and reach of a larger audience as compared to other campaigns on the traditional platforms. Consequently, the hashtag campaign plays an important role in facilitating social justice activism (Steinberg, 2016). This because of the larger number of users of such platforms which are in millions. The hashtag campaign is also built around trending topics on the different social media platforms and would, therefore, reach different population demographics without any form of discrimination. The unrestrictive nature of hashtag campaigns also facilitates open contributions, confession, or sharing of ideas regarding the issue.

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References Xiong, Y., Cho, M., & Boatwright, B. (2019). Hashtag activism and message frames among social movement organizations: Semantic network analysis and thematic analysis of Twitter during the# MeToo movement. Public relations review, 45(1), 10-23. Wexler, L., Robbennolt, J. K., & Murphy, C. (2019). # MeToo, Time's up, and Theories of Justice. U. Ill. L. Rev., 45. Steinberg, S. B. (2016). # Advocacy: Social Media Activism's Power to Transform Law. Ky. LJ, 105, 413....