From Isolation to Visibility: Social Media as a Tool for Native American Activists to Generate Support for their Social Movements

Abstract

For years social media has become an ever more central component of daily life, especially in the United States. It is a communication tool that allows people to have social interactions on a global scale. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have been widely adopted even beyond personal use to include business, government, education, and advocacy. Activism is an important part of the American Democratic experience, allowing people and groups to express their concerns or frustrations with institutions, social norms, and government action, etc. The pursuit of activism via social media has been both rapid and impactful in the United States and abroad. Movements such as Occupy Wallstreet and Black Lives Matter have utilized social media platforms to put their central issues at the forefront of American consciousness. This thesis explores how Native American activists have utilized and benefitted from the use of social media to both garner attention for their causes and generate support for them. We will examine three separate Native American-led movements and what impact social media may have had on the public attention and engagement each movement received over a two-year period.