When thinking about a historical figure for the “What They Might’ve Done in Social Media” DS106 Assignment, Rosa Parks instantly came to my mind; she is a strong historical figure, and with all that is currently going on with the “Black Lives Matters” protests, I found this fitting for the point our society is currently in.
Thinking about who Rosa Parks was, she sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by refusing to surrender her seat to a white passenger, and this was caused all based off of the color of her skin. From her refusal to give up her seat, her act was what lead to the end of racial segregation in public places and facilities. Without Rosa Parks standing up in this way, we could still be dealing with the racial segregation that haunted her times; however, all it takes is one act to start a movement, and her act definitely did such a thing.
If social media was around during Rosa Parks’ time, I would assume her posts would look similar to what is pictured above; this is a Twister post I created for Rosa Parks back on March 5, 1954, before the Montgomery Bus Boycott movement started. It places her back in her time when people of different color had to give up their seats for those of white privilege, something she faced all too much during her time, all for a seat on the bus.
I feel if social media was around during Rosa Parks’ time, she would have started the boycott a lot sooner than 1955; this is due to the power social media has. Social media gives individuals the ability to post something they chose, and that content can be liked, shared, or commented on by as many people that wish to. With power like that given to an individual, the awareness for racial segregation back during Parks’ times would have received a lot of attention I feel, especially if majority of people were showing this was an issue and needed to be resolved quickly.
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