Do you guys remember the incident surrounding Malala Yousafzai? You know, the Nobel Peace Prize nominee? Shot in the head by Taliban militants in Swat Valley, Pakistan? How about the Nigerian students held captive by terrorist group Boko Haram? With Michelle Obama's picture and the viral hashtag, #BringBackOurGirls? Oh, and what about Alan Kurdi, a three-year old Syrian toddler, that was washed up on shore pronounced dead as a result of attempting to escape from the Syrian Civil War?
Now, take a step back and brood over these instances and what you remember about them. Chances are, you mostly remember a viral image or hashtag causing a stir in social media space. It certainly did whatever the puppeteers intended to do. It caught the attention of millions of media users in the world today in all forms: articles, documentaries, videos, news segments, art, protests, and more. And then, a week passes. Two weeks pass. A month.
Where do we stand on the issue now?
It's usually forgotten, with exception to the brief Tweet or Facebook-filtered profile picture, depending on your tragedy. What ultimately sticks with you is a fleeting image.
This video of this young Syrian boy, a victim of an airstrike in Aleppo is yet another one of these images. Before him, was the Syrian toddler washed up on shore. This is echoed throughout every tragedy wave that this country has experienced, and it will continue given the importance we place on our social media universe.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/haunting-vid...
Many will argue that at least that this raises awareness, and there is ultimately some positive impact. In fact, there is research that states that raising awareness through social media is increasingly positive, as there is more charitable acts done towards the cause, i.e. Humans of New York. I'm not arguing against this.
What I'm arguing against is our tendency to forget and to be so quick to jump towards the next trending cause. Of course, there is only so much we can do from our couches and our laptops, but it is something to question and think about.
