Over the past week, you may have been surprised and confused to find a few (or more) of your friends had found there way out to Standing Rock North Dakota. No, these vast crowds didn't all decide to fly out and use the Facebook "check-in" feature, this was a part of a concerted effort to aid the protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL.
For those unfamiliar with the DAPL, it is an oil pipeline intended to run from the Bakken oil fields to Patoka Illinois. It has been planned since July of 2014, and the original route ran north of Bismark, ND. Concerns over the safety of the city's water supply were raised, and the pipeline was diverted through Cannonball, ND. This new route has resulted in the disturbance of Native American burial grounds, concerns over water safety, and environmental damages that threaten crop health. The DAPL protests began in the spring and neither protesters or supporters show signs of stopping.
The posts that went viral claimed that the police attempting to break the DAPL protesters were using facebook check-ins to identify and arrest individuals at Standing Rock, ND. This post asked that people check in at Standing Rock, and if they make any comment or post accompanying it that they use "Randing Stock" to avoid searches for the actual title, so as to avoid simple searches that would allow police to quickly discount their posts.
This effort that was ultimately pointless, as these Facebook posts and check-ins had no effect upon the police. Snopes contacted the police department of Morton County (where the protest is being held) and was told that "The Morton County Sheriff’s Department is not and does not follow Facebook check-ins for the protest camp or any location. This claim / rumor is absolutely false."
The Sacred Stone Camp (organizers of the DAPL protest) stated that they don't doubt police are using social media to find incriminating photos or evidence. They did, however, find the most value in the support shown by these posts: "We support the tactic, and think it is a great way to express solidarity."
So how much do these posts really do? According to Indian Country, the first problem with the check-ins is that one of the "Standing Rock" pages that shows up is not the official page of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, but rather it is a page automatically generated due to the interest in the location. What's more, the protest camps aren't located at Standing Rock, but rather at the Sacred Stone, Oceti Sakowin, and Red Warrior Camping sites. These Check-in posts have little to no actual effect upon the protests, other than spreading word about the danger and risk these people are taking in order to protect their lands from environmental damage.
If you want to take action that CAN have an effect upon the DAPL protest, Powwows.com has a list of ten actions worth taking, including:
Sign the whitehouse.gov petition to stop the DAPL
Donate to support the Standing Rock Sioux
Contribute to the Sacred Stone legal defense fund
And several others. It is easy to make a simple Facebook post and believe that it is going to bring change. From Kony 2012 to the Chibok Schoolgirls Kidnapping, it is incredibly easy to make the bare minimum effort, then congratulate yourself. While these kinds of viral campaigns can have real results (Like the Ice Bucket Challenge did), it MUST be followed up by donations, signatures, or any other number of tangible actions. I stand with Standing Rock, do you?
