Revolutions send ripples throughout society, altering activities, ideas, and things that seem distant and detached from the original revolutionary event. My final research essay delves into the broad sweeping revolutionary impact of social media. Social media platforms have fundamentally changed how humans interact with each other, accelerating the exchange of information and establishing connections between billions of individuals. A quintessential example of the revolutionary capabilities of social media is the Arab Uprisings in 2010-11 which were facilitated by the rapid spread of information and dissent on social media. These uprisings deposed authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and sparked civil wars in several other countries, permanently altering the power relations of the entire region. This all seems overwhelmingly positive, but social media has also enabled the dissemination of evil and extremist ideologies. My paper examines the Christchurch mosque shootings and the role of social media in promoting violence and promulgating extremism. All of this is to say that the impact of revolutions encompass every aspect of life and while they can advance good causes, they can inadvertently advance causes diametrically opposed to progress.
HeieSamuelResearchPaperFullDraft-2How Brenton Tarrant is Discussed on Fringe Social Media Platforms
Warning: The screenshots of the posts below contain xenophobic, racist, violent, and generally repulsive language regarding Muslims and people of color. By including these images, I do not wish to support, propagate, or disseminate the ideologies of extremists. Instead, the sole purpose for including these images is to provide necessary context to understand the types of hateful people and communities that anonymous social media platforms can give a voice to without any opposition. Social media platforms and posts like these played an integral role in Brenton Tarrant’s attacks. These posts were made within the past month and published onto /pol/, an anonymous discussion board on 4chan, one of the platforms that Brenton Tarrant was active on.
This infographic displays a countdown representing the expected day that the non-White population surpasses the White population in the U.S. Originally displayed on the Daily Stormer, this infographic is now plastered across 4chan and other extremist social media communities. 
