When it comes to social media and its impact on social consciousness, I am in awe of critics who say that this form of social consciousness has a negative effect on our society.  Social media allows people all over the world, from different economic backgrounds and cultures to receive the same information—at almost the same time.

Apathy has plagued our generation for some time. With young people focusing on school, as well as juggling work and social lives, it is almost impossible to grab their attention and force them to spend time focusing on the world’s latest pressing issues.

In recent years, our nation has become more socially aware and more active in world affairs.  According to Politico, 130 million Americans voted in the 2008 presidential election compared to 122.3 million who voted during the 2004 presidential election—that is almost an 8 million voter difference.

I doubt it is only a coincidence that within the four years separating those elections social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace were becoming more and more popular in our nation.

Other countries must also give credit to social networking sites. According to Socialnetworking.procon.org, social media was an “important tool for social change” during the 2009 Iranian election. Iranian protesters used Twitter to communicate with the public when the government was limiting the use of telephones and the media throughout the country. “The ability to remain anonymous helped protect people who were spreading information in real time,” the website says.

Social media has proved itself to be a powerful for social change. The recent murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin became world news when Martin’s parents created an online petition calling for the arrest of his alleged killer, Neighborhood Watch Captain George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman was not initially charged with the boy’s murder, as he claimed it was self defense. Under a controversial Florida State law any person (including Zimmerman) fearing danger is allowed to shoot and kill the individual threatening them regardless of whether or not that person is carrying a weapon.

In addition to this petition hitting the Internet, radio host Michael Bisden sent out a message to his 65,000 Twitter followers and 585,000 Facebook fans informing them of this injustice. After this, millions of Facebook and Twitter users were sharing the petition with their friends and families.

The internet was buzzing with people calling for action to be taken in this young Florida boy’s case. After receiving worldwide attention Florida called in their Special Prosecutor, Angela B. Corey, to reexamine the case.  After the special investigation, Corey has decided to charge Zimmerman with second degree murder where he stands to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison.  If it wasn’t for the national attention that social media helped  provide for this case I doubt that further investigation would have been done. Zimmerman would likely still be a free man.

As I stated earlier, people all over the world are inundated with the stress and responsibility that comes with living under the conditions we all presently live in.

Not many people find the time in their day-to-day lives to independently investigate the current events. However, many people do find the time to sign into sites such as Facebook and Twitter to check in on their loved ones and friends. And when they see different friends and loved ones posting comments and engaging in discussions via the web, only then does it draw intrigue.

This attitude can easily be found right here on campus. Kimberly Wabasher, a 23 year-old English major said, “You know, I don’t really care about news when Barbara Walters is telling me to care about it from my television. I care more about news when I see how it affects my friends.” Wabasher says that she appreciates learning about pressing issues via sites like Twitter and Facebook because she feels the information is easy to access and she can do things at once. “I get to see how my friends, who moved away from college, are doing and sign important petitions. I can do all of this at the same time and all from my phone,” she said.

Admittedly, there are negative aspects to social media becoming our main form of social consciousness. But in a fast pace world, where many people suffer from daily stress and mild apathy, I would much rather have social media as a form of social consciousness than for society to have social consciousness at all.