It is hard to make concrete claims about the impact that digital media will have on the LGBT rights movement as both the movement and digital media will constantly be changing and progressing. But there are several points of discussion that will make or break the effectiveness of using digital media to advance the LGBT rights movement.
The online world has a huge opportunity to create communities. These communities can encourage individuals to stand up for their own rights during everyday activities and protest against the small acts of discrimination and hate speech that LGBT people encounter. Having an online community of like minded people all working towards a single goal has the ability to give each and every single member a sense support and the confidence required to speak up for themselves.
The online community can help individuals accept that they deserve respect despite what misinformation outsiders may perpetuate, and helps to create a solid support network that some may have difficulty finding in their local community. These communities can also play an important part in helping individuals accept who they are, and show these people, that in this world, where this is very little positive LGBT representation, they can be happy. These communities also show LGBT people as complex humans where sexuality is not the most prominent feature of their personality.
It is also important to note that online content very rarely gets ‘stumbled upon’ by accident. There is such a vast amount of information online that usually it has to be searched for in order to be found. So logically, it is usually individuals who are already somewhat actively engaged in the LGBT rights movement offline that join activist movements online. In some ways this is beneficial as it means that the members of online groups are engaged and active in the movement, however it also means that it can be difficult to get outside attention and grow activist communities.
Some people question as to whether a digital media presence alone can create awareness and evoke progression in LGBT rights or is it simply the development of a groundwork that can then be used strategically to spread reliable information and from there, result in social changes. This is always going to be a highly debatable question. We have seen LGBT rights become a trending topic and there is no doubt that having people place pride flag water marks over their Facebook profile pictures has amped up the visibility of LGBT supporters and given the rights movement a substantial boost in momentum. But months after these watermarks disappeared, there is still little real world preogression.
However, engagement with the LGBT digital activist movement is a huge deciding factor in the effectiveness of moving activism online. In order to create lasting change it is important that individuals challenge the bigoted views that they may hold and are educated on LGBT facts and the challenges that these people face. This can be done through sharing sources of information and content of high quality that aims to engage audiences and leads to an open discussion in the comments. It is only through correcting people’s beliefs in a way that causes them to change how they go about their own everyday lives that will result in real world benefits for LGBT people.
Avoiding slactivism is key if digital media is to make a meaningful difference in the LGBT rights movement and in the lives of LGBT people.
There is no doubt that digital activism can be used as a highly valuable tool to create lasting change in the LGBT rights movement. But like all tools, it must be used appropriately and strategically to have a real world impact on what is at core, peoples lives.
Ellen Emary 