User blog:Noha Abou-Hashima/Using hashtags to popularize discussions of humanitarian topics

Noha Abou-Hashima Hashtags have become very popular tools for spreading the word on almost anything; from discussing the environment to latest celibirity gossip and supporting humanitarian causes like the recent unjustified arrest of a Middle-Eastern, Muslim student called Ahmed whose simple, yet ingenious invention of a homemade clock was interpreted by his teacher as a makeshift bomb. Within hours of his arrest, social media users turned to hashtags of IStandWithAhmed to show their solidarity with Ahmed, and outrage at the school and police forces for how they handled the situation.

This is just one example, but essentially I want to look at how much impact the use of online hashtag actually has on inspiring real-life change whether in igniting discussions about a topic or pressuring officials into working to solve a problem, etc.



Feel free to provide suggestions on how I can refine this idea, or link to articles I can read regarding this topic, etc.