Abstract: In recent years Instagram has had an increasing presence in areas of politics and policy change which can be seen through movements such as #MeToo as well as the establishment of young female activists including Grace Tame and Greta Thunberg. Theorists including Palmer and Jung, have outlined how these movements and individuals have used Instagram and other social media for their own benefit, using it to further their agenda successfully. These movements and activists have not only given women a safe space to feel supported and to support others they have also directly impacted policy change, with the removal of the gag-laws as well as industry change that came about from the #MeToo movement. Instagram successfully empowers and educates women across the globe, allowing them to use it not only to share information about themselves but to become actively involved in online advocacy and policy change.  

Social media has an increasing presence every day, with Instagram being one of the more prominent platforms. In recent years however, the impact Instagram has had in areas of politics and policy change has rapidly increased with the introduction of the #MeToo movement as well as young female activists including Greta Thunberg using the platform to educate people all around the world. The establishment of these activist movements as well as activists themselves not only allow people all over the world to learn, but it also gives women a platform where they can feel safe to share their stories, allowing them to become educated and involved in movements that directly impact them. The togetherness that social media brings empowers women to want to be involved and to make a difference giving them somewhere to advocate for their freedom and safety. This paper will argue that Instagram has become a vital tool in empowering and educating women across the globe to become actively involved in online advocacy and influencing policy change.

Social media is fast becoming one of the defining technologies of our time, with billions of people using different platforms including Instagram (Appel et al., 2021). Given these numbers and how the amount of people using social media is only growing there is no surprise that marketers have embraced the influence social media has in terms of promoting products and ideas (Appel et al., 2021). While social media has become vital in promoting these products and ideas it has also become an essential channel for institutions and people within the political sphere (Appel et al., 2021). In addition to this, there is also the understanding now that social media – including Instagram – is becoming the primary location where people are receiving information about what is occurring all over the world, as well as sharing information about certain aspects of their lives (Appel et al., 2021). Younger generations are especially embracing the use of Instagram for not only sharing information about themselves but also learning about events all around the world (Kent & Azariah, 2022). While also using the platform for news and to keep up on current events, the communities that have formed within Instagram have allowed women to gain togetherness, allowing them to feel safe and supported on the platform (Kent & Azariah, 2022). These communities can be made up of people all around the world focused on a common idea or interest and have given women the ability to form connections not only based on geographical location but actual interests (Kent & Azariah, 2022). The communities that exist are vital in terms of how influential policy can be as once they begin to move through these communities they move throughout the world. While social media was already beginning to change the way news and information moved, COVID-19 took something that was growing and increased it exponentially, as people were stuck in their homes and couldn’t travel to see family and to learn (Cinelli et al., 2020). The pandemic allowed these communities to flourish, while also becoming a vital platform for information surrounding the pandemic thus pushing people to use Instagram for news rather than just personal use (Cinelli et al., 2020). Therefore, we can see how the use of Instagram allows for women of all ages to learn about events going on throughout the world and become involved in online advocacy surrounding the pandemic along with other movements.

As the use of social media grows so does its ability to influence and educate not only a nation but the world, this has been obvious in movements including the #MeToo movement that begun all the way back in 2006, however really started gaining traction after allegations were made against Harvey Weinstein in 2017 (BBC, 2020). After the allegations began coming out celebrities including Alyssa Milano used her social media to encourage women to come forward and share their stories using the #MeToo hashtag (Palmer et al., 2019). After this post the hashtag #MeToo was used 12 million times within the first 24 hours, spreading throughout the entire world and quickly becoming one of the most viral and trending hashtags to date (Palmer et al., 2019). After this the movement really began gaining traction, it gave women all around the world the confidence to come forward and share their stories – often for the first time – while also beginning to influence policy change in workplaces in all industries (Palmer et al., 2019). Lokot (2018) argued that this form of hashtag activism did not directly cause legislation change, however, the sharing of stories resulted in the engagement of women all around the world of all ages and from all demographics and once stories were out in the public, industries were pushed to do what was right by incorporating new policy into businesses (Palmer et al., 2019). The #MeToo movement was the beginning of change for women all around the world and the role that Instagram and other platforms played in how influential was vital in its growth. The movement not only educated women all around the world but ensured that they felt safe in speaking out about their abuse or harassment and forced workplaces to make a change (Palmer et al., 2019). Thus, proving how prominent Instagram can be in terms of how influential these movements can become.

Along with the policy change that came about in many industries, there were many activists that grew and gained their own traction by sharing their own stories including Grace Tame an Australian activist who after sharing her story of her own child abuse, became an advocate for survivors of child abuse in Tasmania (The Age, 2022). Tame gained so much support and began campaigning to remove the victim gag-laws that existed in Tasmania that made it illegal for her to discuss what happened to her but allowed the media and perpetrator to do so (The Age, 2022). When campaigning Tame used Instagram and created the hashtag #LetHerSpeak and the influence this had resulted in 4 law changes across 3 jurisdictions, proving once again how Instagram and the use of hashtags can be used to directly change policy (Funnell, n.d.). From this campaign, the organization Tame created has also provided direct legal service to 17 individual women who were affected by these laws, and has helped women across Australia (Funnell, n.d.). Tame helped young women around the world gain their power back and it was because of this that she was named Australian of the Year in 2021 (Australian of the Year, 2021). At 27, Grace Tame has become the voice of a new generation of women, allowing young women to stop conforming to society and allowing them to stand up and have a say about what is going on around them (The Age, 2022). The #MeToo movement was just the beginning in terms of making a change to ensure that all women feel safe in their workplaces. Tame along with other prominent Australian women understand this and have created the Safety. Respect. Equity Campaign, which is a national campaign to ensure the ending of injustice and inequity for women (Nally, 2022). Focusing on the prevention of sexual harassment and bullying towards women as well as calling for more responsibility to be put on employers (Nally, 2022). Thus, we can see how a simple hashtag has not only empowered women to speak their truths all around the world but has allowed activists to make a difference and enact policy change with the support of women everywhere. Proving how Instagram has successfully empowered women to not only learn about policy change but has allowed them to influence how influential these policies become.

Along with Grace Tame, there have been many other young female activists who have used Instagram to their advantage when it comes to educating the public. Greta Thunberg is a 19-year-old who made her mark when she began protesting in front of the Swedish parliament house, refusing to go to school until the election day (Jung et al., 2020). While she started alone, she was quickly joined not only by others within Sweden but also people all around the world, figures saying that on March 15, 2019, almost 1.6 million students from 120 different countries went on strike. This growth was because her story went viral on social media and became a worldwide phenomenon, making Thunberg a global activist for climate change (Jung et al., 2020). Her activism began to inspire people all around the world who before her were seemingly not interested in her agenda, but she understood the power social media had and quickly began to use it to her advantage (Jung et al., 2020). Within the year, she had immersed 9.7 million Instagram followers, giving her the power to address the world with each post, only furthering her agenda (Jung et al., 2020). Understanding how social media is a channel for connection people to opinion leaders is essential when wanting to have an impact, Thunberg admitted that she understood how social media allowed her to increase exposure in a short period of time, whereas adults in power throughout the world continue to look past the resource they have at their fingertips (Jung et al., 2020). Being a young woman, Thunberg was faced with backlash that came due to her being young and a woman, watching this occur throughout the media and on social media, it empowers women to stand up in what they believe in and by sharing support, successfully furthers her agenda (Jung et al., 2020). Showing once again how women throughout the world are using Instagram and other social media platforms to become educated in policy change, and how their support towards another woman influenced how prominent her agenda was.

To conclude, we can see through movements such as the #MeToo hashtag, as well as through activists such as Grace Tame and Greta Thunberg, just how influential Instagram can be in terms of policy change. These establishment of these movements and these people are not only educating the world but are also empowering women to come forward and speak up and share their stories. Acting as a role model for women all around the world, these women have used Instagram to their advantage, using the togetherness that exists throughout the platform to share their story and promote their agenda. Therefore, proving how Instagram has given women the ability to not only become educated on policy change and create new policies but also influence how prominent these policies can be.

References

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