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SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has willingly immersed himself into controversy by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States.

His latest refusal to stand for the anthem -- he has done this in at least one other preseason game -- came before the 49ers' preseason loss to Green Bay at Levi's Stadium on Friday night.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

The 49ers issued a statement about Kaepernick's decision: "The national anthem is and always will be a special part of the pre-game ceremony. It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem."

Niners coach Chip Kelly told reporters Saturday that Kaepernick's decision not to stand during the national anthem is "his right as a citizen" and said "it's not my right to tell him not to do something."

The NFL also released a statement, obtained by NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport: "Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem."

By taking a stand for civil rights, Kaepernick, 28, joins other athletes, like the NBA's Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony and several WNBA players in using their platform and status to raise awareness to issues affecting minorities in the U.S.

However, refusal to support the American flag as a means to take a stand has brought incredible backlash before and likely will in this instance. The NBA's Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf of the Denver Nuggets, formerly Chris Jackson before converting to Islam, refused to acknowledge the flag in protest, citing similar reasons as Kaepernick and saying that it conflicted with some of his Islamic beliefs.

Abdul-Rauf drew the ire of fans and was briefly suspended by the NBA before a compromise was worked out between the league and player, who eventually stood with his teammates and coaches at the playing of the national anthem.

Kaepernick said that he is aware of what he is doing and that he knows it will not sit well with a lot of people, including the 49ers. He said that he did not inform the club or anyone affiliated with the team of his intentions to protest the national anthem.

"This is not something that I am going to run by anybody," he said. "I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. ... If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right."

Kaepernick said that he has thought about going public with his feelings for a while but that "I felt that I needed to understand the situation better."

He said that he has discussed his feelings with his family and, after months of witnessing some of the civil unrest in the U.S., decided to be more active and involved in rights for black people. Kaepernick, who is biracial, was adopted and raised by white parents and siblings.

Kaepernick's Twitter feed is filled with civil rights messages.

The former Super Bowl starting quarterback's decision to go public comes while he is fighting for his football life with the 49ers, who drafted him in the second round in 2011. He lost his starting job last season after being one of the most promising players in the NFL during his run under former coach Jim Harbaugh.

Over the past few months, his relationship with management has turned sour. He requested a trade last spring, which never came. He also has spent most of the offseason rehabilitating from operations to his left (non-throwing) shoulder, his hand and knee. His recovery left him unable to fully compete with Blaine Gabbert for months and has him seemingly in a bind to regain his starting job.

He made his preseason debut against the Packers and played in the second quarter, completing two of six passes for 14 yards. He looked as rusty as you'd expect from someone who has not played since last November.

Following the game, and without any knowledge of Kaepernick's non-football behavior, coach Chip Kelly said that there has never been any discussion about cutting Kaepernick. Rapoport added Saturday that Kelly will make "football decisions" on Kaepernick, despite the quarterback's comments.

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Colin Kaepernick explains why he sat during national anthem

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has willingly immersed himself into controversy by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States.

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Social media was at the epicenter of this hashtag. People took to Twitter when they saw Colin Kaepernick kneel during the anthem back in 2016, and President Trump’s comments on kneeling players were relayed through social media. More people find their voice on social media, and while they may not have the platform athletes have, they still have their own little platform through social media.

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The hashtag coincides with the Black Lives Matter movement, but it also shows how important athletes are as social figures. Their voice and opinion carry a lot of weight, and it goes to show that athletes are people too, despite the amount of money they make.

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#TakeAKnee is no longer trending, but you can still see an increase in the hashtags on days where professional football is being played. While players still continue to kneel, the height of the hashtag occurred when multiple players from multiple teams took the knee. Since then it’s almost become a regularity in the league, making it a less trend-worthy.

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#TakeAKnee shed even more light on the ongoing issue with President Trump, athletes who are kneeling during the anthem, police brutality, and the systematic oppression of people of color. This hashtag tried to ignite a movement toward ending these wrongs.

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The #icebucketchallenge hashtag would not have been able to exist without social media. It centered around people sharing videos of themselves on social media platforms, so social media played a huge part of the impact of this hashtag.

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The Ice Bucket Challenge is a campaign to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - also known as Lou Gehrig's disease - and encourage donations for research. A person is filmed as a bucket of water and ice is dumped over the individual's head. The individual then nominates a minimum of three people to do the same thing, having only a 24-hour time frame to complete the challenge and make a donation to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association.

It went viral in July and August 2014, using social media as a platform to reach a worldwide audience. More than 17 million people posted videos online, including Bill Gates and former president George W. Bush. Over a two-year period, the money raised through the challenge helped fund research and development of treatment drugs.

The origin of the campaign has been attributed to Pete Frates, a Boston College alumnus who was diagnosed with ALS in March 2012.
How much money was raised?
The Ice Bucket Challenge raised more than $115 million for the ALS Association. A chart from the ALS Association shows that $77 million, or 67%, of the funds were designated to research and another $23 million, or 20%, were given to patient and community services.
How many people participated?
More than 17 million people participated in the challenge worldwide. In the U.S., there were 2.5 million participants who donated $115 million to the ALS Association.
Why was the Ice Bucket challenge so popular?
The challenge first received media attention after professional golfer Greg Norman nominated news anchor Matt Lauer in July 2014 on NBC's Today. This sparked a trend that led millions of people to post videos on social media to raise awareness of ALS.
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. It is known to cause stiffness of muscles, muscle twitching and muscle weakness, which result in difficulty speaking, swallowing and eventually breathing. The cause of this disease is unknown, but in some cases genetics may be involved. A cure for ALS has not been discovered yet.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2uirANe

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Ice Bucket Challenge: 5 things you should know

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The Ice Bucket Challenge is a campaign to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - also known as Lou Gehrig's disease - and encourage donations for research. A person is filmed as a bucket of water and ice is dumped over the individual's head.

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The #icebucketchallenge hashtag only lasted for a few months, until it was no longer relevant. It was the most relevant in the summer 2014. As far as comparing it to other hashtags goes, although spreading awareness about ALS is a big deal, it pales in comparison to the movement the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag has sparked up. Not many people are personally affected by ALS, and therefore cannot relate to this hashtag as much as others. The #icebucketchallenge was more of a fad, and some have argued that the only reason it got popular because people enjoyed the funny videos and the interactions with each other, and less were worried about spreading awareness.

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The #icebucketchallenge brought light to a disease that many people were not informed about. It was able to make “Lou Gehrig’s disease” a household name, while gathering donations to fund research to go towards the ALS Association. It was also able to gather a community of people to get behind one major motive.

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SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research

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Subscription and open access journals from SAGE Publishing, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Today marks one year since 276 school girls were abducted by Boko Haram in the northern Nigerian village of Chibok.

It was an event - like the assault on the town of Baga in January - which outraged Nigerians and, somewhat belatedly, tugged at the world's heart strings.

As Nigerians marched to the capital Abuja to demand action the global social media community rallied around a call to #bringbackourgirls.

In less than three weeks the hashtag had been used over 1 million times with everyone from supermodel Cara Delevingne to the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama adding their selfies to the mounting social media noise.

A year on the hashtag begun to trend globally again as the world marks a year since the girls disappeared: but whilst some of the girls have escaped the majority remain missing, leaving their families with nothing to do but to wait in hope.

Clicktivism or activism?

Although their plight has gained awareness are western supporters guilty of falling in to the trap of clicktivism? The lure of supporting a campaign perceived to be in vogue - before swiftly moving on to the next.

Whilst not disputing the power of collective sentiment, Jumoke Balogu from Compare Afrique argued that the western outcry over the campaign was misplaced.

Calling on western powers to "do something" only served to strengthen America's "military legitimacy", said Balogu. She felt that the campaigning and solidarity would be better placed to support journalists and campaigners seeking to hold the Nigerian government to account.

The fervour was also mocked by American conservatives who dismissed it as "simply an exercise in self esteem ", that would be of no concern to the Nigerian Islamist group.

But Ben Hewitt from A World At School argues that most of the high profile campaigning has been in direct support of the grassroots #bringbackourgirls campaign in Nigeria: "Some people raise their voice once in solidarity and others keep a much longer vigil" but both are valid campaigning tactics, he says.

Hewitt says the campaign group, set up by Sarah Brown, were one of the first of the international groups to write about the abduction - on 17 April - who then leveraged their international networks to put pressure on the UN and fundraised their school programme in Nigeria.

In the meantime the kidnappings are ongoing. Amnesty International estimate that over 2000 girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since the beginning of 2014, with many forced into sexual slavery.

The rights group lament Nigerian security forces for not doing enough to protect civilians and point to an absence of investigations or prosecutions of Boko Haram members for crimes under international law.

When asked if #bringbackourgirls campaign has been a success Hewitt said: "the girls are still missing ... that is the ultimate measure of success and we are not there yet."

Nigerian-led campaigning

Oby Ezekwesili was one of the three Nigerian campaigners to set up the grassroots campaign calling it #bringbackourgirls. Speaking to the Guardian at the end of 2014 she described her incredulity at the lack of action that drove her to start campaigning.

Ezekwesili's group organised the initial march in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, which sparked the online movement and regular vigils in the capital.

As long as one person is still holding out a candle for the kidnapped, we haven't failed

Oby Ezekwesili

When asked if her pressure group made progress she said: "As long as one person is still holding out a candle for the kidnapped, we haven't failed. That one voice can grow into millions eventually".

She also described the harassment designed to intimidate their group. In July security operatives tried to prevent her from catching a flight to appear on a BBC programme. Hostility which was ongoing on the eve on the anniversary:

Just @ day to ONE year of monumental anguish suffered by OUR #ChibokGirls&their parents. And some still pollute my TL with inhumane words.
- Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) April 13, 2015

This morning her tweets read like a heartfelt open letter to the missing girls. She told the BBC she hoped the girls were still alive and went on to share a host of pictures of yesterday's protests, as thousands marched in silence to keep the issue on top the government's agenda.

Dear daughters, Hope sustained us. Hope is all WE have left. Hope that does not make ashamed. Hope that you must know all too well by now.
- Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) April 14, 2015

Our dear daughters, WE gave it our all. WE gave everything to STAND with you and DEMAND daily for your rescue. WE are sorry Today came.
- Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) April 14, 2015

Political appropriation

Politicians and hashtags don't always make an easy mix, especially when a hashtag is appropriated for political aims.

In September 2014 supporters of the then incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan attempted to galvanise support for his re-election using #bringbackgoodluck2015, with some supporters reported to have turned up at the park where the daily #bringbackourgirls vigil was taking place to display their banners.

The plan backfired and Jonathan was criticised for being disrespectful and insensitive, and his office later demanded that posters carrying the call be torn down.

Nigerian commentator Max Siollun thinks that the reason Goodluck Jonathan lost the recent presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari was in part due to his failure to take the mass kidnapping seriously. It took two weeks for him to address the issue publicly, while his wife Patience was accused of melodrama smacking of insincerity when she met mothers of the kidnapped girls.

Nigerians have since expressed hope that new president Buhari - who will come into power later this year - will be able work with campaigners to find the girls, and find a solution to fight Boko Haram.

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Did the #bringbackourgirls campaign make a difference in Nigeria?

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Today marks one year since 276 school girls were abducted by Boko Haram in the northern Nigerian village of Chibok. It was an event - like the assault on the town of Baga in January - which outraged Nigerians and, somewhat belatedly, tugged at the world's heart strings.

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This hashtag started when people noticed nothing was being done about this situation. They used the hashtag to spread the word around the world and to hopefully get help from other countries.

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This hashtag spread quite quickly throughout social media. Michelle Obama even posted it which caused many celebrities to do the same. However, it did not impact the event as these girls are still missing.

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#BringBackOurGirls is no longer trending. The last time it was used on Twitter was 2015.

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Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech

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In recent years, social media have become a common way for political groups and social movements to organize. On Twitter's 10-year anniversary, the site published a list of the most used hashtags related to social causes. Two of the top three were directly related to issues of race. According to Twitter, #Ferguson was the most used social-issue hashtag in the 10-year history of the platform, while #BlackLivesMatter was third.

Along with examining tweets that mentioned race in a general sense, the Center's analysis looked at all tweets that included the #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter hashtags from July 12, 2013, to March 31, 2016. These tweets (13.3 million in total) were then analyzed using Crimson Hexagon's algorithmic tool to determine their subject matter and tone. (A previous Pew Research Center study surveyed Americans on their awareness of and attitudes towards issues of racial equality.)

Historically, hashtags developed as an informal method of highlighting ideas in unformatted text and trying to grow conversation around a topic. In 2009, Twitter began to hyperlink and compile hashtags, making them searchable and increasing their utility as identifiers. While most hashtags are developed organically, some groups deliberately use hashtags to promote a message.

In mid-2014, as the issue of use of force by police gained national attention due to several high profile cases involving black men, some activists promoted hashtags as a way to identify their messages and display solidarity.

This was the case with the Black Lives Matter movement. Organizers of Black Lives Matter made social media - and specifically the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter - a centerpiece of their strategy. As a result, the growth of the movement offline was directly linked with the online conversation.

An early timeline of the #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter hashtags

All told, from its initial appearance in mid-2013 through March 2016, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has appeared on Twitter almost 11.8 million times.

As a direct response to #BlackLivesMatter, some on Twitter began using the hashtag #AllLivesMatter. That hashtag has been used a total of 1.5 million times, about one-eighth as often as #BlackLivesMatter. Over time, the volume of #AllLivesMatter tweets has generally moved in parallel with that of #BlackLivesMatter.

The phrase "black lives matter" was first used by a black community organizer in a Facebook post following the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of black 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Despite its widespread presence today, the hashtag was slow to gain prominence: During the second half of 2013, it appeared on Twitter a total of just 5,106 times (or about 30 times a day).

Both the use of the hashtag and the influence of the broader Black Lives Matter movement accelerated greatly in August 2014 when Michael Brown, a black teenager, was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag appeared an average of 58,747 times per day in the roughly three weeks following Brown's death. However, the use of the hashtag increased dramatically three months later when on November 25, the day after a Ferguson grand jury decided not to indict the officer involved in Brown's death, the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag appeared 172,772 times. During the subsequent three weeks, the hashtag was used 1.7 million times.

Since late 2014, #BlackLivesMatter has been a continuous presence on Twitter, but its use has increased around some specific events. These include:

On Dec. 4, 2014, the day after a New York grand jury decided not to indict police officers in the death of Eric Garner, #BlackLivesMatter appeared 189,210 times - the most it was ever used in a single day.

The Oct. 13, 2015, presidential campaign debate in which Senator Bernie Sanders defended the Black Lives Matter movement and decried institutional racism spurred the hashtag to appear more than 127,000 times on Twitter the following day as many users voiced support for Sanders.

On the one-year anniversary of Brown's death, August 9, 2015, the hashtag appeared 120,067 times as well as 98,518 times the following day.

As for #AllLivesMatter, the hashtag appeared on Twitter a few times prior to the unrest in Ferguson in August 2014. However - as was the case with #BlackLivesMatter - it was the day after the announcement that there would be no grand jury indictments in the Michael Brown case when the hashtag began appearing regularly. On Nov. 25, 2014, #AllLivesMatter was used 14,308 times.

The day in which the hashtag #AllLivesMatter appeared the most during this time period was Dec. 21, 2014, the day after two police officers were killed in New York City while in their patrol car. That day the hashtag appeared 28,526 times. The hashtag #BlueLivesMatter, usually used to express support for police, was used 22,834 times that day.

The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag has been used frequently in support of the broader social movement or to flag general racial issues, occasionally as a form of criticism

From its first appearance in mid-2013, Twitter users have utilized the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag for a range of purposes. Supportive or positive references to the broader movement are among the most common. But in some cases, people included #BlackLivesMatter in tweets to criticize the movement - or simply identify the subject matter of their posts and attach them to the broader discussion occurring around racial issues.

Supportive or positive references to the broader movement make up a large portion of tweets utilizing the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag

Tweets using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag that are generally supportive of the movement are much more common than those opposing it. Over the period studied, 38% of the tweets that included #BlackLivesMatter were supportive or made positive reference to the social movement.

Slightly more than half of those, representing 21% of all the tweets using the hashtag, offered broad support for racial equality and opposition to police brutality. This February 2014 post by Mag-net, a network of social organizations, is one example:

#blacklivesmatter is a response to the dehumanization of black people. But it's also a call to action. @aliciagarza #mediajustice

- MAG-Net (@mediaaction) February 26, 2014

Others used the hashtag when describing efforts to organize protests, as in this tweet by Chicago-based activist Byron Sigcho:

'Honoring the legacy of MLK by organizing' #BlackLivesMatter #MLKchi #ReclaimChicago @peopleslobbyusa @PilsenAlliance @gozamos @mikeklonsky

- Byron Sigcho (@TeamSigcho) January 17, 2015

Another 18% of tweets utilized the hashtag to connect specific incidents of alleged police misconduct. For example, a number of Black Lives Matter supporters focused on the November 2014 death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, as in this tweet:

Officer who killed Tamir Rice found unfit in previous police job http://t.co/UncePJxA2f via @msnbc#TRIBELIVE #CLEVELAND #BLACKLIVESMATTER!!

- Jazzmine D. McKnight (@Progress4Ohio) August 26, 2015

Among the other incidents #BlackLivesMatter supporters focused on were the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray while in police custody in Baltimore; the March 2015 shooting death of 19-year-old Tony Robinson at the hands of police in Madison, Wisconsin; and the contentious arrest of University of Virginia student Martese Johnson that same month.

Many tweets used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to engage with broader discussions around race

Not all the uses of #BlackLivesMatter were directly tied to specific incidents. In 15% of the tweets using the hashtag, the author was making a larger point about race - without directly focusing on the modern-day social movement. For instance, many people offered thematic quotes:

A System Cannot Fail Those It Was Never Meant To Protect. #BlackLivesMatter

- katori (@iamkatori) July 23, 2015

Variations of this particular quote appeared in tweets alongside the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter more than 2,200 times. This message, which first appeared in 2013, was often attributed incorrectly to the sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois.

Around one-in-ten tweets using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag were critical of the movement

As the Black Lives Matter movement grew and the use of the hashtag increased, a number of tweets began to object to the movement. Some critics felt it was valuing one race above all others, while others felt the movement was unfairly condemning all police officers based on the actions of a few.

In fact, 11% of the posts including the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag were critical of the movement and/or the actions of its supporters. Sometimes these posts utilized very strong language, as in this tweet by a retired solider:

Hey #BlackLivesMatter, police saves MORE black lives everyday, than you cowards ever will, in your pathetic lifetime! #AllLivesMatter 😏😉

- David Higgins (@dhiggins63) September 11, 2015

How the #AllLivesMatter hashtag was used: a more even mix of support and criticism

Unlike the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, the mentions of #AllLivesMatter from July 2013 to March 2016 were nearly evenly split between positive and negative posts.
About one-third of #AllLivesMatter tweets were supportive of the general sentiment, but few focused on a larger movement
In contrast to the use of #BlackLivesMatter, posts which used #AllLivesMatter in a positive manner were less likely to connect their posts with a broader social agenda. Only 7% of the tweets using #AllLivesMatter took this position. Notably - and in contrast to the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag - #AllLivesMatter did not have a specific organization backing it or promoting its use in its early stages.

More tweets, 13%, were aimed at defending the people or organizations that were often criticized by #BlackLivesMatter - most often the police. For example, in September 2015, an account for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick linked to a formal statement opposing violence toward police:

#AllLivesMatter & we must end violence against our law enforcement officers: http://t.co/zBQvznTVgT #TxLege

- Office of the Lt Gov (@LtGovTX) September 2, 2015

Another 13% of the tweets with #AllLivesMatter focused on condemning the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
One-third of tweets with #AllLivesMatter were critical of its meaning
A backlash against #AllLivesMatter developed that was just as large as the hashtag itself. In fact, 33% of the tweets that contained the hashtag were criticizing the premise of #AllLivesMatter - almost the same amount (32%) that used #AllLivesMatter in a positive light.

To critics, #AllLivesMatter was a minimization of the concerns of minorities, especially in regards to issues of police brutality and discrimination.

Syndicated columnist Arthur Chu illustrated this view on November 27, 2014:

Do people who change #BlackLivesMatter to #AllLivesMatter run thru a cancer fundraiser going "THERE ARE OTHER DISEASES TOO"

- Arthur Chu (@arthur_affect) November 27, 2014

Chu's message was retweeted more than 11,000 times.

#AllLivesMatter gets used by other movements

While the vast majority of the use of #AllLivesMatter was in reference to conversations on race, several other movements used the hashtag in different contexts.

About one-in-ten (11%) tweets with #AllLivesMatter were used by someone opposing abortion. Many of those were connected with the 2015 controversy involving videos that purported to show wrongdoing committed by the health services organization Planned Parenthood. In January 2016, one user tweeted:

Americans Need To Stand United For Life. #WeThePeople Must #DefundPP TODAY.
✞#PrayToEndAbortion#AllLivesMatter#RedNationRising#RenewUS

- Byron (@Metz_Byron) January 5, 2016

Another 7% of tweets were used to promote animal rights, sometimes in support of vegetarianism. Musician Kristin Star expressed this sentiment in November 2014:

Save Lives...Live Compassionately...Be Vegan!!! #EveryoneCounts#AllLivesMatter#HelpChangetheWorld#Life#Love#Peace#Vegan#LivePeace

- Kristin Star (@Kristin_Star) November 16, 2014

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3. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter emerges: Social activism on Twitter

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In recent years, social media have become a common way for political groups and social movements to organize. On Twitter's 10-year anniversary, the site published a list of the most used hashtags related to social causes. Two of the top three were directly related to issues of race.

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Pictured: Michelle Obama holding up a #BringBackOurGirls sign

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Alicia Garza posted what she describes as a “love letter to black folks” on Facebook. She wrote that their murder should always come as a shock, and she would not let the state numb that for her. She ended with this: “Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter.” Patrisse Cullors had also been watching Facebook for news of the Zimmerman verdict. When she learned of his acquittal, she says, “The first thing I did was literally drop my jaw. And then I felt intense amounts of heat in my chest.” She started crying and, like Garza, posting on Facebook. “I start loving on black people, saying, ‘I hope y’all are loving on yourselves today.’” Cullors was moved by Garza’s post and, on a whim, decided to hashtag her sentiments “#blacklivesmatter.”

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Social media helped the hashtag mobilize an online community into action around racial justice issues and morphed it into a massive movement.

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#BlackLivesMatter the hashtag has a continuous presence of social media but there are certain events that significantly increase the presence of the hashtag. For example the Anniversary of Michael Brown’s death or during the presidential election when candidates would bring up the movement.

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“A hashtag on Twitter can link the disparate fates of unarmed black men shot down by white police in a way that transcends geographical boundaries and time zones. A shared post on Facebook can organise a protest in a matter of minutes. Documentary photos and videos can be distributed on Tumblr pages and Periscope feeds, through Instagrams and Vines. Power lies in a single image. Previously unseen events become unignorable” (Anderson and Hitlin 2017)

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Social media served as a source of live, raw information. It gathered people to the streets and coordinated their movements in real time. Twitter users have utilized the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag for a range of purposes.

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Hashtags have become such a large part of our culture on social media, and they have become an essential part of any successful social media platform. Hashtags allow users to group their posts/tweets that have a similar theme or content.

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Dictionary.com defines activism as "the doctrine or practice of vigorous action or involvement as a meansof achieving political or other goals, sometimes by demonstrations,protests, etc."

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Historically, hashtags developed as an informal method of highlighting ideas in unformatted text and trying to grow conversation around a topic. In 2009, Twitter began to hyperlink and compile hashtags, making them searchable and increasing their utility as identifiers. While most hashtags are developed organically, some groups deliberately use hashtags to promote a message.

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The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls started in 2014 when Vice President of the World Bank for Africa gave a speech demanding the Nigerian government to help “bring back our girls” after 300 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Islamic militant group, Boko Haram.

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The #TakeAKnee hashtag started in response to President Donald Trump comments on players who participated in the anthem protests. Trump called them “sons of bitches”, and suggested that the owners should fire those players. The hashtag didn’t start when Colin Kaepernick took the original “knee”, but when President Donald Trump called for NFL owners to “fire” any player who didn’t stand for the national anthem.

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The phrase “black lives matter” was first used in a Facebook post following the July 2013 release of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The hashtag began as a call to action in response to police brutality and anti-Black racism and was used to convey a message and display unity.

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The #icebucketchallenge hashtag started in the summer of 2014, when millions of people on various social media platforms started dumping buckets of ice water on their heads to raise awareness and generate donations to go towards ALS research. By the time the ice bucket challenge faded out of relevance, it had raised roughly 115 million dollars worldwide.