Social Networking and Stabilization.

I think that social networking and social media has already made a dramatic change in our lives and our children’s lives. Social Networking Sites (SNS) have been at the forefront of many of the latest political movements this decade. We can see this in 2010 with the demonstrations and protest in the Middle East and Northern Africa as the "Arab Spring". The use of SNS allowed many demonstrators to communicate even when the governments of some of the countries (Egypt) shut down news and radios channels. Recently in the last six months two main events have shaped the world and hopefully stabilize it. 

The first was the Ferguson Missouri shooting of a black youth that brought police use of deadly force, overuse of police force, and the militarization of police in the mainstream media. Hashtags like #iftheygunnedmedown, #handsupdontshoot and #icantbreath have all been associated with these types of incidents.

The second would be the terrorist attacks by extremist Muslims in Paris France on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper headquarters. These attacks have created an increased awareness of terrorist who travel and train in foreign countries and then come back and preform attacks as sleeper cells. America’s attacks on September 11th started the major push for security, but countries like France and England have not tighten their forces until now. Seeing these attacks on the news and in SNS have made the world feel smaller, more intimate and gives the realization that this can happen anywhere to anyone. 

The use of SNS has reinforced globalization and the notion of a "shrinking world". This is a good thing. It lets Americans know that we are not alone, not the center of the universe and I believe helps humanize former enemies of our country. This can be beneficial if we are willing to embrace a global world and try to become united.