Assessing the impact of feminist social media campaigns on woman aged between twenty and thirty based in the United Kingdom

Abstract

In recent years feminist social media campaigns like #MeToo, #EverydaySexism and #FreeTheNipple have made headline news. Praised for their use of the internet as a means by which to spread their message, these campaigns have been said to bring individuals together and allow those who have been affected by the issues tackled to see that they are not alone. Said to belong to a newly emerging ‘fourth wave’ of feminism, these feminist social media campaigns have received wide spread support from notable figures. It can be suggested that it is in part due to this support, that these campaigns have achieved such high rates of engagement. Furthermore, it is perhaps due to feminist social media campaigns being a relatively new phenomenon that it is difficult to assess how effective they may be when it comes to promoting long term change. However, it may be suggested that one way by which to assess the potential these campaigns have for promoting change, would be to ask if the individuals who have encountered them feel that these campaigns have had an impact on the way in which they act, think or live.